Dirty Sock Hot Spring

USA / California / Olancha /
 hot spring, cistern
GONE.
A return visit in April 2009 revealed that Dirty Sock Hot Spring is no more.
Where there had been a lonely, isolated little pond, there is now a fairly large mining operation.

Once maintained as a county park, by 1980 the site had been abandoned and all that remained was the cistern, serving as a cement lined soaking pool 65 feet in diameter and four to five feet deep. There are no restrictions on public access, but you will seldom find any bathers here because the water is not all that hot (90 degrees at best) and the water has an "unclean" appearance due to the heavy growth of algae. Hence the name "dirty sock."
Photo by Hamish Reid.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   36°19'45"N   117°56'57"W
This article was last modified 15 years ago