Paratunka Springs

The Paratunka Springs on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula are a group of natural sodium-rich geothermal springs in the Paratunka River valley south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where the volcanic activity that makes Kamchatka one of the world's most geologically dynamic regions pushes thermal water to the surface in a landscape of tundra, birch forest, and distant smoking volcanoes that is simultaneously remote and magnificent. The springs have been developed into a cluster of thermal resorts and outdoor pools serving as year-round retreats for Kamchatka's scientific and military community, offering warm mineral bathing just kilometres from the peninsula's famous brown bear habitat and Pacific salmon rivers. Combining a soak in the Paratunka springs with a helicopter excursion to the Valley of Geysers — one of the world's most spectacular concentrations of geothermal activity — creates a volcanic natural experience available nowhere else on earth at such dramatic close range.