Big Bend Hot Springs is located in Madesi Territory, in the town of Big Bend, in Shasta County, northern California, USA. The site has extraordinary riparian forests & geothermal springs on the banks of Ahjoomah (Pit River), between two Cascade Range volcanoes, Mt. Shasta and Lassen Peak.
BBHS is in a big transition phase, so please stay tuned and thanks for your patience!
Important News:
Big Bend Hot Springs is currently CLOSED until further notice. We are working hard on the process of completing a huge list of Shasta County-required permits, repairs, and code upgrades. Please send us your ideas.
Autumn 2026 Update:
We have overcome many challenges during the past years, as the world continues to change, and BBHSP continues to evolve with new experiences and hurdles around every bend in this long and winding road. Things are going well, as work continues, and we continue to chip away at our goals (for more information about BBHSP Goals, please see: http://www.bigbendhotsprings.org/?page_id=57).
Our current major focus is on building and installing new overhauled electrical and water pipe systems. We are simultaneously working on a service upgrade to a three-phase 400 amp electrical service, and adding a 22-panel grid-tied solar array with battery storage. Working with PG&E and Shasta County can be slow and involves lots of hoops to jump through, but we are making steady progress, and have most of the electrical conduit buried and ready for the new power lines. This new service and extended power lines will allow us to have power to the Welcome Hut, the Parking Area (will have lighting and some power access for charging, etc), add an automatic main gate, and bring power to the main campground as well. Also, we are working with PG&E to relocate several power poles that cross the river directly over the main hot spring.
We are also preparing to eventually install our geothermal power plant, which is a special generator designed to put out 8-12 kilowatts of electricity by using some of the hot spring water to power a turbine and simultaneously cool the scalding hot spring water down for soaking , while also improving the health of the river ecosystem.
As we continue to work towards increasing fire safety, we are proud to have installed one of the best fire suppression systems in the region, with 120,000 gallons of stored spring water and two fire hydrants with over 600 feet of fire-fighting hose and other equipment on hand. All of the major structures are mostly fire-proof, and we have several trained fire-fighters on our staff. We have been removing a lot of dead trees (sometimes with the help of PG&E) and reducing fuel loads in general, which is a never-ending job. Meanwhile, we continue to grow organic food and improve the garden infrastructure here, sharing food with the community.
You can read about and see pictures of a bunch of these efforts in several “Progress” pages, listed in the drop-down menu on the top right side of each web page on this site. The newest and featured progress update is at the bottom, “Welcome Hut” It’s an amazing legendary structure that is close to completion. It passed Final Inspection last year, and now is being topped off with amazing artistic and functional interior finish work that is blowing our minds! Please check out the ongoing story in the “Progress” section of this site! Thanks for your interest.
Straw Hall Multipurpose Space…
Our past issues of the BBHSP “Community Newsletter,” have many details about our latest work to re-open Big Bend (Lahlahpismah) Hot Springs, so you are invited to read each issue. Rare and collectable original paper copies of each issue were distributed in Big Bend. Digital PDF copies are available on this web site (you can read on screen, download, and/or or print your own)– Click on “Public Downloads” in the drop-down menu under “Downloads+”, at the top of this page.
Our Shasta County Commercial-Recreational Conditional Use Permit allows us to obtain building permits, work on the required improvements, and re-open when the improvements are completed.
Completed priorities include: septic system and campground restroom and shower building; potable drinking well; replaced pedestrian bridge (which doubles as a utilities conduit across Indian Springs Creek); straw-bale community gathering building; an expanded vegetable, flower, and fruit garden; new parking area by front gate; new mega-capacity water systems for fire-prevention and potable water; buried pipes and hardened spigot stations; improved irrigation systems; the cob Welcome Hut near the entrance gate; hugely expanded electrical lines to remote locations; new 400-amp 3-phase electrical service upgrade; a new beautifull crafted automatic gate; a very productive solar system on top of a gorgeous “carport” with massive salvaged fir posts, beams and heavy duty locally-made artistic brackets; and much more…
Current priorities include: finish work on Welcome Hut, modification of our evolving Master Plan permit; finish installing the power service upgrades & power line/poles relocation (with the solar and geothermal electricity systems covering all our needs while selling the excess electricity into the grid!); building a caretaker’s residence; designing the final large development piece: a communal kitchen & dining room (and then building it)!; plus developing campgrounds with wheelchair paths, tent platforms, stretched fabric shade cloth for the hot months… and one or more wheelchair -friendly soaking tubs… Please stay tuned for more updates, and thanks for your interest in BBHSP.
Also, you are invited to read some of the numerous and varied articles on this website in the “Posts” section, which has been significantly expanded in the past year. There are several interesting educational and locally significant topics covered. Enjoy! We recommend diving in, especially suggest checking out these six recently updated and improved posts:
Your feedback is always welcome!