Imagine pockets of steam rising from a sagebrush plain surrounded by mountains in all directions. That lovely setting is exactly what visitors will find at Wild Willy’s Hot Springs in the Long Valley Caldera south of Mammoth Lakes. Long Valley is home to one of California’s highest concentrations of geothermal surface water. That also means a handful of inviting hot springs welcoming any time of year.
Found at the end of a seemingly out of place boardwalk, Wild Willy’s (also known as Crowley Hot Springs) is made up of two hot spring pools surrounded by a dramatic backdrop – the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada to the west and the Glass Mountain Ridge to the east. Water temperature ranges between 95 and 105 degrees, varying slightly from day to day. The larger pool is the main draw being deeper and and able to hold a handful of people comfortably, while the smaller pool is slightly warmer and shallower, and pretty much maxed out with two soakers. The pools have a natural appearance about them, although both have been reinforced with cement and slightly built up.
