Blayney Meadows Hot Springs

Blayney Meadows Hot Springs is a public, undeveloped hot spring in a meadow beside the South Fork of the San Joaquin River, inside the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierra National Forest. Muir Trail Ranch, the private resupply stop and guest ranch next door, describes it as a public hot spring on National Forest land, across the river from the ranch's resupply area, and the Forest Service's wilderness campfire map labels the spot Blayney Hot Springs. NOAA's thermal springs survey records the vent, spelled Blaney Meadows Hot Springs, at 109°F. That is a source reading, not a pool temperature, so test the water before you get in. No road reaches the spring. The usual start is the Florence Trailhead (J57) at Florence Lake. The Forest Service's directions from Clovis take Highway 168 to Huntington Lake, turn right at the Eastwood Visitor Station onto Kaiser Pass Road for 17 miles to the "Y", then go right on Forest Road 7S01 for 7 miles to the trailhead, which has vault toilets but no potable water. The Florence Lake Trail winds 4.3 miles around the lake to the Ferry Trail junction, and the Forest Service puts Muir Trail Ranch and the hot springs at 9.5 miles. Little water is available on the first four miles, and Boulder Creek can be difficult to cross early in the season because of snowmelt. Muir Trail Ranch says a day visit using the lake ferry is about a 10-mile round-trip hike; miss the last ferry of the day and you add about 4 miles around the lake. The last step is the river. The ranch warns that there is no bridge and no guaranteed safe way across the South Fork, especially during high runoff, and that anyone who crosses to the spring does so at their own risk. It also asks visitors not to mistake the ranch for a bathhouse: it does not rent any facilities by the hour and has no public restroom, showers or restaurant. Overnight trips into the John Muir Wilderness need a wilderness permit, which the Forest Service recommends booking on Recreation.gov under entry J57. Trailhead quotas apply year-round, and the reservation costs $6 plus $5 per person. Overnight visitors must store food in a hard-sided bear canister or counterbalance it, and campfires are not permitted above 10,000 feet. The trail's season runs June to October, snow permitting. Verizon phones get no signal anywhere near the ranch.

Sources: muirtrailranch.com, fs.usda.gov (1), fs.usda.gov (2), fs.usda.gov (3), fs.usda.gov (4), doi.pangaea.de

Hike-In (9.5 mi) is how you reach Blayney Meadows Hot Springs (Florence Lake, California); the road snap has nothing to drive to. An undeveloped backcountry pool, as described on the operator's own site. The vent reading in NOAA's thermal springs survey is 109°F. The price band on file is free and our amenity fields are blank for this listing. No clothing policy is on file — ask before you go.

Source: NOAA's thermal springs survey lists BLANEY MEADOWS HOT SPRINGS at 109°F, a reading at the vent. No agency or operator publishes a pool temperature.