I decided this year to get some pictures of our natural mineral springs that we frequent almost daily. It has been upgraded this year by the BLM who actually owns the land. It is nestled in the palm trees right off of Hwy 8 going to Yuma. Many of the truckers stop by and soak for awhile during down time and it is well used by the locals from Holtville.

Natural Mineral Hot Springs

The fence was added this year as were paintings of the tubs. The tub is cleaned every Tuesday am by draining and bleaching so it generally keeps pretty clean. Everyone is advised to rinse off prior to entry to the tubs and being in street clothing is not recommended. There is however no nude bathing.

Rinsing off under the large shower wand

Jerry is rinsing off prior to getting in. The hot water comes from the large wand that can be moved over into the tub in the forground. When we first arrived this year it was very warm-almost too warm for me but since then it has cooled a bit. The big pool is about 5ft deep and has a ladder going in. It makes all those aches & pains go away and many of the “old timers”, those who have come here for years, swear by its healing powers. Many of the folks drink the water but after reading about the amount of arsenic that can be in such water we opted not to do it. It doesn’t have a strong sulfur smell but will cloud up your teapot with minerals!

Jerry

The black hose to the left of Jerry is a on/off spigot that folks can fill their water jugs with. If you want to warm the tub up you can just turn it on and stick it in the tub also. There is a water restrictor on the pipe so the amount of hot water can be limited. I do wish they had not chosen smooth white paint for the tubs. They get slick and one has to be very careful getting in/out without falling. The tubs used to be just concrete but were much more difficult to clean so I guess this is better.

The water wand

This wand can be moved over the tub or up/down so you can shower under it prior to entering the pools. It is very frowned upon to wash your body/hair with soap as the water flows into a neighboring pond that can get very contaminated. Many of the folks who come here are canadians and they do like to swim in that little pond to get their fix of ice cold water.

It is a great little piece of paradise in the desert and we look forward to it daily. It is quite interesting to see the same people here year after year. Several go on down into Mexico after spending the holidays here but many of us go onto the craziness of Quartzsite. If you find yourself down this way just look for Van Der LInden Rd off Hwy 8 outside of Holtville,CA and you will find a piece of eden!