McDermitt Hot Springs — the honest guide
How to find them, when to go, what to bring, and what nobody tells you about the second pool.
If you stayed at Inn On 95 it is because you wanted somewhere quiet on US-95, or because you were headed to the springs. This is for the second group.
What it actually is
McDermitt Hot Springs is not a hot tub or a developed pool. It is a small geothermal creek that comes out of the basin at 120-126°F and runs through high desert. People dam parts of it with rocks and sandbags to make sit-pools. Some of those have been there for decades. Others get blown out every spring runoff.
How to get there
Eight miles north of the front desk on a dirt access road. We sketch the route on a paper map for you at check-in — easier than GPS, which sometimes routes you across the wash. High clearance helps after rain. Sedan-friendly in dry summer.
When to go
Sunrise. Steam catches the light, fewer people, and the temperature differential between air and water is the most dramatic. Second-best is the hour after sunset, when the sky goes pink-purple and you can see the Milky Way coming up.
Avoid: weekend afternoons in summer, when locals come out and you might find yourself sharing a small pool with people you don't know. Not bad — just not solitude.
What to bring
- Water shoes. The creek bed is a mix of mud, gravel, and the occasional sharp rock. Walking barefoot is fine for confident foot people; the rest of us bring shoes.
- Towel and a dry change. No facilities, no bathhouse. Change in your car or behind a sage.
- Drinking water. Geothermal water is not for drinking. Bring more than you think you need — high desert heat sneaks up.
- A trash bag. Pack out what you pack in. The springs stay good only because most visitors leave them better than they found them.
The second pool
Most people stop at the first pool from the parking pull-off. Walk upstream another five minutes and there is a smaller, deeper pool that holds the right temperature for longer. Don't share this with us — it stays good because it stays quiet.
The neighbor — Bog Hot
About 24 miles up the road, near the Oregon line, sits Bog Hot Springs. Hotter (135°F at source), more primitive, fewer people. Combine the two for a half-day hot-springs loop. Bog needs a bit more car than McDermitt — we'll tell you what's been graded recently.
If you read this and decided to come — book the room first. We are the only beds for 70 miles in either direction, and on summer weekends we sell out.