Keough Hot Springs | California's hidden road trip gems
Keough Hot Springs is a hidden California treat
For our brief stopover we stayed in a motel, at our friend’s behest. She desired the American experience and I assured her it wouldn’t be fun like the films. For us Brits, there’s something of an adopted nostalgia—seeing the doors all open right onto the car park, the little desk building at the entrance, the room of twin beds and the basics.
It was fine but, as suspected, it was not her favourite. However, stopping by the hot springs for a dip en route to Tahoe made up for the somewhat rough night immensely. Keough Hot Springs is an excellent place to while away a morning. With the mountains on both sides and electricity pylons overhead, it’s a bizarrely beautiful spot.
Sure, you could go a little further up the road and pay for the official spa, but we preferred the free version. Ignoring the proximity to our EMF blast, it was fabulous.
If your mate says, “I wanna go Thailand and hang with my brother and cousin", you know what to do. You ingratiate yourself into the plan, because Thailand. It was my first and, so far, only trip to Asia and I’ve been dreaming about those seas and skies ever since.
Seeking solace, healing, sanctuary?
You’ll find it in the Lake District, in the north of the UK. This is where you go to breath, smell the freshness, know yourself.
Leeds has a train station. Under that train station runs a canal. When it rains that looks canal swell, like it would swallow you whole. It really would.
Let it bee duly noted that if you stand too close to the sea, you’ll be warned away. The Giants Causeway is manned by tour shepherds, and it’s not as though they’re killjoys, but apparently I was pushing the limits. In fairness, it wouldn’t have been great to get washed away.
It’s the second deepest lake in the U.S. and the water is so pure it almost meets the standard of commercially distilled water—just 0.004% off.
Keough Hot Springs is an excellent place to while away a morning. With the mountains on both sides and electricity pylons overhead, it’s a bizarrely beautiful spot.
After a brief frolic we drove an hour down the road and pulled in to watch the stars. It was after sundown, before moonrise, and I’ve never seen a sky like it.
Just as we passed a few warning signs heading onto the long, unending road into the heart of it, the GPS started going crazy—it kept trying to have us make a u-turn right in the middle of nowhere, off-road, to head into non-existence.
It’s weird, breathtaking, and—perhaps because I’m dramatic—feels dangerous. Then again, there are signs everywhere reminding you to drink water and such.
Highlights included Vegas being dubbed “Atomic City” in the ‘50s, since mushroom clouds could be seen from Vegas during nuclear testing in the desert, and the dark history of mobsters like Bugsy Siegel, who were all up in that gambling biz.