Wild Willy’s Hot Springs – Mammoth Lakes, California

Does soaking in a hot spring surrounded by mountains sound enticing? If you’re visiting the Mammoth Lakes California area or doing a US Highway 395 road trip, the Benton Crossing area has tons of hot springs to explore. The most famous of these hot springs is Wild Willy’s Hot Springs, located just off of Benton Crossing road, not too far from US-395. How do you get to Wild Willy’s Hot Springs? Read on and I’ll answer that question as well as the ultimate question – is Wild Willy’s Hot Springs in Mammoth Lakes California worth visiting?

Wild Willy’s Hot Springs – Location and Details

Location:
Located just south of Mammoth Lakes, California, Wild Willy’s Hot Springs is located off of Benton Crossing Road. You’ll want to turn down this road (you’ll notice a green church at the intersection). At this point, you’ll need to follow your GPS – you can use the map below or just search for Wild Willy’s Hot Springs on Google Maps – as the dirt road turnoff is unnamed. If you don’t have service, just remember that once you turn onto Benton Crossing Road, you’ll pass over two cattle guards (Texas gates), and then you’ll see the dirt road on your right. Follow the dirt road for about 1.5 miles and you’ll see the parking lot. To reach Wild Willy’s Hot springs, you’ll follow a well-maintained boardwalk trail for about 1/3 of a mile to the springs.

The dirt road is definitely bumpy! We had an SUV with 4WD and we were fine, but I might think twice about attempting this in a sedan (though there were some in the parking lot, so it can be done).

Cost: Free

Amenities: Pit toilet in the parking lot.

Nearby lodging: Wild Willy’s Hot Springs is located on BLM land, which means it is free to camp here. I’ve been here a few times and haven’t seen anyone camping, so I’m not sure how popular of a camping spot this is. (It’s very popular for soaking, but we’ll get to that later). Otherwise, there are plenty of hotels and vacation rentals just down the road in Mammoth Lakes. That’s where I always stay.

What to bring to visit Wild Willy’s Hot Springs

Swimsuit
Towel
Water sandals
Sunscreen
Extra clothes to change into as you might be cold for your walk back to the car!
Garbage bag to haul out your trash – pack it in, pack it out! There are no trash cans here! Do NOT leave your trash!!

You may want to change before your hike down to the springs as there is no shade or cover if you want privacy. Change either in your car or inside the pit toilet.

Visiting Wild Willy’s Hot Springs

We visited on an 80 degree day on a July afternoon. There were several other vehicles in the parking lot but it wasn’t overcrowded by any means. The hike (or should I say “walk” because it was super easy and very short) down to the springs was very easy. We brought swimsuits and were wearing them under our clothes.

There are two hot springs here – a main spring and a heart shaped spring. The main spring has an ideal temperature for soaking, and the heart spring was quite a bit hotter.

During our visit, the main spring was packed full of extremely obnoxious people – they were drunk, loud and the women were taking swimsuit thong butt pictures while sitting in the hot springs for Instagram. Sigh.

The other spring – the heart spring – had a family hanging around, but no one was actually in it. Probably due to the much hotter water.

Both hot springs are very shallow — the water is only up to your knees. You’ll have to sit down in the spring to submerge yourself up to your chest, if that. The springs also were crawling with little flies and small bugs everywhere – swimming in the water, flying around, etc. The water in both springs was really murky. You couldn’t see the bottom.

Because of the bugs and the obnoxious group of people, my sister and I decided not to get into the springs. We just checked each one out, snapped a few photos and left. I had visions of getting some cool photos of myself in the hot springs with the mountains in the background but it wasn’t happening.

Keep in mind that these hot springs are 100% natural hot springs – they are undeveloped, unlike this hot spring in Jackson, Wyoming. Typically, this means that clothing is optional. We did not see any nudity on our visit here, but just keep that in mind if you plan to bring your family here.

Best time to visit Wild Willy’s Hot Springs

There isn’t any bad or best time to visit here. This is a very well-known, popular hot spring. If you come here in the winter, you’ll get the ski crowd. If you come here in the summer, you’ll get the hiking crowd. For the least crowded time to go, sunrise/early morning would probably be best, as you’ll have fewer drunks soaking in the pools.

Photographing Wild Willy’s Hot Springs

First, you’re going to have to be careful when you take photos here, as it is clothing-optional. We didn’t see any nudity, but I waited until people had cleared out of the way to take the photos of the heart-shaped hot spring. I didn’t take photos of the other hot spring, as there were far too many people in the spring. Luckily, the heart shaped spring isn’t very popular for soaking since it’s pretty hot, so you have a decent chance at getting a people-free image.

Wild Willy’s Hot Spring is best photographed at sunrise, as the light would hit the mountains as it comes up. I’m sure sunset would be nice too, but again, this is a very popular hot spring and sunset is when the partying crowd tends to show up.

Wild Willy’s Hot Springs – Final Thoughts

Pros:
Easy to find, easy to access
Heart-shaped spring is very insta-worthy

Cons:
Very popular and very crowded. You will NOT be here alone!
Popular partying spot – not a peaceful experience
Water is shallow, murky, and swarming with little flies
Nudity is allowed (could be a positive – you do you!)

Like this post? Pin it to save for later!