Every Trail Tells a Story
Grover Hot Springs State Park
Hot springs in a high-Sierra valley ringed by granite peaks.
Family-friendly hike to a waterfall plus the challenge of a lake-to-lake trek.
Meadows, aspens, creeks, and trout habitat-all in a park that proves simple can still be spectacular.
There’s nothing quite like slipping into a steaming mineral pool after a long day on the trail. At Grover Hot Springs State Park, you don’t have to choose-you can hike and “take the cure” all in one trip. Just don’t expect a luxury spa. The State Parks system is in the business of preserving landscapes, not pampering tourists, and that’s a good thing.
Grover Hot Springs delivers your basic soak: one hot pool (kept at 102-105 degrees), one cool pool, some no-nonsense changing rooms, and a fence that looks suspiciously like it was lifted from a 1950s backyard swimming pool. The pools themselves may not impress, but the setting surely does.
Tucked into Hot Springs Valley at 5,900 feet, the park is ringed by Sierra granite peaks that make every soak feel scenic. Hawkins Peak (10,023 feet) and Markleeville Peak (9,419 feet) loom above, reminders that this corner of Alpine County has always drawn visitors-from Washoe Indians who first discovered the springs, to stagecoach travelers in the 1850s, to the weary modern hiker today.
The park is small, but the experiences aren’t. A short “Transition Walk” loops around a broad alpine meadow and explains the delicate ecology at the cusp of forest and grassland. The meadow itself is a showpiece-green with sedges in summer, golden and rimmed with quaking aspen in autumn. Hot Springs Creek, which tumbles through the meadow, nourishes both trout and campers’ imaginations.
For families, the three-mile waterfall hike is just right: enough to stretch the legs, reward included. More ambitious trekkers push onward to Burnside Lake, a classic High Sierra basin, reachable by a steady climb into Toiyabe National Forest. The Burnside Trail crosses forest, creek, and meadow, and offers those splendid over-the-shoulder views of Hot Springs Valley before delivering you to a boulder-ringed lake, perfect for picnics or contemplation.
Grover Hot Springs State Park is located at 3415 Hot Springs Rd, about 3.5 miles west of Markleeville. Day-use parking is just above the hot springs pools.
From the hot springs lot, take the Hot Springs Cutoff Trail across the park meadow. A footbridge crosses Hot Springs Creek, where anglers sometimes try their luck. After 0.3 mile, reach Burnside Lake Trail.
Go left to stay on the main route. In about a half-mile, a signed spur heads left along Hot Springs Creek to the waterfall-a lively cascade, small but vigorous, reached by a bit of scrambling. Backtrack to continue toward the lake.
The Burnside Trail now steepens, switchbacking through Jeffrey pine and white fir. You’ll cross Burnside Creek, climb higher, and earn wide-angle views back into Hot Springs Valley. The final mile flattens into meadowland, where boardwalks or careful footing protect soggy terrain before the trail ends at serene Burnside Lake.
Large granite boulders along the shore serve as natural picnic tables, ideal for resting up before the long descent.