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Buckeye is a well-known and heavily visited spring. Looking down from the parking area above the creek you can see some of the rock pools that catch the hot water running off the travertine mound in the left side of the photo. Buckeye hot spring is often a favorite. I personally prefer deeper pools, but have to admit for accessibility and overall cleanliness, you can’t beat the clean sand of this creek swept beach.
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At the top of the hill leading down to the creek, a couple higher sources feed a pair of smaller pools. The first pool is a bit cool and muddy for my tastes. The 2nd in the background under the tree is warmer and nicer being made from stones and concrete. The 2nd pool even has a drain pipe to facilitate cleaning. When the water level in the creek is high, these two pools would be your only choice for soaking. The trail to the lower pools is also a bit treacherous, these pools could be very attractive to people who are not up for a steep scramble down the slippery dirt trail!
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Looking upstream from the lower pools, you can see how runoff from the springs have turned the whole bank green. Footing is marshy through here, it’s better to risk the hard, steep trail leading straight down the bank to the lower pools.
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High water during spring runoff undercuts the travertine creating a mini-cave under the bank. The water streaming off the travertine is about 110 degrees and offers a refreshing hot shower while out camping! You can soak under the overhang or bask in the sun here and if you get too hot, the cold river is just one rock away. Most visitors to this spring prefer sans-clothing bathing. Being popular, this is considered a “public” spring as well. Though the crowd is unfailingly friendly, this is not the place to soak if you are squeamish about nudity!
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Like any other spring though, if you arrive mid-day and mid-week, you stand a good chance of having the springs all to yourself for an hour or two. We usually have to drag the kids out of the springs before they parboil their brains. I’m quite sure they would spend all day wallowing back and forth between the cold water and the warm water if we let them!
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