January 9, 2025

By Tim Briese

6.4 miles, 1100’ elevation gain, 4:45 roundtrip time

The Arizona Hot Springs are located in Northwestern Arizona in a tributary canyon of the Colorado River. It is remote and primitive. Hot water flows slowly out of the rock in a narrow canyon and has been dammed up with sandbags to create three small pools to soak in. One can hike on down the canyon past the pools a third of a mile or so to the Colorado River. We were looking forward to this unique adventure hike!

The spacious trailhead parking lot is located right along US 93 a few miles southeast of Hoover Dam on the Arizona side of the Colorado River.

We hiked down a broad wash a half mile then went left at a fork in the trail over a divide and descended into Hot Springs Canyon. It was sunny but windy and cool today.

starting on the descent into hot springs canyon

We saw a couple of informal signs advising of nudity at the springs, which I had also read about online. I didn’t suppose this would be the case in early January, but as it turned out I was wrong.

It was fun hiking down the scenic rocky canyon on gravel and sand, with a couple of places requiring minor scrambling.

the trail down into the canyon

When we approached the springs we heard voices ahead and soon stood at a corner near the edge of the first pool. It was about 15 feet wide and 20 feet long, and the water appeared to be about thigh deep or a little more. Sheer canyon walls lined each side so we would need to wade across to continue down the canyon. We weren’t interested in soaking in the pools but merely wanted to see them and continue down the canyon to the Colorado River. We backed away several feet to a flat spot to remove our boots and socks and to take valuables and phones out of our pockets and put them in our packs, since it appeared the water might come up to our pockets or higher. While I was bending over doing this I saw a naked fellow out of the corner of my eye coming from the pool and going to his pile of clothes behind me to get his water bottle. We pretended not to notice but as we approached the pool he began talking with Teresa and proceeded to give us very useful advice about how to slide down a rock to get into the first pool and to cross to the second one. He was very friendly and helpful, and respectful too, holding his small water bottle in front of his private parts. We waded across the first pool and clambered over a sandbag wall into the second pool, which was about the same size. The pleasant water was about the temperature of a standard hot tub. There were about 8 or 10 people soaking in the pools, mostly guys as well as one woman. I don’t know how many were naked, since I thought it improper to look around to take a survey, but I did notice one fellow that I waded right past had his hand respectfully covering his crotch.

looking back at people soaking in the pools

We hiked on down the ragged canyon which now held a little stream of hot water overflowing from the pools. We came to a 15 foot drop beside the third and smaller hot pool and descended a handy ladder to continue down the canyon. I remarked to Teresa, "Aren't you going to have quite the story to go home and tell your girlfriends!"

teresa at the top of the ladder, with the third soaking pool at the left

We eagerly hiked on down to the mouth of the canyon and were soon greeted by the Colorado River.

colorful vegetation near the mouth of the canyon

the colorado river

After exploring around a bit we found a nice spot to enjoy our lunch.

a nice pleasant spot for a picnic lunch

After an hour or so we began heading back up the canyon.

Most of the soakers were gone from the pools by the time we returned.

a health advisory scrawled on a rock!

We mused about what our kids might say about our hike: "What are our 70 year old parents going to do next!" This was indeed a memorable adventure! We hiked back to the trailhead and drove to Lake Havasu City for the night. We spent the next two days there, hiking along the lake and exploring the area, before heading on to Phoenix.

the london bridge in lake havasu city

lake havasu

the london bridge at night