Hiking to Warm Springs Natural Hot Tub

Hi Blog!

Adventure happens when your plans go awry! We had a great adventure yesterday along Burro Creek. Today, we planned to get some of our chores done. However, on our coffee walk this morning, we discovered that there are hot springs in our area!

After a bit of Internet investigation, we discovered that Kaiser Hot Springs is only 13 miles from our campground. Kaiser Hot Springs is a free primitive rock-walled and gravel-bottomed geothermal pool located in Warm Springs along a beautiful narrows in the Kaiser Canyon in the Arizona desert.

How could we resist? With chores all but forgotten, we head to the Kaiser Canyon Parking Area. Here we are at the start of our adventure.

Trailhead Selfie!

The trail started on a Jeep road which led us under the highway to a bluff overlooking the canyon. After a little bit of a rock scramble, we found ourselves down inside the Kaiser Canyon looking back up toward the highway.

We followed the wash as it headed down toward Burro Creek. We marveled at the various rock outcrops. It's hard to imagine the force of the rushing water that carved the smooth sides of the canyon.

Perched high above the canyon walls sat a silent sentinel.

Ten Points for Griffindor!

Parts of our hike to the hot springs were in open, sandy washes. These areas gave us great views of the volcanic layers towering above the canyon.

The various rock formations caused the wash to twist and turn.

So many different rocks were exposed by the rushing water! Here, Kathy explores the various layers.

We noted that this basalt tower lost its top, which is lying to the left. Just underneath the tower is a natural cave. We would have loved to explore it further, but it required a scramble up a steep cliffm and we were on a mission to a hot springs. Next time!

We had no trouble finding the hot tub. Just follow the sign, "Enter Here,"

We wasted no time in stripping down to our swimming togs. Mind you, the temperature when we started our hike was 47 degrees. It had warmed up to 50 degrees by the time we found the hot tub. The water in tub was 95 degrees, so the fact that it was cool outside made the hot tub feel even better.

A constant stream of warm water came into the pool from a hole in the rock.

Dave reflected on how good it felt to soak in such an amazing location.

Kathy decided to let the warm water float her troubles away.

Here is a video of the stone soaking tub at warm spring, along with our view of the canyon where we soaked.

After a good long soak, our stomachs began to grumble. Lunch time was calling. Rather than hang out at the hot springs, we decided to walk further down the canyon, where Kaiser Canyon joined Burro Creek.

We enjoyed our lunch while listening to the rushing water. Here is a 360 degree view of Burro Creek where Kaiser Creek Canyon empties into it.

After lunch, we tried to work our way down Burro Creek toward the Burro Mine, but the water was so high, we couldn't get much further. We turned around and headed back up Kaiser Canyon. Along the way, we spied a structure on top of a nearby bluff. We hiked up and found an old outhouse. However, the area was completely "mined" with old cholla branches. In fact, the entire structure was filled with them. Obviously, someone didn't want anyone else to use the old outhouse!  Kathy made quick tracks away from that cholla trap, but David caught her before she could disappear entirely:

Despite the cholla setback, we did find an old road which led over a bluff to give us a view of the old Burro Mine.  You can see the mine road climbing the center hill, switching back and forth across its face:

We took our time hiking back up the wash toward our Jeep. There was plenty of rock hopping and rock studying. Here Kathy tried to figure out how to get this sample into her pack without Dave noticing!

Before long, we were scrambling back up toward the highway and our Jeep.  Tired but happy, we returned home with warm memories of a natural hot springs. What an adventure!