Applegate (Chicken) Hot Springs [PRIVATE PROPERTY] - Hot Springs in California

What is there at the top right corner of California, where it turns at a right angle?

I arrived at the airport in Reno, Nevada, in order to solve this mystery.

Well Worth Seeing

It's a little over a 3-hour drive from Reno to the northeasternmost tip of California, which is in a difficult-to-reach location.

This area is called Surprise Valley and is on the western edge of the Great Basin.

There are no rivers flowing into the sea, and there are scattered wild hot springs and abandoned mines.

Historically, the Applegate Trail, an emigrant trail used by American pioneers in the mid-19th century, passed through this area.

The Applegate Trail was a kind of branch of the California Trail, and was used as an alternative route to the relatively dangerous Oregon Trail.

Well, I'm off to Applegate Hot Springs this time.

I climbed a hill for about 0.3 miles from the corner of a pasture surrounded by a barbed wire fence.

Please be especially careful not to cause any trouble, as this area is only specially opened to the public as part of private land.

If your car has sufficient road clearance, you can drive directly up to the sources, but if you are not confident, please walk a short distance from there.

At the top of the hill there was a square with an iron stake and wooden pallet.

The hot water was gushing out of the ground next to them.

Alpaca

It's strange that it's springing up on top of a hill.

If it's a valley, I can understand it...

Capybara

There were two sources, and the hot water flowing down the hill joined together in a U-shape.

Water temp. 178 degrees F.

The hot air, accompanied by a strong sulfur smell, filled the grassy area, and it was worth coming to see.

There was no water other than the geothermal water, and there were no tubs, so it was practically impossible to soak in the water.

The landowner probably doesn't want the land to be used in any other way than as a water source for the pastureland that spreads out below.

Summary

Leonard's Hot Springs

Leonard's Hot Springs is just a 3-minute drive from the Applegate Hot Springs.

This was on private land where entry was prohibited, so I could only observe it from a distance.