[pct-l] Deep Creek Hot Springs

[Amanda L Silvestri]

Ikem

The side trail is from Bowen Ranch reached through the town of Hespperia.  You can't hitch there, you gotta drive as it is off the beaten track.  If you rent a car, take HWY 173 to Hespperia's Main St. Go East past Deep Creak Rd., but do not take it as it dead ends miles from where you want to go.  Continue on as Main St. becomes Rockspring Rd.  You are in desert now and there are a few housed some distance from one another.  Come to Bowen Ranch Road and turn right.  Follow this a few miles to the ranch where you will pay for parking.  Follow the trail down into the canyon to the hot springs.

You can also get there from Arrowhead but the hike is much longer and you will need a map obtained from the Forest Service.

Forest Service regulations prohibit with a fine of up to $500:

Camping within a mile of the spring.
A camp fire or stove.
Being in the Deep Creek area before sunrise or after sunset.
Possessing a glass container within a mile of the creek.

The Forest Service warns that:

The pools contain a rare and sometimes deadly disease called primary meningeacephalitia apparently caused by the organism Maegleria fowlert.  The decease is apparently contained in contaminated soil and transmitted to the hot springs pools as the warm water flows through and over the soil.  IT IS ADVISABLE NOT TO SUBMERGE YOU HEAD.

I have been there three times and notice that the danger is not so great that they prohibit anyone from swimming/bathing there.
 
Hitching in and around there is difficult.  Arrowhead is a privet lake only accessible by community residents who tend to be wealthy and not likely to pick you up.

Shepperd