Tecopa Palms Therapeutic Hot Springs Resort

What to expect

Tecopa Palms Therapeutic Hot Springs Resort is a small RV park, cabin and dry camping site on Tecopa Hot Springs Road, in the little cluster of soaking businesses just south of Death Valley National Park. It used to be Peterson’s Tecopa Palms RV Park. The current owners bought it in January 2022, rebuilt the drain piping and reopened that spring under the new name. They run it as a family business with an openly Christian outlook, and the website reads like a personal letter from the owners rather than a hotel brochure.

The soaking happens in a single pool house. Inside are three mineral hot pools, each about 500 gallons, and each in its own private room with a shower. Artesian water is piped a short distance from the source into the tubs and flows through constantly. The resort says it keeps the pools at 102.5 to 104°F39 to 40°C. A 2024 guest review put them a little warmer, around 104 to 106°F40 to 41°C, so expect them on the hot side.

The water is not chlorinated or treated with bromine. That is the defining feature here. The outflow drains into marshland about 150 feet north of the pool house, which is habitat for the Amargosa vole, an endangered rodent found only in this corner of the Amargosa Valley. The owners say this is why the rules are so strict about what goes into the water.

Do not expect landscaped pools or a social scene. This is a quiet, gravel-lot desert RV park with a community room, a vending machine and very dark night skies. People come to soak in private, sleep and soak again.

The pools and the rules

Read the rules before you go. They are long, they are enforced, and the owners state that violators can be removed by the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department.

• 18 and over only in the pools.
• Nude soaking only. Swimsuits are banned. Each pool is in a private room, so you are not soaking in front of strangers.
• Shower first, every time you go in.
• Bare feet only in the pool house. Leave flip-flops at the door.
• Hair nets for anyone with hair below the collar. The resort provides them.
• 15 minutes per soak. After that, dress or put on a robe, go outside, cool off and drink water. You can repeat as often as you like.
• What you can bring in: your clothes, a towel, a robe, soap and drinking water in a plastic bottle. No bags, no food, no alcohol, no soda, no coffee, no energy drinks.
• No smoking or drugs anywhere on the property, and no yelling or swearing.

The resort suggests you bring a robe, a towel, soap and about a gallon of drinking water per person per day. The mineral water is not drinkable.

Prices and booking

The operator’s 2026 rates:

• Pool pass: $30 per person, or $25 each for groups of four or more. No reservation is needed.
• Your own RV: $50 for one person, $80 for two. That includes full hookups (30 and 50 amp), WiFi, a concrete slab, a picnic table and pool use. Pull-through sites take rigs up to 100 feet.
• Dry camping: $20 per person without soaking, or $35 for one and $70 for two with soaking. Sites have a picnic table and charcoal grill, with access to a shower and toilet room. No electricity.
• Cabins and lodging units: roughly $125 to $180 a night for most units, with two-bedroom units around $300.

Book lodging and RV sites by phone at (760) 852-4347, at least three days before you arrive. The site says it does not take online bookings, though some units are listed on Airbnb. Cancel three or more days out for a full refund. Inside two days, there is no refund. Lodging check-in is 3 to 10 p.m., RV and dry camping check-in is from 1 p.m., and checkout is 11 a.m.

Hours are listed inconsistently on the website. The pool rules say day pass soaking runs 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., while other lines on the same page say passes run until 10 p.m. Overnight guests can use the pools at any hour. The gate is locked from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., so if you are arriving late, call the day before.

Getting there

Tecopa Hot Springs is a small grid of dirt and paved roads just off California Route 127 in southeastern Inyo County.

• From Las Vegas: Take NV-160 west to Pahrump, then follow the Old Spanish Trail Highway west across the state line to Tecopa. Turn north onto Tecopa Hot Springs Road. Allow roughly 1.5 to 2 hours.
• From Baker and I-15: Drive north on CA-127 toward Shoshone and turn east on the Tecopa road before you reach Shoshone.
• From Death Valley: Leave the park through Death Valley Junction, take CA-127 south through Shoshone, then follow signs to Tecopa Hot Springs.

The resort is at 155 Tecopa Hot Springs Road. Parking is on site. Fill your tank and buy groceries in Pahrump or Baker, because Tecopa has very limited services.

When to go

Come between November and March. Days are mild, nights are cold, and a hot soak makes sense. Weekends during snowbird season and holidays are the busiest times for the RV sites, so book those early.

Summer is a different story. Daytime temperatures in this part of the Mojave regularly climb well past 100°F38°C, and the resort says its overnight season runs from October 1 through June. If you want to soak in July or August, call first.

Where to stay nearby

The resort itself has cabins, RV sites and dry camping, so most soakers stay on site. Other options close by:

• Delight’s Hot Springs Resort is a short walk up the same road and has its own mineral soaking pools and rooms. See our Delight’s Hot Springs Resort guide.
• China Ranch Date Farm, a few miles southeast down a canyon road, offers camping, date shakes and walks along the Amargosa River.
• Shoshone, a few miles north on CA-127, has a small motel, an RV park, a café and a warm spring-fed pool. See our Shoshone Hot Springs guide.
• Pahrump has chain hotels and full services.

Safety notes

• Heat: The 15-minute limit exists for a reason. Water at 104°F40°C raises your body temperature fast. Get out if you feel lightheaded, and do not soak after heavy exertion in summer.
• Water: Carry your own drinking water. The resort recommends a gallon per person per day. Past guests report there is nowhere in the valley to fill tanks with drinking water.
• Remoteness: Death Valley Junction, Shoshone and Tecopa are small, and medical care is far away. Tell someone your plans, and keep your fuel tank topped up.
• Wildlife: Respect the marsh. The Amargosa vole habitat next to the property is protected, so stay on roads and paths.