Keough’s Hot Springs

Annoying place to stay. Yes, there is an rv park, but don’t arrive 5 min before 1pm or they won’t let you in. In fact the kids that seem to run the place will not do anything to help. We camped in a tent trailer and the streetlights went on and off all night long. They nickel and dime you to death. Want a shower? $ 2 for 6 minutes. Want the pool? $ 8 per person. Stay someplace else.

Great to have hot spring & a swimming pool all year around.
Guess everything can be upgraded besides the entrance fee. Bathroom facility is basic.
Management put in new carpet?! In the women’s changing room. Within a couple of months, due to? Reasons it smells of urine!

Clean and well kept pools, a refreshing break from the winter cold. I will definitely go again!

It’s good. The fire wood fairies come thru unseen, keeping you well stocked with firewood, the cabins are perfect and the warm pool is always nice. Gift shop should sell beer and camping supplies, rather than post cards and candles. But all good

I would like to give a 3.5 if I could, but since only whole number ratings are allowed, I have to settle for a 3. The upsides are that it’s conveniently located (assuming you already know about it and are Bishop-​bound), has great customer service and provides a place for weary travellers such as myself and many reviewers here to unwind. However, there are some downsides that had me reconsider a higher rating. First of all, for those concerned with electronics, the wifi is only mediocre in speed and is completely unsecured. Second of all, the communal restrooms could be expanded and located more conveniently towards those who actually require it: smaller RVs and tents. Lastly, the pool area is great but seems to require quite a bit of maintenance. Paint is flaking off everywhere and tiles are cracked, along with what seems to be unstable wood beams. I’m not sure if this is just a superficial design choice or something more serious, but it should be looked into. On balance, If I had to stop by the area again, I would do so, preferably in an RV or mobile home.

We have drove past here so many times and never checked it out. This trip we made time and parked in the RV section. The one thing I didn’t care for was you have make a 14 mile round and pay $ 5 to dump. We got $ 2 swimming off for being guests. The «hot» pool which is covered us at 102 degree which is really soothing and not too hot. The big main pool is slightly warm and it has the big array of fire nozzles that mixes hot and cool together which is pretty cool feeling. Sometimes the breeze blows/​moves the water around but it’s quite the sensation. Yeah the place is tattered but it has it charm and the waters are so soothing, clean and refreshing you soon don’t worry about the building. Hearing about what it takes to have the 2 pools, meet the county requirements, electricity costs, lifeguard etc…$ 10 for all day isn’t over the top. We will return next trip up here !

We had rented an RV and we were just staying here for 1 night. People were pleasant, but we did not use the pool, they close at 7pm and we got there at 6:30 pm. After checking in we were given a map of the grounds and told to go to site 7A. There were no markings for 7A and had to get out and walk looking for it. After locating it and backing in, we decided to go back to the front to use the restrooms. While visiting the restroom I discovered you need tokens to use the showers. You need to get the tokens with the pool attendant. They close at 7pm and they are not open on Tuesdays. This is something the girl who checked us in should of told us. Otherwise, the park was clean just a little outdated, but this is really in the middle of nowhere.

The Keough Hot Springs, constructed in 1919, is hands down the weirdest place I have ever been, weird in good way though and kitchy as hell! Here’s the breakdown … The Keough Hot Springs is a primitive resort, located 7 miles south of Bishop, in the middle of nowhere, blink and you might miss the small highway sign. The resort features the famous warm mineral fed natural spring swimming pool, a smaller hot spring fed hot tub, rv camping sites, tent camping sites, and a few of those canvas tent cabins. There’s a also some non-​developed hot springs on the property that are popular with nudists, you’ve been warned.
On a super hot Saturday I needed to find a fun road trip stop for me and my 2 small kids, but when I read about ‘hot’ springs, I thought no way, too hot for that shiz, but turns out ‘hot’ springs is a bit of a misnomer here because tho the pool is heated naturally, it’s still cool, around 85 degrees or so, not HOT like a jacuzzi at all and rather refreshing, like maybe a teeny tiny bit warmer than your average unheated backyard pool. The cost is a bit higher than I think is fair, see the missing 5^th star? at $ 10 per adult and $ 4-​$ 7 per kid, that’s kind of expensive considering the shape of the facility, which is run down, REALLY run down. Run down in a charming way yes, but still, what am I paying for? Clearly there hasn’t been a remodel in close to 100 years, but I digress …
Bringing my children here was the highlight of our road trip. Despite it’s decomposition, there’s a vintage charm there and a stunning back drop of the rocky sierra nevedas that you won’t find anywhere else. The feeling of swimming in a natural pool can’t be replicated, the water is unbelievably clear and invigorating, it even smells good! My skin loved it and my children were in heaven, they had many playmates here and got good and exhausted before we headed back home. From now on, every time I head up the 395 this will be my family’s road trip stop for sure. Thanks for the memories!

