I love exploring the mountains as many of you may know...

and one of the most rewarding destinations is a hot springs!

Luckily here in California, due to the volcanic activity in our geologic past, we have lots of great hot springs! Of course many of them are made into fancy resorts, blocked by private property, or so easily accessed that they get crowded and can turn into a dump. But if you know me, the hot springs that I like to find are the ones WAY out in the mountains, the ones that are rarely visited or maintained.

In this adventure my destination was the hottest hot spring in southern California...
Sespe hot springs!

I had heard about these springs from a friend and fellow hot spring lover, my buddy Jeff from L.A. Swimmin', and I was really intrigued. So I got my gear packed up, loaded up the dogs and headed out for an adventure. I drove out to Lockwood valley and got to the dirt road that leads to the trailhead and...

closed for the winter.

Damn... I knew that they did close the road sometimes, but I figured that was just when it had snow. But there had been no snow yet so I had thought it would still be open... Feeling discouraged I thought about changing my plans, but being the determined person that I am I said "hell nah, I can do this, I'm hiking the road"! So the hike that was supposed to be only 8 miles from Johnston ridge to the springs was now going to be 14 miles longer for a total of 22 miles! I was packed for multiple days so I knew I could do it, but again being that determined me I still set out for the full 22 mile trek on my first day!

While I'm usually not a big fan of hiking dirt roads, this was an area I had never seen so along the walk I really enjoyed all the new scenery. The road headed up over San Guillermo mountain dropped down through Grade valley and then followed Piru creek to Halfmoon meadow and the Johnston ridge trailhead where the real trail began.

Views from San Guillermo mountain

Overlooking Grade Valley

Piru Creek

Piru Creek

Johnston Ridge trailhead

After a quick lunch break at the trailhead we started down the trail. We crossed Mutau creek and got out onto the ridge. We got some good views overlooking Hot springs canyon, but what we saw is that we had a LONG way down still to go and being winter the days are short and I knew our daylight was getting limited. So we picked up the pace and booked it on down that ridge! Lots of steep sections, but all in all it was a good trail. As we dropped I just kept thinking about how we were going to have to climb back up all of that! We got to the bottom of the canyon and to the hot creek and headed upstream to find a place to camp. We found a good spot for the tent and got it setup just before it was totally dark. We were pretty exhausted from the long trek, and after making some dinner we were headed to bed early.

Overlooking hot springs canyon (the hot springs is way down in the bottom behind that big flat meadow)

Views from Bradford Ridge

The next morning I started exploring the area. The first place I wanted to check out was the main hot water source. In the canyon there were many hot water sources all over including one up on the mountainside that came down the cliff in a little waterfall. I headed up stream and found the main source and there was a huge cloud of steam rising off the water. I got my thermometer and I measured the source temperature at almost 200 degrees fahrenheit!!!! Luckily there is also a cold water source that combines with the hot water just above my camp that was good for getting cool water to drink and made some perfect temperature hot tubs! After checking out the hot springs area I decided to make the hike down to the Sespe river and spent the day hiking along the river finding swimming holes. Then I headed back to the hot springs and spent the rest of the day soaking in the hot creek.

Measuring the temperature

My camp

The old Sespe camp in lower Hot Spring canyon

The Sespe river

Sespe river

Nice swimming hole in the river

Devil's Heart peak towering over the Sespe river

Evening at the hot creek

The next morning I decided to pack up camp. With the big climb out of the canyon and the long miles I decided to split the hike out into two days. We hiked back up Johnston ridge. I took my time and enjoyed the views. From there we went back by Mutau flat, crossed Mutau creek, made our way back to the trailhead and then down the dirt road to Piru creek at Halfmoon meadow where we made our camp at the campground there. We got there fairly early and I was glad because it's a really nice area and I was happy to have plenty of time to just walk around the meadow and relax at the camp.

Views from Johnston ridge

Redtail Hawk

Overlooking Hot Springs canyon

San Rafael peak from Johnston ridge

Overlooking Mutau flats

Halfmoon meadow

Piru creek

Camping at Halfmoon

The next morning we packed up camp and started our 14 mile march on the dirt road. Back up Piru creek, through Grade valley, over San Guillermo mountain, and back down into Lockwood valley where we began this awesome adventure!

Hiking on the dirt road

Getting back to Lockwood valley

Headed home

Thanks for reading!!

Youtube video -

Thanks for watching!

All photos and videos taken by @derekrichardson

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