Harbin Hot Springs, California

by David
(Birmingham)

During 2007 my wife and I toured Northern California. On previous visits to the US we had visited textile hot springs and we wanted to take the waters again. Before we left I’d searched the web and found several hot springs and swimming holes. Time on these holidays is always tight and Harbin seemed the best bet. The site informed me that some areas were clothes optional.

On arrival, and without pre-booking, the staff could not have been more helpful and even swapped a room to make ours more accessible. It was clearly pointed out it was a clothes optional site except for the restaurants and within sight of any public roads.

In practice the vast majority of people took the option to be naked around the pool area and remained clothed elsewhere. We were lodged in an amazing dome like structure a little way from the centre. These looked if they’d come from another planet. Nudity seemed acceptable in this area too. There were a further two pools here and we had use of these during the late evening. Bathing under the Californian stars was amazing.

The central area has several pools. There is a swimming pool at a normal temperature and a heart shaped hot pool to relax and talk in. There is another hot pool to float about in and just relax. There is little talking in this pool. This pool is fed from an extremely hot pool. It’s hard to get into this cauldron as the temperature is
somewhere around 110 deg F. Next door is a freezing plunge pool!

My wife put her cossie on, but not for long! The ambience of this place is wonderful and the food is an oasis of taste.

I’ve no photos as camera and mobile phones are not allowed for reasons of peace and privacy. There was icing on the cake as the mulberry tree was in season and they tasted, well wow!

Harbin is along a small road out of Middletown, a town south of Clearwater and north of Calistoga where there are more hot springs. If we return to California it’s at the top of the list, and this time for more than 24 hours.

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