San Antonio Hot Spring

San Antonio Hot Spring is a natural iron-rich geothermal spring in the Jemez Mountains volcanic field of New Mexico — a caldera system of extraordinary geological complexity where the ancient Valles Caldera supervolcano has produced some of the American Southwest's most mineralogically diverse and visually dramatic hot springs, long used by the Pueblo peoples of the Rio Grande valley as ceremonial and everyday bathing sites in the indigenous thermal wellness tradition of the Southwest. The ferruginous mineral content of the waters — visually evident in the rust-red and orange mineral deposits that streak the surrounding rocks — is associated in both indigenous and contemporary thermal traditions with a sense of vitality and restoration, reflecting the ancient human appreciation of iron-bearing mineral waters. The remote wilderness setting of San Antonio Hot Spring within the Valles Caldera National Preserve, accessible only by a hiking trail through pristine ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forest, makes this one of New Mexico's most rewarding and scenically beautiful backcountry thermal bathing destinations.