The Nevada hot springs road trip — 25 soaks in the freest state in America

The numbers: why Nevada is the free-soak capital

• 25 springs, 25 open. Nevada is the largest state in the directory with a 100% open rate right now. Nobody here is closed, and nobody is pretending.
• 20 free to soak. Of the 25, only three charge anything: Carson Hot Springs ($$), HOT SPRINGS RANCH ($$), and Steamboat Hot Springs Healing Center & Spa ($$$). Two more cost nothing but aren't counted as soaks: Trego Hot Springs, under a BLM health advisory, and Double Hot Springs, a viewing-only spring with fenced, scalding pools (see Leg 2). An almost-all-free Nevada trip isn't a budget hack — it's the default.
• 21 primitive/backcountry, 3 resort/spa, 1 viewing-only. The free side is wild and minimal; the paid side is three buildings; Double is for looking at. Choose your texture.
• Temperatures run 97–205°F across all 25 springs with recorded data. Steamboat averages 205°F — the hottest reading in Nevada and one of the hottest in the country. At the other end, Pearl Hot Springs sits at 97°F, barely above body temperature. Vent temperatures here are the most extreme in the directory, so the section on testing water below is not optional.
• No clothing-optional soaks. Trego Hot Springs is the one Nevada spring with a clothing-optional tradition, but BLM advises avoiding any contact with its water (2020 advisory), so our directory doesn't count it as a soak. Everywhere in Nevada, suits are the assumption; our clothing-optional etiquette guide covers the springs elsewhere.
• 6 springs need real high-clearance or 4x4: Hot Springs in Eureka County, Spencer Hot Springs, Smith Ranch Hot Springs, Soldier Meadows Hot Springs, and — out on the Black Rock Desert — Black Rock Hot Springs and Double Hot Springs, where BLM recommends high-clearance vehicles with off-road tires and spares. Three more sit on dirt roads listed for a regular car: Trego Hot Springs and Dyke Hot Springs are dirt roads that some guides say a regular car can manage when dry; others recommend high clearance, and both roads can turn impassable after rain. Hot Springs Ranch is the third — about 10 miles of dirt after leaving U.S. 50, listed as sedan clearance. Goldstrike Hot Springs near Boulder City is a canyon hike rather than a drive-up. The other 15 sit on paved roads.
• 3 have campgrounds on site — Alkali Flat, Spencer, and Soldier Meadows — which is what makes the free-trip version logistically possible. Trego has no campground: camp on the surrounding BLM land at least 300 feet from the spring, as Friends of Black Rock-High Rock asks.
• 21 qualify as winter-accessible in our analysis — open, soakable, averaging at least 100°F, within a quarter mile of a drivable road. Pearl misses on temperature, Goldstrike misses because the spring itself sits just over a quarter mile from the nearest mapped road, and Trego and Double miss because they aren't counted as soaks. Black Rock still counts, but its dirt and playa road needs high clearance and is passable only when dry; see Leg 2. Nevada is already in our winter-soaking snowbelt set; see the winter hot springs guide.

Leg 1: The Reno–Carson corridor — the easy long weekend

This is the leg you run first and the one you can do in a normal car in three days, base-camped in Reno. Start at Steamboat Hot Springs Healing Center & Spa just south of Reno (205°F average, $$$, rated 4.6 across 528 reviews) — the hottest, the priciest, and the best-reviewed resort in the state. It's the splurge anchor; everything else on this leg is cheaper.

A few miles away, Moana Hot Springs (199°F, free, rated 3.3 across 10 reviews) is the honest counterpoint — primitive, free, and genuinely hot, with reviews that suggest it's rougher around the edges than the rating implies. Check it with a thermometer before you get in; see the practical notes.

West of Reno in Mogul, Lawtons Hot Springs (120°F, free, 3.3 from 10 reviews) is a quieter stop on the way toward California. Then drop south into Carson City for the corridor's best two. Carson Hot Springs ($$, 120°F, rated 4.4 across 2,051 reviews) is the most-reviewed spring in Nevada by a factor of four — the crowd has spoken, and the crowd keeps going back. A mile away, Bowers Mansion Hot Spring (133°F, free) is the free counterweight on a historic estate. Its 5.0 rating rests on a single review, so treat it as a pleasant stop, not a promise.

Finish the leg with Saratoga Hot Spring (122°F, free, 2.4 from 17 reviews) south of Carson City — and go in with clear eyes: it's one of the lowest-rated springs in the state, but it's free, it's open, and on a long weekend it fills a day. If you're coming from the east, Patua Hot Springs near Fernley (187°F, free, 3.0 from 12) slots into this leg as the Fernley add-on — hot water, mixed reviews, zero cost.

Leg 2: The Black Rock Desert and the northwest — the wild leg

This is why Nevada exists. The Black Rock Desert — Burning Man's home turf — sits on one of the great geothermal provinces of North America, and the springs out here feel discovered rather than visited. The three best known are for looking at, not soaking in, and none of them is a paved-road drive. Give this leg four to five days and carry water, food, fuel and spare tires like you mean it: BLM says there is no cell signal and no potable water in the conservation area; Gerlach is the gateway town for fuel and supplies. The dirt and playa roads are passable only when dry; never drive on wet playa, because it can be days before anyone else comes by.

