El Dorado Hot Springs is an extremely laid back private hot spring located a short distance outside of Phoenix.


It a bit of a haul from Orange County but makes for a convenient stop for any trip out past Phoenix.  It's located in Tonopah AZ (not to be confused with Tonopah NV with the awesome clown motel.)

I've been here a few times first visiting for a quick hour long soak on the way back from the New Years 2015 trip and later coming back for an overnight stay in October of 2015 right before I had knee surgery.

I've also stayed overnight at the Sunset Pool but for my money it's hard to beat Desert View.

This was part of the annual New Years trip for 2015.  This year it was a long haul out to Tucson with the main goal of finally getting to explore Cave of the Bells after missing out the previous year.

New Years 2015

• 01/01 Muggins Peak 
• 01/02 Tucson Mine Exploration
• 01/03 Cave of the Bells (this entry)
• 01/04 El Dorado Hot Spring & home

Jen and I had tried to do this cave before.  Back in December of 2013 Cave of the Bells was planned as our last activity of a multi-cave multi-peak extravaganza.  We jumped through all the hoops, had our permit and the gate key, and spent the night camped out front only to have a freak occurrence hit when Jeff was bitten in the face by a skunk while sleeping out on the ground.

January 2nd & 3rd, 2015

Cave of the Bells

[Pics] [Map]

This was part of the annual New Years trip for 2015. This year it was a long haul out to Tucson with the main goal of finally getting to explore Cave of the Bells after missing out the previous year.

New Years 2015

• 01/01 Muggins Peak (this entry)
• 01/02 Tucson Mine Exploration
• 01/03 Cave of the Bells 
• 01/04 El Dorado Hot Spring & home

Muggins isn't on any list I'm aware of it just popped out to us when we were looking for something to climb in the area.  The DPS peak Little Picacho is in this area and I've always liked the rock.

January 1st, 2015

Muggins Peak (1,424')

[Pics] [Map]

Muggins, in addition to just looking cool, promised some 3rd class rock and wasn't incredibly long which was a plus since we'd be driving to Tucson (-ish) afterwards.