Harbin Hot Springs
Middletown (Lake County) · near Middletown / Calistoga · SF Bay Area
Swimming & Hot Springs
At a glance
- Temperature
- Cold plunge to ~110°F
- Cost
- Day passes from ~$40 (6 hours) + small membership fee · Overnight camping, dorms, and cottages available · Reservations required
- Season
- Year-round
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Safety
- Silence is kept in the pool area; phones are prohibited. The famously hot pool (~110°F) rewards short, careful soaks.
Swimming & Hot Springs detail
- Nickname
- The Rebuilt Sanctuary
- Type
- hot-spring
- Temp
- hot
- Clothing optional
- Yes
- Directions
- 18 miles north of Calistoga via Hwy 29 to Middletown, then Harbin Springs Road. About 2 hours from San Francisco. Reserve online before arriving — walk-ins are not guaranteed.
- Pools
- A ladder of pools from cold plunge to very hot, rebuilt after the 2015 Valley Fire — including the renovated trellis area with hot plunge, a warm ADA-accessible main pool, sauna, and the sacred silent hot pool. 1,700 acres of grounds with yoga, massage, and trails.
- Intl tip
- Middletown sits between Calistoga's wine country (20 minutes) and Clear Lake. Combine Harbin with a Calistoga mud bath day or Lake County's uncrowded wineries for a full unwind weekend.
The guide
Harbin is Northern California's iconic soaking sanctuary — a clothing-optional, silence-in-the-pools retreat in the Mayacamas h…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Harbin Hot Springs — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.786, -122.654