Nevada offers opportunities to enjoy a dip in a hot springs

Found in every county in Nevada, hot springs indicate the high level of geological activity beneath the wrinkled skin of the Silver State. Experts list 312 hot springs in Nevada, more than in any other state in the country. A few have been harnessed for geothermal power generation, mostly in northern Nevada, such as the power plant on U.S. 395 at sulfurous Steamboat Springs south of Reno. Others across the state have potential for geothermal development, but lie far from power lines tying into the existing power grid. Their time may come.

Nevada's natural hot springs vent heated water with temperatures ranging from bathtub warm to lobster-pot boiling. Grim signs posted at some springs on Nevada's public lands warn people to test the water before plunging in. Untried hot springs can be hot enough to parboil you.

All hot or warm springs contain high concentrations of minerals. A few are formidably smelly. Historically, mineralized hot springs appeal to those whose sore or tired bodies are soothed by a hot soak or swim, as well as those brave or foolhardy souls who imbibe the mineralized water as a tonic. Since some springs contain arsenic and other possibly harmful elements, seek other sources for drinking water.

Several hot springs occur along the Colorado River and its tributary streams in Southern Nevada. Hikers and boaters along the Colorado River seek soothing soaks and warm waterfall showers in side canyons reached only from the river or by challenging trails. A popular picnic area centers on Roger's Spring near Echo Bay on Lake Mead's North Shore, where generations of Nevadans have waded and picnicked. These and many other hot springs are posted with warnings about a dangerous amoeba that enters the body through the nose, causing illness and even death. Bathers are warned to keep their heads out of the hot water and wash their faces with fresh water.

Several warm water springs and creeks provide protected habitat for tiny native fish within wildlife refuges at Warm Springs in Moapa Valley and at Ash Meadows near Amargosa. Swimmers at lukewarm Crystal Lake in the Ash Meadows area may encounter a vexing pest that causes "swimmer's itch." They are advised to towel off briskly and change into dry clothing after a dip in the lake.

Since pioneer times, hot springs drew entrepreneurs who developed facilities for visitors to "take the waters" for therapeutic purposes. The earliest of these hot springs developments exploited springs in the Carson Valley. Near Genoa, David Walley acquired an earlier development in 1862. Walley drew the rich and famous to his mineral baths, 40-room hotel, restaurant and ballroom. Walley's Hot Springs today offers expanded facilities and luxurious accommodations still centered on its six mineral pools. Carson Hot Springs Resort in Carson City also dates from territorial times, perhaps as early as 1849.

Other spas developed around Nevada include a motel and RV park in Caliente, Spanish for "hot," which might also refer to the climate, and Bailey's Hot Springs near Beatty. Guest ranches in other parts of the state feature on-site hot springs pools or creeks with ponds, nice for soaking after an active day fishing, hunting, horseback riding and other tiring, often dusty pursuits.

Since so much of Nevada is federal land, most of the state's hot springs lie undeveloped, accessible to all free of charge. All 312 springs are listed on a website -- www.hotspringsenthusiast. com/Nevada.asp -- from hottest to coolest with GPS coordinates. One of the most popular remains Ash Springs near Alamo just off U.S. 93, a recreation site since frontier times. Visitors splash in several ponds with bathtub temperatures and enjoy a picnic or barbecue in the shade of venerable cottonwoods and ash trees. Outflow waters the fields on nearby ranches. Up the highway, little Panaca boasts a warm springs pool, a little-known local favorite.

Remote Central Nevada offers explorers several hot springs with minimalist facilities. Spencer's Hot Spring in Smoky Valley southeast of Austin has pools at an old resort site. Diana's Punch Bowl, a Central Nevada landmark, features a hill with a crater filled with scalding blue water, better for photos than bathing.

Margo Bartlett Pesek's column appears Sundays.