Gila Hot Springs is a tiny village on the Gila River in the mountains of southwest New Mexico, on the road to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. The Park Service says the volcanism that built this country left several hot springs in the surrounding national forest, and the two soaks here could hardly be more different. Lightfeather Hot Spring is a free wilderness spring you reach on foot, with river crossings, where people soak in rock pools in the Middle Fork. Gila Hot Springs Campground is a paid, family-run campground in the village with three built pools you can drive to. Pick Lightfeather for a wild soak near the visitor center. Pick the campground for a predictable hot pool, a campsite, and no wading.
Lightfeather Hot Spring
Lightfeather Hot Spring is free to soak. It is a 0.75-mile hike, about twenty minutes, from the Gila Visitor Center on Trail 157, the Middle Fork Trail, inside the Gila Wilderness. The Forest Service lists no fee for the trail and keeps it open year-round for non-motorized use. The Park Service says you cross the Middle Fork twice on the way, at an average depth of about 24 inches, so ask at the visitor center about river levels before you go.
The spring pulses out of the base of a hill at about 130°F, according to the Park Service, and NOAA's survey lists a hot spring at this spot at 149°F. That source is scalding. Stay away from it and soak in the rock-lined pools in the river, which visitors and local residents build and maintain, where the hot water mixes with the cold. Some riverbed rocks can be hot too. The Park Service warns that a rare amoeba can live in warm water here, so keep your head above the surface.
Gila Hot Springs Campground
Gila Hot Springs Campground is a paid soak on private land, on a paved road a regular car can use. It has three pools with natural rock rims and gravel bottoms, and the operator says the water normally runs 101°F to 104°F. NOAA lists the Gila Hot Springs source at 151°F. The New Mexico Bureau of Geology notes that a flowing well also heats buildings in the village, and no source says which water fills the pools.
Day visitors pay $8 per person for up to 2 hours, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., with no reservation and groups of six or fewer. Camping is $12 per person per night and includes the pools after dark. Payment is cash or check only, and the nearest ATM is in Silver City. Suits are required in daylight, and the pools are clothing-optional after dark if everyone in the pool agrees. There is no electricity, and Doc Campbell's Post, 0.4 miles away, sells gas, food and supplies.