The clamor of the holidays tends to drown out any peace and tranquility that’s supposed to come along this time of year. When visions of sugar plums or sounds of drummers drumming or the smells of one-too-many cinnamon spice candle have become just too overwhelming, there’s a place where none of that exists, a place that beckons with pools of tranquility that hit just the right restful temperature for a relaxing holiday escape.
That place is Mercey Hot Springs, an off-the-grid oasis tucked away in the Panoche Valley, just east of Hollister. This rustic resort, built in the early 1900s, is all about the soak. With 19 therapeutic hot tubs filled with geo-thermally heated mineral water, this is a setting made for soothing submersion. The water, piped to the various tubs, is rich in a sodium, silica, borate, calcium and phosphate, a healthful brew that hits that mark at between 102 to 106 degrees for helping to reduce stress and relieve tension. The water in a hot spring is warmer than the human body temperature, which distinguishes it from a warm spring and adds to its therapeutic benefits.
Water from a fractured earth “Hot springs are more common than people might realize and occur in all states that have mountain regions,” says Phil Stoffer, PhD, geologist, and Associate Faculty member at MiraCosta College. “Volcanoes formed generally along the ancient trace of the San Andreas and Calaveras Fault system as it developed across the San Benito County region about 15 to 7 million years ago.
“Because there are so many faults in the region, these fractures allow groundwater from the surface to penetrate deeply into the crust, perhaps thousands of feet, where it can pick up residual heat and then locally carry it back to the surface, creating warm or hot springs.”
In layman’s terms, a hot spring is the result of the emergence of geo-thermally heated groundwater. The groundwater originates at the surface and percolates down through the earth’s cracks and faults where it picks up heat and then underground pressure pushes it back to the surface, much like the workings of a boiling pot of soup.
A splash of history
The earliest inhabitants of this grassland valley, the Yokuts, lived in communities near the Panoche River and were the first to uncover the curative nature of the hot springs. They told an early pioneer, John Merci, who purchased the land to raise sheep. The Springs were just part of the deal.
Little Panoche Road, where the Springs is located, became a stagecoach route for early settlers and those coming to work at the nearby New Idria Mine. In the early 1900s, Frederick Bourn, a San Francisco real estate agent, purchased Merci’s land. Dreaming of ways to capitalize on his investment, he rebranded the Springs, changing the name to Mercey with the hopes of bottling and selling the water produced there. He built many of the current structures, including a hotel that burned to the ground. Out of the ashes came inspiration for a new bath house, the swimming pool and plans for a restaurant.
Off-the-beaten path
The past two decades have been a time of improvement for this historic wellspring of good feelings. When current owner, Larry Ronneberg, stumbled across Mercey Hot Springs on a backroading adventure through the Panoche Valley in the 1990s, not much about the place was working.
“It was pretty rundown,” said Ronneberg. “There were only a few functioning tubs and the plumbing wasn’t even working to them. The whole place needed to be overhauled.” Ronneberg has spent the last 21 years doing just that.
“We’re really one of the few remaining hot springs between San Francisco and San Luis Obispo where you can come and spend a day or a more. Most of our guests come from the Bay Area for a weekend of relaxation and solitude.” Ronneberg, has systematically refurbished many of the original buildings, enhancing its appeal for travelers. And that’s staying true to its heritage.
Soaking specifics
Today, there are a variety of ways to enjoy a day or overnight visit at this very family-friendly site year-round. As an overnight guest, you can rent one of six cabins (one with a kitchen), stay in one of two Airstreams or go with friends and check-in to the Walkabout, a group house that can accommodate seven. There are nine tent camping sites and 10 RV sites with limited hookup access.
Guests stopping by for the day can use the private indoor tubs in the Bathhouse on a drop-in basis between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Reservations are required for both half-day, full-day and overnight stays for use of the therapeutic outdoor hot tubs, sauna and swimming pool. Check the website, merceyhotsprings.com for rate information. The few rules include no pets and no smoking. There’s no cell phone service either and limited Wi-Fi access.
In between soaks, there’s lots to do. Hiking and mountain biking on nearby Bureau of Land Management land is extensive. An on-site nine-hole disc golf course is free for both day and overnight guests. For the weekend geologist, a walk along Little Panoche Creek might reveal jasper, quartz, petrified wood or jade. The area is also a migratory bird byway, plus it’s a bird watchers paradise that’s home to Great-horned owls, Ferruginous Hawks, Prairie Falcons, Warblers and Sparrows, Ravens and Vultures a flocks of other birds.
And nighttime brings with it a stargazing extravaganza of stars, constellations, distant planets and the occasional meteor shower or shooting star.
Day trips into Tres Pinos, Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Gilroy and over to the Monterey Bay coast add interesting possibilities to a visit. Pinnacles National Park, the country’s newest, is just down the road; a trip there might just include a glimpse of a California Condor, an endangered species reintroduced to the area in the late 1980s.
Mercey Hot Springs is located at 62964 Little Panoche Road in Firebaugh, CA; (209) 826-3388
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, merceyhotsprings.com.
Hot springs are more common than people might realize and occur in all states that have mountain regions
