Our California map had a busy week. Six new listings joined the site in late October, and together they cover just about every way there is to soak in this state: a state park pool in an alpine meadow, two historic wine country resorts, a pair of Desert Hot Springs spas, and a revived border town resort down near Mexico. If you have been waiting for a reason to plan a soak, here are six fresh ones.
The Good House, Desert Hot Springs
The Good House is the quiet end of Desert Hot Springs: a small boutique retreat built for slowing down, in a town that was quite literally built on mineral water rising along the faults. It is the kind of place where the soak is the whole itinerary. The property’s own team sent us their write-up and photos for this listing, so what you see on the page is the place as it presents itself, and it earns its spot as the calm option in a town full of bigger resorts.
Tuscan Springs Hotel & Spa, Desert Hot Springs
A few minutes away, Tuscan Springs Hotel & Spa brings the bigger resort feel to the same Desert Hot Springs mineral water. Between this and The Good House, the town now shows its full range on one page of search results: boutique hideaway at one end, full resort at the other, and long established names like Two Bunch Palms in between. In season, weekends book up across town, so reserve ahead rather than rolling in on a Friday and hoping.
Grover Hot Springs State Park, Markleeville
Grover Hot Springs is the mountain soak of the batch. The state park sits in an alpine meadow on the east side of the Sierra, four miles west of Markleeville in Alpine County, surrounded by pine forest and granite peaks. The pool complex pairs a hot mineral pool, fed by six springs, with a cooler swimming pool, and the park adds a campground, picnic areas and hiking trails for anyone who wants to earn the soak first. Pool days and hours vary outside summer, so check with the park before making the drive.
Indian Springs Calistoga, Calistoga
Indian Springs Calistoga has been soaking travelers since the 19th century, and it shows in the best way. The resort spreads across 17 palm and olive dotted acres at the north end of Napa Valley, and its centerpiece is the Olympic sized mineral pool built in 1910, fed by four thermal geysers on the property. The spa is famous across wine country for its volcanic ash mud baths. This is one of California’s original spa resorts, and its listing finally gives it a proper home on this site.
Golden Haven, Calistoga
Golden Haven gives Calistoga a second new listing in the same week, which feels right for a town that exists because of hot water. Where Indian Springs is the grand historic resort, Golden Haven is the smaller, come-as-you-are spa side of the same tradition: mineral pools and mud treatments in the middle of town, an easy add to a wine country weekend rather than the whole reason for it. Between the two of them, plus the Calistoga names already on the site, the town’s soaking scene is now properly mapped.
Jacumba Hot Springs, Jacumba
Down near the Mexican border, southeast of San Diego, Jacumba Hot Springs has revived its historic mineral resort, giving the high desert a proper soak again. Jacumba was a destination a century ago, faded, and has been coming back in recent years. Its listing rounds out the six with the road trip option: big skies, border country, and hot water at the end of the drive.
Find Your Next Soak
Six new listings, six different Californias: alpine, wine country, desert resort town and border country. Whether you want a quiet boutique pool, a state park soak after a hike, or a historic resort that has been at it since the 1800s, the new pages are a good place to start planning. Pick the one that fits your next free weekend, check the listing for current hours and booking details, and go get in the water.
