Kyle Hot Springs

Current status: no confirmed public access

Kyle Hot Springs has a long history as a free desert soak, and you will still find it in guidebooks and on maps with directions. We are listing it as closed because we could not confirm that the public is allowed to use it.

The Bureau of Land Management’s national surface-management data shows the springs, and the land for at least half a mile around them, as private. We found no owner notice, county page or agency page saying that visitors are welcome. Under our rules, a spring on private land with no stated public access is listed as closed.

The site has also changed. A visitor who went in November 2025 reported that a geothermal power plant now runs right next to the springs, with bright lights and generator noise through the night. We could not find an official announcement for that plant, but it fits a long pattern of geothermal interest in this valley. A working industrial site next door makes informal access less likely to last, not more.

If you have reliable information that the owner allows visitors, contact us and we will update this page.

What the site was

Kyle Hot Springs sits on the east side of Buena Vista Valley, about 2 km west of the fault at the foot of the East Range. People from Lovelock and other nearby communities used the springs as a health resort in the past, according to a Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology site description, and a few stone foundations from that era still stand. The springs rise along several intersecting faults, and the ground around them is a low mound of mineral deposits about 137 m across, with sulfur and sinter still forming and a clear smell of hydrogen sulfide.

The main vent is enclosed in a small concrete pool with a fence around it. Published measurements of that spring vary a lot: 159°F70.5°C in a 1955 study, 171°F77°C in 1974 and 204°F95.6°C in another 1974 survey. In Fahrenheit that is roughly 159°F to 204°F71°C to 96°C, far too hot to touch.

Visitors in recent years described hot water piped from the source to a few bathtubs lower on the slope, which they filled and left to cool before getting in. There is also a round concrete pool about 3 feet deep, big enough for five or six people, that visitors reported in the 85-100°F29-38°C range depending on the weather. Other accounts mention plastic stock tubs. None of these are maintained by anyone, and their condition today is unknown.

Getting there (for context only)

The springs are about 55 miles southwest of Winnemucca by road. The usual route leaves I-80 at exit 149, runs south on NV 400 for about 16.5 miles to the Unionville turnoff (Kyle Hot Springs Road), then east about 9.6 miles to a junction and about 1 more mile to the springs. The gravel roads are passable in an ordinary car in dry weather.

We include this so you can recognise the area on a map, not as an invitation. Without the owner’s permission, going to the springs is trespassing.

When it was visited

Before the plant was reported, people tended to visit in spring and fall, when nights are cold and the long valley views are clear. Summer in Buena Vista Valley is hot and dry, and the tubs were mostly a cold-weather soak. Winter storms can turn the gravel roads muddy. The valley is wide and empty, and on a clear evening the views across Buena Vista Valley toward the Humboldt Range were a large part of the appeal. None of that changes the access question, and those views now reportedly include plant lighting at night.

Rules and etiquette

The basic rule is simple: do not go onto private land without permission. If the access situation changes, the old etiquette for this site still applies:

• Pack out everything. Litter has been a long-running problem here.
• Leave the tubs ready for the next person. Regular visitors used to rinse a tub and leave it partly filled so it could cool.
• Stay out of the source pool. It is scalding.
• Do not camp close to the springs.

Where to stay nearby

Winnemucca, about 55 miles northeast, has motels, restaurants and fuel. Rye Patch Reservoir, roughly 50 miles west, has the closest developed campgrounds in a state recreation area. Lovelock to the southwest also has basic services. Unionville itself is a tiny historic settlement with no visitor services.

Safety notes

• Scalding water. The source has been measured at up to about 204°F96°C. People have been badly hurt at hot springs like this by stepping into a vent or a fresh outflow.
• Industrial activity. A geothermal plant reportedly operates next to the springs. Stay away from wells, pipelines and equipment, which can carry high-pressure steam and boiling water.
• Remoteness. Cell service is poor or absent in Buena Vista Valley. Carry water, a spare tire and a paper map.
• Mineral ground. The spring mound is soft and crusted in places. Do not walk on fresh deposits.

Legal soaks to try instead

For a public soak in the same part of Nevada, look at Paradise Valley Hot Springs north of Winnemucca, where the landowner has allowed visitors, and Hyder Hot Springs, which sits on BLM land in the Dixie Valley area. Farther afield, Fish Lake Valley Hot Well is free and county-managed.