Alkali Hot Springs, Nevada: A Ghost-Town Soak Near Goldfield

What Alkali Hot Springs is

Alkali is a ghost town in Esmeralda County at roughly 5,000 feet elevation, and its hot spring was once a lively spa run by Geni and Joe Guisti in the 1930s. During Goldfield's busiest period the spa had an indoor wooden swimming pool with a separate kids' area, plus a building holding a dining room, kitchen, dance hall and bar. Visitors from Tonopah came out for Friday and Saturday night dances.

What remains for soakers today is far simpler: one small tub, not the wooden pool of the spa's heyday. That single tub is the reason to decide deliberately whether the stop fits your trip. If you want company, food and a developed facility, this is not it; if you want a quiet desert soak tied to mining history, the trade-off works in your favor.

Where it sits

The spring lies near the highway between Tonopah and Goldfield in Esmeralda County, reached via Silver Peak Road off US 95. The drive from either town is short in miles, but the last stretch is desert road, so treat fuel, water and daylight as the real planning variables. Carry your own water and sun protection, and do not count on services near the spring itself.

Getting there

The approach is a highway one: US 95 is the main artery between Tonopah and Goldfield, and the spring sits a short way off it. From the pavement you take Silver Peak Road and cover the final stretch on desert road before walking in from where you park. The walk is short, which makes the stop easy to fold into a long drive day.

Because the last stretch is unpaved desert road, plan for a vehicle with reasonable clearance and tires that can handle gravel. Morning and late afternoon light are easier to drive in, and the desert temperature swing means you will want layers even on warm days. Combine the stop with the ghost town itself rather than racing back to the highway.

The tub and the water

Everything here comes back to one small tub fed by spring water collected through a mining-era tunnel. That means the soaking experience is intimate and finite: when the tub is occupied, you wait or you move on. Plan a short soak and use the rest of the stop for exploring the ghost town site.

Keep the source temperature separate from the tub in your head. Water at the mouth of the adit measured about 140 °F, a scalding figure that describes the spring's collected flow rather than the soak itself. Test the tub with a hand before committing, and avoid putting your head under untreated geothermal water.

How the water reaches the tub

The spring originally surfaced as many small trickles. In the early 1900s a mining company dug a 40-foot adit to gather those trickles into one strong flow, and at that time water was pumped roughly 10 miles to the Combination Mill in Goldfield. That engineering explains why the water arrives at the site in a single channel rather than seeping up through the tub's floor.

One account places the spring's source beneath an old, unused powerhouse, and the water is believed to carry lithium. The nearby dry lakebed, Alkali Flat, does not hold lithium at its surface. In 2018 a company called RAM Power held permits to use geothermal heat in the area, a reminder that this landscape is still treated as a working resource.

Fees, hours and season

The site is a desert soak rather than a ticketed attraction, so build your schedule around daylight and temperature instead of posted opening hours. Summer afternoons in Esmeralda County are harsh, which makes morning and evening the sensible windows for both driving and soaking. Snow and mud can affect the unpaved final stretch in winter, so match your vehicle and plans to the season.

Rules at the site

Treat posted signage as the authority when you arrive and follow whatever it says about glass, pets and vehicles. A single small tub leaves little room for error on etiquette: keep glass away from the water, pack out everything you bring, and leave the tub as you found it so the next visitor gets a clean soak. In a desert setting, sun exposure and hot ground are part of the day, so bring shade and footwear.

Camping and lodging

Goldfield and Tonopah are the natural bases, with Goldfield closest to the spring and Tonopah offering the larger spread of services for a US 95 road trip. Staying in town lets you soak in the softer light and still have a real bed, food and fuel nearby. Ask locally about current conditions on the road to the spring before committing a night out there.

Crowds and timing

A single small tub fills fast. Even a handful of visitors changes the experience from a private soak to a wait, so arrive early in the day or late in the afternoon rather than at midday. Weekdays beat weekends, especially since Tonopah visitors historically treated this area as an evening outing.

If the tub is busy, use the time on the ghost town site and on the surrounding desert rather than hovering. The trade-off is simple: flexibility gets you the soak, rigid plans get you a photo of someone else's steam. Keep noise low and stay on established ground to protect the site.

Nearby springs and road-trip pairings

The US 95 corridor between Tonopah and Goldfield is the backbone of this leg, and it connects neatly to the wider circuit of hot springs in Nevada for a multi-day drive. A trip that pairs ghost-town history with a few soaks gives you variety: this site for a raw desert tub, and developed options for a hot shower and a proper rest. Build the itinerary around one soak per day rather than racing between them.

For contrast, consider a developed resort property such as Walley's Hot Springs, Nevada, near Genoa, where facilities and services are the point rather than the tub's setting. If you are weighing a desert state against a wetter one, the hot springs in Oregon offer another set of developed and primitive soaks to compare. Pair the two and you get both ends of the spectrum on one road trip, from a desert ghost town to a full-service soak.

A slot-canyon soak to add to the loop

If your route swings south toward Lake Mead, Sauna Cave Hot Springs, Nevada, is the opposite kind of outing: a soak reached by scrambling rather than a roadside stop, with the Black Canyon stretch of the Colorado River nearby. It rewards a half day and a flexible schedule, where Alkali rewards a quick detour on a driving day. Pairing the two gives a road trip both a ghost-town tub and a hike-in soak.

What to bring for a desert soak

Bring more water than you think you need, sun protection, a hat and shoes that grip wet rock, since the tub area and surrounding ground can be slick. A towel, a dry change of clothes and a bag for trash round out the kit. Keep gear minimal at the tub so the site stays clean and the single soaking space stays usable.

Leave No Trace at the tub

This is a primitive desert soak, so everything you bring leaves with you, including food scraps and packaging. Stay on established paths and parking areas, avoid building new fire rings, and keep soap and sunscreen out of the spring water. Quiet, small groups keep the site worth visiting for the next driver on US 95.

Plan Your Visit

Alkali Hot Springs makes sense as a short, deliberate stop on the US 95 run between Tonopah and Goldfield: one small tub, a mining-era adit feeding it and the remains of a 1930s spa around it. Go for the history and the novelty of a desert soak, not for facilities. Leave the developed-resort expectations at home and the detour rewards you.