Lightfeather Hot Spring

Lightfeather Hot Spring is a primitive spring on the Middle Fork of the Gila River in the Gila National Forest, near Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in southwest New Mexico. The National Park Service puts it about 3/4 mile, a twenty-minute walk, from the Gila Visitor Center along Trail 157, the Middle Fork Trail. The Forest Service lists the southern Middle Fork trailhead just past the visitor center at the Cliff Dwellings, about 1 hour 45 minutes north of Silver City on NM 15. The trail is open year-round, charges no fee, and is for non-motorized, non-mechanized use. It lies inside the Gila Wilderness, so Leave No Trace practices apply. The nearest services are about 45 miles south in Silver City. The Park Service's self-guided hiking notes say you cross the river twice before reaching the springs, and that the average depth at both crossings is about 24 inches. Weather and river conditions change, so ask at the visitor center before you go. The spring flows from the base of a hill in a steep canyon and pulses out of the ground in roughly one-minute bursts at about 130°F, according to the Park Service; NOAA's thermal springs list records an unnamed hot spring at this spot at 149°F. Either way, that is scalding. The Park Service advises avoiding the source and soaking instead in the rock-lined pools that visitors and local residents build and maintain in the Middle Fork, where the hot water mixes with the river. Geothermal heat can also make some riverbed rocks hot. NPS calls the Gila springs sweet springs: high in minerals but lacking salt and sulfur and the usual sulfur smell, and sought out for generations, as far back as the Mogollon. The Park Service also warns that hot springs here may contain an amoeba that can cause a fatal form of meningitis, so do not get the water up your nose.

Sources: nps.gov (1), nps.gov (2), fs.usda.gov

Lightfeather Hot Spring (Gila Hot Springs, New Mexico) is mapped within a quarter mile of drivable access. Backcountry and undeveloped, according to what is on the operator's own site. The water here is reported at 130°F. Entry is free and nothing on file lists any amenities. The clothing field is unverified — ask the operator or land manager.