Geologic interpretive site and recreation area popular for fishing, swimming, hiking, bird watching, and photography activities

General Information

Hours:

Open daily year-round from sunrise to sunset

Fees:

No fees

Wilderness permits are required for overnight trips

Pet Policy:

Pets allowed

Closest cities with hotels:

Mammoth Lakes, 10 miles

Seasons:

Spring, Summer, Fall

During the winter months you may access Hot Creek by Snowmobile, Snowshoe, or Cross-Country Skiing.

Address:

Hot Creek Hatchery Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

Website:

fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recarea/?recid=20414

Location:

Website:

Rating:

★ 5.0

MAMMOTH LAKES Weather Forecast

How to Get There

From Mammoth Lakes: Continue to CA-203 E/Main St. Follow CA-203 E and US-395 S to Hot Creek Hatchery Rd. Drive to Hot Creek Hatchery Rd/Hot Creek Overlook Rd.

Overview

Hot Creek, starting as Mammoth Creek, is a stream in Mono County of eastern California. It is within the Inyo National Forest.

Course

The creek begins its course in the eastern Sierra Nevada named as Mammoth Creek. It originates as an outflow of Twin Lakes, just south of Mammoth Mountain and above the town of Mammoth Lakes. The stream is primarily sourced from melted snow water at 8,500 feet (2,600 m) above sea level. It is quite cold, rarely being above 50 °F (10 °C).

Hot Creek

As Mammoth Creek leaves the Sierra and flows east into the Long Valley Caldera it is joined by warmer water from geothermal springs at the Hot Creek State Fish Hatchery. From this confluence the stream is named Hot Creek, though its water temperature seldom exceeds 68 °F (20 °C) until it reaches Hot Creek Gorge, 8 miles (13 km) east of Mammoth Lakes. In the Hot Creek Gorge, numerous hot springs near and in the stream bed add hot water into the stream. Its mouth is at the confluence with the Owens River upstream from Crowley Lake.

Access

The Hot Creek Gorge area of Hot Creek is managed by the U.S. Inyo National Forest as a geologic interpretive site and recreation area. It is popular for fishing, swimming, hiking, bird watching, and photography activities.

Dangers and recent activity

Hot Creek in the Hot Creek Gorge section can harbor dangers as the locations, discharge rates, and temperatures of springs often change. The changes can be sudden and dangerous to unprepared visitors (especially if entering beyond walkways and fences).

Since May 2006, springs in and near the most popular swimming areas have been geysering or intermittently spurting very hot, sediment-laden water as high as 6 feet (2 m) above the stream surface. At times this geysering activity is vigorous enough to produce "popping" sounds audible from hundreds of feet away. The geysering usually lasts a few seconds and occurs at irregular intervals, with several minutes between eruptions. Fumaroles, or steam vents, are also located in the gorge. They can occur in the ground beyond the creek bed. The unpredictability of this hazardous spring activity led the U.S. Forest Service to close parts of the Hot Creek Gorge in June 2006,

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hot Creek (Mono County)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.