Green Creek to Buckeye Hot Springs Circuit
Hoover Wilderness, near Bridgeport · near Bridgeport · Eastern Sierra
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 40 miles
- Elevation gain
- 7,500 ft
- Time needed
- multi-day · long-haul
- Best season
- July–September
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- Humboldt-Toiyabe / Hoover Wilderness permit via Recreation.gov (Green Creek trailhead), reservable ahead with walk-up availability. This is a lesser-known corner of the Eastern Sierra — permits are far easier to get than the marquee trailheads to the south.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 2 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Wild backcountry hot springs · Barney Lake & Robinson Creek · Golden aspen in fall · Genuine solitude
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Nights
- 3–5
- Resupply
- None needed. Bear canister required (Hoover Wilderness).
- Intl tip
- The developed Buckeye Hot Springs near the trailhead is a well-known roadside soak, but the real magic is the undeveloped pools deeper in the drainage — treat every wild spring with Leave No Trace care and never use soap in or near them. Bridgeport's Travertine Hot Springs is a worthy pre- or post-trip soak with a view.
- Nickname
- A Backcountry Hot-Springs Circuit
The guide
This is the trip for the backpacker who has done the famous loops and wants to disappear. Starting from the Green Creek trailhe…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Green Creek to Buckeye Hot Springs Circuit — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.12, -119.42