Trego Hot Springs (187°F, no fee, clothing-optional tradition, rated 4.0 across 58 reviews) is a ditch of hot water dug out when the railroad was built, on the east side of the playa off Jungo Road. It comes with a health warning. In June 2020 BLM reported that the spring water tested positive for E. coli, fecal coliforms and Vibrio cholerae, and advised the public to avoid bathing or any type of contact with it. BLM says its warning signs have been vandalized or torn down. The Black Rock Field Office still links that advisory, and we found no notice lifting it, so don't plan to soak at Trego; our directory doesn't count it as a soak. There is no campground and there are no facilities; camp on the surrounding BLM land at least 300 feet from the spring.

Double Hot Springs (178°F, no fee, viewing only, 4.3 from 7 reviews) is fenced. Its source pools run about 180°F with steep, slippery banks, and Friends of Black Rock-High Rock says people and dogs have died after falling in. Keep dogs leashed and children close, and look from the path. The only soaking tub, about 50 yards downstream, is on private property, so we list Double as viewing only. Black Rock Hot Springs (136°F, free, 4.3 from 15 reviews) sits about a tenth of a mile northwest of Black Rock Point, a landmark on the Applegate Trail. Of its two overlapping pools, the smaller, deeper one should not be entered, and the larger, shallower one is also very hot. Black Rock and Double are reached on dirt roads along the playa, and our data flags both as high clearance. Trego is on a dirt road too, with two unmarked railroad crossings if you come across the playa. Before you go, check BLM's annual Burning Man closures: in 2026, part of the playa (about 10,185 acres) stays closed through October 10 (BLM closure order).

North of the trio, Dyke Hot Springs (free, 3.6 from 15; reached on a county dirt road off US-140 along the Pine Forest Range; NOAA lists the source at 158°F, hot enough to scald, so test any pool first) and Paradise Valley Hot Spring (135°F, free, 4.1 from 61) push the leg deeper into Humboldt County. Paradise Valley is the sleeper of the northwest — the rating holds up across 61 reviews, and it's one of the better-maintained free pools in the region.

The deep cut is Soldier Meadows Hot Springs (127°F, free, 4.2 from 18 reviews, campground on site) — it requires high clearance or 4x4 like Black Rock and Double, it's genuinely remote, and the payoff is one of the best-regarded wild soaks in Nevada. Pair it with a night at the onsite campground. East on I-80, Golconda Hot Springs (165°F, free, 2.1 from 9) closes the leg — hot water, weak reviews, and free. Lower your expectations or skip it; the northwest already gave you better.

Leg 3: The Great Basin spine and the southern arc — the long haul

The middle of Nevada runs on geothermal, and the springs here are strung along US-50, I-80, and the southern desert highways in a line that wants a full week and a willingness to keep driving. Spencer Hot Springs (162°F, free, 4.1 from 138 reviews, campground on site) near Austin is the leg's anchor and one of the best-reviewed free soaks in the entire state — but note it before you go: the access road requires high clearance or 4x4, and the free campground is what makes the trip work.

East of Austin, watch the names. HOT SPRINGS RANCH ($$, 156°F) in Eureka is a paid ranch stay with no review data in our system — you can't vouch for it from the data, so price it against the free options before committing. Hot Springs in Eureka County (108°F, free, 4.4 from 17 reviews, high clearance/4x4) is a completely different, free, well-liked wild spring. Same region, same family of names, opposite propositions. Double-check which one you're driving to.

Continue east to Elko Hot Springs (190°F, free, 2.4 from 7) — the temperature demands respect (see the vent-temperature notes) and the rating demands modesty. Smith Ranch Hot Springs in Ruby Valley (117°F, free, 3.9 from 18) closes the middle: pleasant, remote, and one of the state's high-clearance springs.

The southern arc drops down through the empty quarter. Alkali Flat Hot Spring (140°F, free, 3.9 from 93 reviews, campground on site) in Esmeralda County is the arc's best bet — the review count says people actually go there, and the campground makes it a real overnight. Silver Peak Hot Springs (118°F, free, 1.0 from 3 reviews) is the statistical worst-rated spring in Nevada; go only if you're completing the set. Pearl Hot Springs (97°F, free, 1.2 from 5) is the state's coolest spring — lukewarm is honest here, not insulting. Finish southeast at Caliente Hot Springs (118°F, free, 3.9 from 15), the pleasant town stop that sends you home on a good note.

The southern edge has one spring this loop does not drive you to. Goldstrike Hot Springs (free) is in Gold Strike Canyon just before the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The National Park Service lists it as 5.3 miles round trip and a very strenuous Grade 2 canyoneering route. The trail closes every year from May 15 through September 30, and whenever Willow Beach is forecast at 95°F or hotter; the springs stay reachable by water on Lake Mohave. A park pass is required. Pooled water there has tested high for fecal bacteria and can contain Naegleria amoebas — do not drink it or put your head under. NOAA's survey records a vent near the coordinate at 145°F, which is a source temperature, not a pool to assume is safe.

