I don’t remember when I first heard of Sespe Hot Springs, but when I did I knew I had to go there. It sounds too good to be true, natural hot springs easily accessible by a backpacking trail! So when I had two days together free, and the weather didn’t look too hot, I decided it was finally time to check them out (after already checking out the nearby and more popular Willett Hot Springs earlier this summer).
After a long drive in on the aptly named “Goodenough” road in Fillmore, past Tar Creek Falls trailhead (permanently closed to accommodate Condor nesting) I parked at the end of the road: Dough Flats. Jacob and I were here back in March, except there is a gate that closes Dec. 15 and doesn’t open until May 31st (way too late!) and so at that time we had to walk an additional 2 miles each way before camping at Cow Spring.
I quickly got on trail, knowing I was already too late to make it very close to the springs that night, and the heat made itself known rapidly though it was bearable as I had partially frozen bottles of Gatorade to chug. However, as the miles added up I became concerned about the water situation. Cow Spring was almost completely dry (stagnant, emergency only levels) and Alder Creek which the trail followed and is named after, was bone dry. At least there were some good views and cool rock formations for entertainment. As my fluid reserves dwindled, I decided I was pretty close to Alder Creek Camp and would check that out so I was familiar, but would have to turn back as there was no way it could possibly have water with how dry things were. I pulled out my Garmin Inreach to message Jacob and was halfway through typing “bone-dry, turning around” when I stopped and heard running water!
Inexplicably, there was a lot of water running at Alder Creek Camp so I knew now I was resigned to spending the night out here though I was happy to not have to come back to check out the Springs at a later date after already pushing it back for a long time. I refilled my supply and pushed on as the sun started going down, making it just past Cottrell Flats on what was pretty gnarly cliff-hugging and bushy trail especially around river crossings (my legs got very scratched up in shorts but pants were not an option due to heat).
After an uneventful night, I got up with the sun and pushed on the additional 2 miles which ended up including some tough to navigate terrain. Finally, I made it to the Hot Spring basin! Besides being full of rabbit poop with no rabbits in sight, at the end of the canyon were steaming streams and a miniature waterfall that looked pretty hot based on the color. I found a great pool where I think there is a buried actual basin that may have been helicoptered in, dipped in my toe and … it was WAY too hot! I had to continue downstream for about half a mile before finally locating a natural basin deep and cool enough to submerge in.
While I enjoyed the hot springs, I knew if I was going to make it back to my car in a reasonable amount of time, I needed to get going on the ~12 miles back so reluctantly left reminding myself that I could always take another dip in the river I had left my tent and bear can by. Unfortunatley it wasn’t very smooth going back to camp, including running full force into a spider web complete with resident large spider, taking a wrong turn and realizing I lost one of my sandals during said wrong turn, then having to backtrack to find it (which luckily I did!).
When I got back to camp around 9:45 it was already getting what felt like pretty warm. I packed everything up quickly then hopped over to the river and took a dip to cool off including my shirt and hat. But it wasn’t to last as I knew I still had many miles back to the car so I again reluctantly left to hike up and over the mountain back to the valley that connected to the trailhead.
Although I intrinsictally know it wasn’t *that* hot, probably not topping out 83-85 for the day, it was sunny and filtered water got warm quickly in my bottles. It felt like forever getting back to Alder Creek, but I was grateful to be able to take one last dip in cold water to convince myself to finish things out especially as the greatest elevation gain was right afterwards. None of this was helped by that I was listening to the audiobook of the first women’s ascent of Mt. Denali and the narrator kept talking about how thirst, hungry, tired, andaching they were – which I identified with greatly (just not the part about how they were cold).
Nevertheless, I trudged on, my achilles aching at this point, and got it done with knowing that town wasn’t too far away to get an ice cold drink – which I promptly did once I got back to the car!
At one point there was a lot more to explore in the area, including Tar Creek Falls and an area that sounds cool (Devil’s Gate – only one blog online seems to have any pictures). However, I don’t think I’ll be back to for too much more in the area, as due to the protected (and I guess recently enforced) Condor Sanctuary, it is closed to recreation (despite some suspect AllTrails reviews). Maybe if they ever come off the endangered list it would be an option!
Trip type: Backpacking
Distance: 25.5 miles
Altitude Gain: 5,400 ft
Length: 2 days, 1 night