Turkey Creek Hot Springs

Turkey Creek Hot Springs are remote natural thermal springs within the Gila National Forest, New Mexico, accessible only by backcountry hiking and river crossings along Turkey Creek — a tributary of the Gila River flowing through the dramatic volcanic canyon landscape of the Mogollon Mountains in the heart of the Gila Wilderness. The bicarbonate-rich spring waters here emerge from the volcanic geology of the Mogollon Highlands at comfortable bathing temperatures, forming natural pools along the creek bank that are accessible to experienced wilderness hikers willing to navigate the unmarked trail through one of the most remote corners of the American Southwest's most complete wilderness ecosystem. These springs represent the purest expression of American wilderness hot spring culture, where geothermal resources are accessible only through genuine backcountry effort in a landscape that has changed little since the Apache peoples — whose ancestral homeland this was — bathed in these same waters centuries before European contact.