The 20-free strategy

Nevada makes the free-trip math almost boring: 20 of 25 springs are free and every one of them is open, so the only question is which three paid stops you'd actually want. Carson Hot Springs ($$, 4.4 from 2,051 reviews) is the one the crowd validates — pay there. Steamboat ($$$, 4.6 from 528) is the one the experience validates — pay there once for the 205°F source water and the full setup. HOT SPRINGS RANCH ($$) is the one nobody in our data can validate — skip it unless the ranch stay itself is the draw.

The free list carries the trip: Spencer (4.1/138), Alkali Flat (3.9/93), Paradise Valley (4.1/61), Soldier Meadows (4.2/18), Black Rock (4.3/15; look, don't enter the deeper pool), Hot Springs in Eureka County (4.4/17), Caliente (3.9/15), Smith Ranch (3.9/18), Bowers Mansion, Dyke, Golconda, Elko, Lawtons, Saratoga, Patua, Moana, Pearl, Silver Peak, Potts Ranch (Potts Ranch, 113°F, free, 3.0 from 3 — the quiet one), and Goldstrike near Boulder City, which has no review count in this directory yet. Trego and Double cost nothing too, but they're off this list: Trego is under a BLM health advisory and Double is viewing only. Our free hot springs guide covers the national picture; Nevada is the state where the strategy needs the fewest caveats — the big one is on Leg 2, where Black Rock's deeper pool should not be entered and its road is dry-weather only. The only paid water worth scheduling around is Carson and Steamboat, both on Leg 1.

Where the money goes

Three springs charge money, and reviewers are decisive about the ranking. Carson Hot Springs at $$ leads at 4.4 from 2,051 reviews — the most-reviewed spring in Nevada, and the rating is stable enough at that volume to trust. Steamboat Hot Springs Healing Center & Spa at $$$ follows at 4.6 from 528 — the highest-rated paid experience in the state and the only $$$ band soak, justified by the source water and the full spa setup. HOT SPRINGS RANCH at $$ has no reviews in our data at all, which is its own kind of verdict: the directory can't tell you whether it's worth it.

The uncomfortable footnote: the state's worst-rated springs are all free — Silver Peak (1.0/3), Pearl (1.2/5), Saratoga (2.4/17), Elko (2.4/7), Golconda (2.1/9) — which is exactly the bargain Nevada offers. The duds cost nothing, the winners cost nothing (Spencer, Paradise Valley and Soldier Meadows all rate 4.0+; Black Rock does too, but read the Leg 2 cautions first), and the two places worth paying are on the easiest leg. Spend on Leg 1, soak free everywhere else, and skip the duds without guilt.

Practical notes

• Vent temperature is not pool temperature. Steamboat at 205°F, Moana at 199°F, Elko at 190°F, Patua and Trego at 187°F, Double at 178°F, Golconda at 165°F, Spencer at 162°F — these are vent readings, and several are near or above boiling at Nevada's elevations. The soakable pools are where hot flow mixes with cooler water, and they move with the season. Check the water with a thermometer before you get in, and skip any pool you can't check safely — skin contact with water this hot can scald in seconds. This matters more in Nevada than anywhere else because the numbers are the most extreme in the directory.
• Know the road before you go. Spencer, Soldier Meadows, Smith Ranch, Hot Springs in Eureka County, Black Rock and Double are flagged high-clearance/4x4 in our data. Trego and Dyke are on dirt roads that guides disagree about for a regular car, and both turn bad after rain. Hot Springs Ranch is a dirt road too — about 10 miles after leaving U.S. 50, listed as sedan clearance — so check conditions before you drive it. Goldstrike, near Boulder City, is the hike-in exception: a canyon route, not a rough road. The rest are paved-road accessible. On the Black Rock Desert, the dirt and playa roads are passable only when dry.
• The name trap. "Hot Springs" (Eureka County, free, primitive, 4x4) and "HOT SPRINGS RANCH" (Eureka, $$, ranch stay) are different springs with different propositions. Confirm the city and the price before you drive.
• No clothing-optional soak right now. Trego Hot Springs has the state's only clothing-optional tradition, but BLM's 2020 health advisory says to avoid any contact with its water. Everywhere in Nevada, suits are the assumption unless a listing says otherwise.
• Desert logistics are the real cost. The free version of this trip is cheap in dollars and expensive in preparation: water, fuel discipline, sun protection, and playa-condition awareness on Leg 2. Bring the standard kit and read the etiquette guide — the free pools stay free and open because visitors behave, and Nevada's 100% open rate is worth protecting.
• Winter is on the table. 21 of Nevada's 25 springs meet our winter-accessible bar, and the Reno–Carson corridor soaks beautifully in snow. That count leaves out Trego and Double, which aren't soaks. It includes Black Rock, whose dirt and playa road needs high clearance and is passable only when dry, so wet weather can cut it off. Call BLM's Black Rock Field Office (775-623-1500) for road and playa conditions before committing to the Black Rock Desert. Full list in the winter guide.