Keough's Hot Springs
Bishop (Hwy 395) · near Bishop (7 miles) · Eastern Sierra
Swimming & Hot Springs
At a glance
- Temperature
- 86–104°F
- Cost
- Developed pool: day-use fee (check current rates) · Hot Ditch: FREE
- Season
- Year-round · The developed pool has posted hours; the ditch never closes
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Safety
- The developed pool is family-run and lifeguarded seasonally. At the Hot Ditch, test temperatures before entering — flows shift. Broken glass occasionally appears; wear sandals.
Swimming & Hot Springs detail
- Nickname
- Bishop's Historic Pool + the Free Hot Ditch
- Type
- hot-spring
- Temp
- hot
- Clothing optional
- No
- Directions
- 7 miles south of Bishop on Hwy 395, turn west on Keough Hot Springs Road. The historic resort is at the road's end. The free 'Hot Ditch' — the spring's outflow channel — is reached from the dirt pullouts off the road before the resort.
- Pools
- Developed: a 100-year-old, 100+ ft historic swimming pool (~86–90°F) plus a hotter soaking pool (~104°F), both spring-fed with a snack bar and camping. Free: the Hot Ditch's warm creek pools on BLM land below.
- Intl tip
- Bishop is the Eastern Sierra's hub town — Erick Schat's Bakery, Great Basin Bakery, and the best gear shops on Hwy 395. Keough's pairs with the Buttermilk boulders (climbing guide) and Lower Rock Creek (MTB guide) for the definitive Bishop day.
The guide
Keough's is the Eastern Sierra's two-for-one: a historic, family-run hot springs resort — its enormous spring-fed swimming pool…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Keough's Hot Springs — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.255, -118.373