Buckeye HotSprings | All You Should Know Before Visiting

Picture yourself relaxing in a hot spring while a refreshing creek flows by. This is the northern California experience of Buckeye Hot Springs.
With its soaring mountains, prairies of wildflowers, and, most importantly, its natural hotsprings, the Eastern Sierra has one of California’s most breathtaking locations! One of these amazing thermal springs is Buckeye HotSprings, which is located outside of the tiny but cute town of Bridgeport and nestled in the Stanislaus National Forest.

Beautifully sitting next to a bubbling creek, these hot springs are powered by a hot springs waterfall. The springs are warm throughout the year, even in the winter when there is snow on the ground, so you are able to go any time of year. But summertime brings more visitors to this spot, as the creek offers a refreshing escape from the three hot mineral pools.

What are Buckeye HotSprings

A collection of geothermal hot springs, Buckeye HotSprings offers breathtaking views of the surrounding Sierra Mountains and Buckeye Creek. There are four pools to enjoy here, each with a temperature range of over 100°F.
Warm water gushes from a geothermal source over a cliff rich in calcium, creating a steaming waterfall that falls straight into Buckeye Creek’s cold waters.

In order to alter the temperature of the water in the rustic pools, people have built a number of pools out of river rocks that you can roll around or fill with cold water using a bucket left there.
As you make your way into the creekside, you’ll pass two more pools, often referred to as the upper pools, on a ridge with views of Buckeye Creek. The pool to the right is deeper and larger, comfortably holding up to six people, while the pool closest to the trail is fairly small, shallow, and only able to hold two to three people.

How to Get to Buckeye HotSprings

Buckeye HotSprings are found here in the Stanislaus National Forest, just outside of Bridgeport, California, as I said earlier.
The hotsprings are accessible via two different routes:

One of the options is to take Highway 395 and simply drive 4 and a half miles south to the hotsprings. Highway 395 runs from Death Valley through the Alabama Hills and all the way up to Lake Tahoe. It’s one of my overall favourite scenic roads in the US.

As a second option, you can enter Bridgeport by car and take Twin Lakes Road south. To get to the springs, turn right onto Buckeye Road and travel 3.2 miles north after travelling seven miles south on Twin Lakes Road. Along the way, you’ll see some truly adorable cow babies and some of the most breathtaking mountain views I’ve ever seen.
Buckeye Road is in fairly good shape when compared to other National Forest dirt roads I’ve driven. As long as you drive carefully and the weather is friendly, you should be able to drive any passenger car on this slightly bumpy road.

If you need to change into your swimsuit, there’s a dirt parking area along Buckeye Road that can take ten or so cars and has a basic vault toilet.
You must walk down a brief, rocky path from the parking area to reach the hot springs. After roughly five minutes of cautiously making your way downwards on the clearly marked trail, you will arrive at the creekside hotsprings, which are located at the base of the trail’s initial switchback.
Hiking sandals would be a good idea here to give you extra grip on the slippy rocks.

Camping at Buckeye Hotsprings

Nearby Buckeye Campsite is a peaceful camping area in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest nested on federal land. It is open for camping. This quiet, secluded campground is surrounded by pine trees and offers a peaceful camping experience. This is a first-come, first-served location that doesn’t usually sell out unless you arrive later in the day or on a summer weekend. Reservations are not accepted here.

This is camping without frills. For instance, you have to bring in your own water and there are four basic toilets, three of which have no flushing.
The 68 camping spots at Buckeye Campground are accessible from May through September. You will have to stick around in Bridgeport if you would like to visit in the winter.

You have the option to camp at the neighbouring Honeymoon Flat Campground, which you can reserve on Recreation.Gov, if Buckeye Campsite is full. A short distance from Buckeye, at Doc and Al’s Camp and Cabin, is another popular camping spot in the area.

There are great choices close by if you want to stay someplace with more amenities or if you’re visiting Buckeye Hot Springs in the winter. For example, log cabin rooms, a motel, and even covered waggons are available at Virginia Creek Settlement in nearby Bridgeport. Another well liked option in the town is the Bridgeport Inn. Restaurants are available at each location.

Best Time to Visit Buckeye HotSprings

I think fall is the ideal season to visit Buckeye Hot Springs because of the cool, fresh air, reduced summertime crowds, and slightly lower water levels in the creek.

Due to springtime rains and melting snow in the neighbouring Sierras, Buckeye Creek’s water level can rise drastically in the spring and early summer, making the creekside hot springs extremely chilly. After a freezing and icy winter, we went to the creekside hotsprings in June. To be honest, it was unpleasantly cold, and the only way to enjoy the water was to sit right under the hot waterfall!

Just be aware that if you stop by over the busy summer months, you’ll probably have to share the hotsprings with other visitors. Bridgeport is located only thirty minutes from Yosemite’s Tioga Pass entrance, one of the greatest activities in Northern California and the eighth most popular park in the adorable US National Park system.

This place might be ideal for winter, when the temperature drops and there are virtually no people around, and nothing could be more relaxing than soaking in hotsprings. Nevertheless, snow and ice could make Buckeye Road not accessible and make the trail leading to the hot springs unsafe.

Tips for Visiting Buckeye HotSprings

Arrive early or during the workdays.
Just a short distance from the hot springs, Buckeye Hot Springs is a popular destination for both locals and visitors staying in the established campground or in the scattered camping area nearby.
You will come across nude folks.
In Mammoth Lakes and the surrounding area, including Buckeye, it is customary to consider hot springs as places with optional clothing. If you would rather wear a swimsuit, that is totally acceptable, but don’t be shocked if you see some body parts on other soakers nearby. Always remember to show others some courtesy by not taking pictures or videos that they might not want shared online.
The Temperatures in Tubs Vary
Like Wild Willy’s, some of the hotsprings I’ve been to aren’t extremely hot, so you can jump in without risk.
There are roughly four separate, varying-temperature tubs at Buckeye.
The pool with the small cave and hot spring waterfall is the hottest. As you move on down the queue, they usually get colder.
The reason for this is that the creek borders the hotspring pools directly, and in the case of the lower ones, the creek water combines with the mineral water. In certain pools, we noticed that when a rush of creek water flows in, the temperature drops in that area.
Visit On weekdays during Off-Season To Avoid Crowds
When trying to visit a hotspring, it’s generally the case that the early bird gets the best tubs. Plan to get there before sunrise if you want the hot springs to yourself.
For Buckeye, that isn’t always the case. Since a campground is right next door, campers can easily stop by at sunrise, and many do.
The busiest times of day are on weekends, but if you want to increase your chances of having the pools to yourself or with the fewest people, visit during the weekday during the off-season.
Bring Plenty of Water
With an elevation of 6,890 feet, Buckeye Hot Springs is a high altitude that can make you more likely to get dehydration and make breathing difficult for those who aren’t used to it.
There is an awful outhouse at these rural hotsprings, but no other features, such as water pumps.
Just in case, remember to pack extra drinking water than you anticipate needing.

Was It Worth It ?

Short answer? Definitely.
I’ve come to love Buckeye HotSprings as one of the best hot springs on the West Coast, and I can’t wait to return soon to re experience these pools.
I was talking to a regular stranger who told me how amazing this place is at night for stargazing while I was there. I absolutely must return at night. And so should you!