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 Ahjumah (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.
Spring 2024 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). The construction of the very complex and unique Welcome Hut has been progressing gradually, despite many delays.
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 a geothermal power plant, which is designed to generate 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 our fire safety, we are proud to have installed one of the best fire suppression systems in the region, with 120,00 gallons of stored spring water and two fire hydrants with over 600 feet of fire-fighting hose and other equipment at hand. All of the major structures are mostly fire-proof, and we have several trained fire-fighters on our staff. As we continue to remove dead trees and reduce fuel loads, we continue to grow organic food and improve the garden infrastructure here, sharing food with the community.
You can read all about these efforts in several “Progress” pages, listed in the drop-down menu on the top right side of each web page on this site. Thanks for your interest.
Straw Hall Multipurpose Space…
Our BBHSP “Community Newsletter,” has many details about our latest work to re-open Big Bend (Lahlahpismah) Hot Springs, so you are invited to read each issue. Paper copies of each new issue are distributed in Big Bend. Digital PDF copies (you can read on screen, download, and/or or print your own) are available on this web site- 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), 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 Welcome Hut near the entrance gate, hugely expanded electrical lines to remot locations, new 400-amp 3-phase electrical service upgrade. Current priorites include: modification of our evolving Master Plan, finish installing the power service upgrade with solar and geothermal electricity generating systems, building a caretaker’s residence, an developing campgrounds with wheelchair paths, tent platforms, stretched fabric shade cloth for the hot months. Please stay tuned for more updates, and thanks for your interest in BBHSP.