Sequoia National Forest

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The definition of a hot spring is any spring whose water is at least 15 degrees warmer than the annual temperature of the air in the area. You can find two hot springs on National Forest land along the lower Kern River Canyon. They are formed from water that is heated underground and returned to the surface.

In certain areas, magma or lava has worked its way up through the Earth's crust to relatively shallow depths below the surface. Ground water percolates downward, comes in contact with the hot rock and is heated. As the water returns to the surface, it collects into pools known as hot springs. Temperatures and waterflow vary by area and may change over time due to earthquakes or other natural phenomena.

Many hot springs are considered sacred by Indian tribes. Indians used hot springs for healing and believed the waters had other powers. Native Americans had a tradition of declaring a hot spring to be a neutral zone, devoted to peace and healing.

In the 19th century it was legal and often quite profitable to claim that mineral water had the ability to cure an impressive list of ailments. Numerous hotels and boarding houses sprung up near the springs, catering to visitors in search of relaxation and cures. While the establishments have disappeared, the hot springs remain.

In Search of Hot Springs

There are over 1,700 hot springs in the western United States. The best source of information is found in Thermal Springs List of the United States, published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and available through NOAA Environmental and Data Service Office in Boulder, Colorado.

Locally along the Kern River geologic sources have combined underground water with earth core magma to produce hot springs. Hot spring water originates as relatively pure and becomes mineralized as the hot water dissolves surrounding rock. Mineral contents found here include sulfur, magnesium, iron, and borax.

REMINGTON: Hidden along the old canyon road is a trail that leads to Remington Hot Springs. This area provides hot springs that flow at 115 degrees along a shaded stretch of the river. No development remains other than a cement tub. A hiking trail across the road heads up Remington Ridge to Breckenridge Mountain. The hot springs are located two miles west of Hobo Campground on the Old Kern Canyon Road A 1/4-mile hiking trail descends 300 feet down to the hot springs along the Kern River.

MIRACLE: This was originally known as Compressor Hot Springs or Clear Creek Hot Springs because an ingenious miner constructed a turbine that used water from Clear Creek to power a compressor that supplied air to underground miners in Havilah. A hobo camp with bath houses developed in the area during construction of the Borel power plant in 1901, changing the name to Hobo Hot Springs.

The land was leased from the Forest Service for construction of a hotel in 1927. There was even an official post office established in 1932 that was used for the next 50 years. Professional therapists from Finland combined deep massage with the soothing effects of the hot springs. The name was changed to Miracle in 1947, for the miraculous relief powers of the hot springs mineral waters.

The hotel burned to the ground in 1975. The Forest Service cleared up the remaining hazards in recent years, but the trail to the springs and some rock tubs still remain. The water temperature comes out at 119 degrees. Miracle Hot Springs is 1/8 mile west of Hobo Campground. A short hiking trail leads to the springs.

DELONEGHA: (Private Property) The name Delonegha comes from an early gold miner from Georgia, who named the area in 1886 after a Georgia gold rush town name based on the Cherokee Indian word, taulonica, meaning yellow metal. Concrete tubs were first built by homesteaders, and in 1898 a hotel and boarding house were built. Stage coaches from the San Joaquin Valley took two days to carry visitors to the area. The hotel closed in 1912, when the more accessible areas of Democrat and Hobo were built. Remaining cement tubs run along a rock peninsula overlooking the Kern River; water temperatures average 112 degrees. This private property is fenced.

SCOVERN: (Private Property) Scovern dates to 1866 when it was named the Hot Springs House. The baths offered at the hotel where supposed to cure invalids. Even a branch of the Kern County Hospital operated from the hotel. By 1902 mud baths were also being offered and the wooden tubs were replaced by galvanized tubs. A swimming pool and bath houses were added when the Scoverns bought the property in 1929. The Scovern House burned to the ground in 1971. The popular resort is gone, and only a vacant lot remains. Steam can still be seen in the fields across from the springs, where water runs at 140 gallons a minute and 115 degrees.

DEMOCRAT: (Private Property) Democrat Hot Springs was named in honor of the local reigning political party when it was developed in 1904. Cottages and a hotel were constructed to accommodate hot springs guests that came in stage coaches from Bakersfield to dine and relax during the early 1900s. Five springs on the property flow at 115 degrees into large soaking tubs and a swimming pool. Because of vandalism, this private property is gated and has a full time caretaker.

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