I gave it 4 stars for the pool. Not the cheap over priced food or for the shape of the place.
You turn on to keough’s hot springs from hwy 395 it’s about half way between Bishop and Big Pine. If you blink you will miss it. So you drive up the road and dead end right into it. Big building has a small piece of astro turf in front.
You walk inside and pay at the snack bar to the right. I think it’s $ 10 for adults. It’s open all year round the water is naturally heated as its mineral water that flows in and has no chlorine. They close once a week to clean and completely drained every week on Tuesdays.
The pool is big, uncovered and goes to 8 feet deep and you must shower before entering. There is a giant sprinkler at the shallow end that constantly fills the pool and behind that there is a huge hot tub (about the size of your average living room dining room combo). The hot tub is covered by the roof just like the snack bar, eating area and gift shop. The bad part is you have to sit on the ground in the hot tub no seats. Everything is made out of cement and you see the cracks everywhere just like a sidewalk. I always wonder why they don’t just close for a week and repair those. But aside from that there is a teenage lifeguard on duty seems to change every hour.
The lifeguards also make the food. As for food you have your choice between sandwiches, nachos, hot dogs and the usual stuff you find at a little league snack shack. Over priced in my opinion. But then again it’s owned by the same people who own Brown’s Town campgrounds. They are notorious for jacking up prices.

I booked a cabin here for the wife and myself and our 2 dogs. We stayed here after a 4 day backpacking trip to Gem Lake /​Mosquito Flat off Hwy 395 at Tom’s Place. It was about 100 degrees outside when we arrived — the wife was skeptical since the cabins do not have air conditioning. I suggested she go with the flow and we see how it all plays out.
After unloading the car and opening the cabin, we went to the hot springs at 90 degrees and the other I think just over 100 degrees. Totally relaxing, clean and good-​feeling on the body. Loved he big spray shooting over and into the larger pool on my back.
Back at the cabin we noticed the outdoor bbq, so into town we went (Vons in Bishop) to buy jumbo shrimp & steak, beer and charcoal. BBQ’d a most excellent dinner and also cooked up a dehydrated mushroom risotto left over from the backpack trip (very very good). Had a few beers, relaxed, watched the stars. the air cooled down as soon as the sun disappeared so that was great for sleeping.
Next morning we hit the hot springs again (really nice again), showered, loaded the truck and continued our vacation (Copper Top BBQ in Big Pine, South Tufa at Mono Lake and Bodie ghost town all in this same day).
Oh — we also went up to Baker Creek right in Big Pine — dogs swam and played around /​nice spot on a warm day.
Keough’s is a special place — my first time and I’m glad we made it happen. Not many places like this around any more out there in the (seemingly) middle of nowhere. I think the difference between ‘nowhere’ and ‘somewhere’ is the effort you put into making it here. Keough’s is for sure ‘somewhere’ to me now and I’ll go back. Very friendly staff.

Had a great experience here. Staff was super friendly and helpful. We will definitely be back. Beautiful pool. I wish it would stay open later. Over all great place.

Man I love this place! The pool is warm, clean and clear as glass. I know this place has been here for many many years and yes it is a little outdated, but that’s what I love, its like going back in time and swimming in the past.
I highly recommend taking the water aerobics class, Micky the instructor is awesome! So much fun and a great workout! Looking forward to going back for another dip!

We were supposed to be camping at Alabama Hills but my passenger was tired and wanted to find a place to stay. I’ve passed by here on numerous occasion and had wanted to stop before so we decided this would work.
There are several places to stay here, in the RV section where you cannot have a fire but you do get to stay on the lawn ($ 28), tent camping where you can have a fire ($ 23), or rent a tent cabin ($ 75-​$ 90). Of course they have a few mobile homes for rent ($ 115-​$ 135). We opted to camp with the RV’s and put our tent on the lawn. It was nice and soft… and no sounds of generators as they have electric hookups. We did get to see quite a few bunnies playing on the grass for entertainment. However the spotlight on the lawn was brighter than any super moon.
This place is old and in need of some serious TLC and it shows. The ‘Gift Shop’ is just that. There is no food or sundries you can buy in case you need anything last minute and no firewood. There is a snack bar at the springs that offers the usual hot dog type of fare. There was a birthday party ongoing when we arrived so we opted not to try the hot springs. It was interesting to see a spray of water over the pool like a canon. I didn’t ask what that was about. Oh yeah, it is ten bucks a day per person for the hot springs. If you are staying in the resort I wonder why it is not discounted or included in the cost.
The hot water coming from the springs runs through a pipe into a drainage right by the RV area and the water coming from that is quite hot. They do have warning signs though but the reason I mention this because the pipe was broken and exposed. The nice thing though was the sounds coming from it made for a very interesting lullaby.
I’ve read some reviews that make it seem like this is a destination spot for vacations. I guess I can see that if I were playing on the east side of the Sierra and needed a home base. I am not saying I wouldn’t go back but now I know what I should expect. I would also know to bring firewood and all supplies necessary for camping or know that I will need to drive back to Big Pine.

