Vichy Springs Resort

Vichy Springs Resort sits in the hills just east of Ukiah in Mendocino County, at 2605 Vichy Springs Road. The operator dates it to 1854 and calls it the oldest ongoing resort of its kind in California and the oldest continuing business in Mendocino County. The state lists it as California Historical Landmark No. 980, registered in 1988. The state's landmark text says Frank Marble discovered the springs in 1848, that William Day set up a resort in the 1850s, and that its thermal, alkaline-carbonated water is the only mineral spring in California that resembles the Grand Grille spring at Vichy, France. The draw is the Vichy baths. The operator describes them as naturally carbonated mineral baths at 90°F (32°C), filled from the adjacent spring source into tubs well over a century old. There are fourteen tubs, four outdoors and ten inside. That makes this a warm soak, not a hot one. NOAA's thermal springs survey lists Vichy Springs at 85°F. For heat, the resort has an in-ground communal hot pool at 104°F, filled with water from a cold deep mineral source that is diverted and heated. A 25-meter swimming pool is unheated and open May through October. A 30-minute hike on the resort's trails reaches the cold natural pool at the base of Chemisal Falls. Day use runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 2026 rates are $45 for two hours or less, $65 for three hours or less, and $110 for a full day, or $55 for a full day when you book a spa treatment. During holiday periods only two-hour day use is offered. Each guest checks in with a $110 deposit and settles up on the way out. Towels and bathing suits rent for $3 each, and breakfast is $21. Bathing suits are required in all facilities. Pets are not allowed anywhere on the property, including the parking lot, and every room and building is non-smoking. Overnight guests in the resort's 26 rooms and cottages get the baths, pools and grounds from 3 p.m. check-in until noon check-out, and everyone can walk the 700-acre private reserve. Three cottages built in 1852 are still in use.

Sources: vichysprings.com (1), vichysprings.com (2), vichysprings.com (3), vichysprings.com (4), vichysprings.com (5), vichysprings.com (6), ohp.parks.ca.gov, doi.pangaea.de

In Ukiah, California, Vichy Springs Resort sits under a quarter mile from pavement. Not a backcountry pool — developed resort or spa, on the operator's own site. Sources on file put the water around 90°F (warm). The listed price band is $$ and the listing records lodging on-site, massage/spa and food on-site. Clothing rule on file: clothing required, on the operator's own site.