Diana's Punch Bowl

What to expect

Diana’s Punch Bowl, also known as the Devil’s Cauldron, is one of the stranger geothermal features in central Nevada. From the valley floor it looks like a low, pale hill. Hot mineral water has built that hill out of travertine over a long time: it is roughly 600 feet across and rises about 75 feet (23 m) above the surrounding sagebrush. On top is a near-circular crater about 50 feet wide. Look over the edge and the walls drop straight down to a pool of steaming blue-green water about 30 feet below.

The spring sits on a small fault, and the water in the bowl has been recorded at around 141°F60.5°C (about 141°F61°C). Sources disagree on how deep the pool is, with figures from 40 feet to more than 100 feet. What nobody disputes is that there is no ledge, step or beach inside. The walls are smooth and sheer, and there is no way for a person to climb out.

Water leaves the mound through a hot outflow that runs off to form a small creek, which Wikipedia says cools to about 100°F38°C at its far end, with a few rock pools built along it. That outflow is on the same private parcel as the bowl.

Read the next section before you plan a trip.

Land status

Many trip reports describe Diana’s Punch Bowl as sitting on open BLM range. The federal records say otherwise. The BLM’s surface management agency data, checked for this page in October 2026, shows the spring, the mound and the ground for several hundred yards around it as private land, with BLM land beyond on all sides. One visitor account mentions a barbed wire fence around it.

We found no statement from the owner allowing public visits, no posted access agreement, and no BLM page for the site. On that basis we list it as closed. If you want to see it, find out who owns the parcel (the Nye County Assessor can tell you) and ask permission first. Do not cross fences or climb the mound without it.

Getting there

This is for orientation only, given the land status.

Monitor Valley lies between the Toquima Range on the west and the Monitor Range on the east, south of US 50. Austin is the nearest town, about 30 miles northwest in a straight line. The Monitor Valley road runs south through the valley toward the old mining town of Belmont and passes just west of the mound, which you can see from the road. Wikipedia places it about 9 miles south of Monitor Ranch.

The valley roads are graded dirt and gravel. In dry weather a normal car with good tires can manage most of them slowly. After rain or snow they turn to sticky mud, and washboard is common. There is no fuel, water or signal between Austin and Belmont, and very little traffic.

When to go

Late spring and early fall are the most comfortable seasons in central Nevada. Summers are hot by day and cool at night at this elevation, which is over 6,700 feet at the bowl. Winter brings snow and freezing nights, and the dirt roads can close in practice for days after a storm. Hunting seasons bring more traffic in the fall.

Rules and etiquette

• Private property. Get the landowner’s permission before you set foot on the parcel. Obey any fences and signs.
• Do not enter the water. There is no safe way in or out of the bowl.
• Keep off the rim edge. Travertine can crumble and overhang. Stay well back from the lip.
• Leave no trace. Do not throw anything into the bowl, and do not chip the travertine.
• On the surrounding BLM land, the usual Nevada BLM rules apply: dispersed camping is allowed for up to 14 days, stay on existing roads, and pack out everything.

Where to stay nearby

• Austin, on US 50, has a couple of motels, fuel and a small store. It is the nearest real town.
• Dispersed camping is allowed on the BLM land that makes up most of Monitor Valley. Choose a spot well away from the private parcel and any ranch buildings, and use a land-status map so you know which side of the line you are on.
• Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest covers the Toquima and Monitor ranges on either side of the valley, with more dispersed camping.
• Spencer Hot Springs, about 23 miles northwest in a straight line, on the Big Smoky Valley side of the Toquima Range southeast of Austin, is on BLM land and is the area’s usual public soak. See our Spencer Hot Springs listing.

Safety notes

• Scalding and drowning: The pool is too hot, too deep and too steep-sided to survive a fall. Keep children and dogs well back and on a lead. People and pets who go into hot springs like this rarely get out on their own.
• Unstable edges: Travertine rims can be undercut. Do not lean over the edge for a photo.
• The outflow is hot too: Water near the mound is far hotter than the rock pools further down. Never test it with a bare hand or foot.
• Remoteness: There is no cell service. Carry extra water, food, a spare tire and warm clothes, and tell someone your route.
• Weather: Afternoon thunderstorms in summer bring lightning and flash mud on the roads. The valley can be bitterly cold on winter nights.