What a cool find! We loved camping out on the lawn with the bunnies for TV! The sprays to the pool were incredible! Can’t wait to go back!

My family and I love going to Keough’s! It’s out in the boonies and there is absolutely no cell service so you’re able to completely disconnect from everything and just enjoy yourself. There’s two different pools, one large pool with a few swimming lanes and a smaller one, probably supposed to be a hot tub but not quite that hot, and it’s a great size for smaller children.
The place is a bit worn down but it’s always clean and well taken care of. It’s also gotten a bit pricy but they offer a frequent visitors card and that’s great for people that can afford it and come often enough to make it worth it.

After climbing Mt. Whitney, this place was a godsend: fantastic place to relax and wind down and let muscles recover. Best part was that this is like a bit of old California untouched by shopping malls and Twitter: sure, it’s a little run-​down, but I thought that was part of the charm. You get the feeling that nothing’s changed here since 1950.
Really enjoyed staying in the «tent cabins», too, although the thin walls and campground vibe means you WILL get woken up too early by other folks getting up and going about their business. The tent cabins even included fire pits and wood and kindling to make it easy to get a fire going in the evening.
Bottom line: definitely recommended, unless you’re looking for gleaming white tile and Evian.

It’s a bit run-​down. There is one big pool with a couple of swimming lanes, and a smaller, shallower pool in the back that is warmer. Note that a lot of the signs say that it’s 8 bucks per person, but really it’s 10. Nothing amazing here, it’s just a nice place to soak for a little but and get a hot shower.

The fam had never been to hot springs before. I think it is a bit overpriced for what it is, the wife agrees with the other reviewers that there is a lack of maintenance and repair. We are used to the well maintained Irvine pools. Kids had a great time, I liked it, wife would like to go to a real natural hot springs.

If you’ve never been to a hot springs and you just want to hang out by a pool all day, this will probably be fine for you.
Otherwise, don’t get your hopes up. First up: we entered and had no idea where to even pay. We wandered around a bit and finally someone asked if we needed something. I asked where I needed to pay and she said she could do it…
…then more lack of guidance. We didn’t know where the changing rooms were, nor were we told any «rules,» etc. It’s very «do what you need to do.»
Mold, mildew, cracked concrete, swampy floors…
And the hot spring isn’t that hot. It says 104, but there is no way. Further, the regulars are territorial and don’t give a crap about your experience. One guy in particular talked so loudly, he was echoing the hot spring area. And he talked to anyone nearby, talked the entire time we were at the pools. This is not a «relaxation» place.
Kids should NEVER be allowed in a hot spring. The warm spring is a big lap pool, so whatever. That’s fine. But the hot spring? No. Rugrats were smashing into me and screaming and splashing. Plus: I’m pretty sure it can hurt your 1-​year-​old when you put them in such «supposedly» hot water. That’s why babies aren’t advised to go into hot tubs…
The water didn’t seem «special» in any way. It didn’t smell or feel like spring water. There was gunk floating around in the hot pool while I soaked. It’s probably the mold breaking off of the cracks that are halfheartedly sealed. Pro-​tip: you can only patch cement so many times and with so many different colors before it becomes beyond apparent y’all don’t care about the appearances.
Finally: two showers. Yep, that’s it. They require you to shower before you enter the pools, but we waited for 15 minutes in the cold until people taking full showers after dipping were done.
A rather «meh» experience. I wouldn’t go back, and I’m a spring fiend.

You call this hot spring resort? Darn it, I guess I was spoil by all the hot spring I been to in Japan.
The place is just okay, the water is not even that hot, and the swimming pool is fairly clean, but with the amount of kids playing in there, I am afraid to go in.
The shower is small and cramp, and you had to wait a while if they are ever busy.
All things considered, I will just hit the natural hot spring for free on the BLM.