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7 Best Hot Springs Retreats in the USA, From a Silent Oregon Forest to the Cliffs of Big Sur

This page lists the 7 best hot springs retreats in the USA for 2026, each checked on its own website in November 2026, from rustic, community-run springs in Oregon and California to a historic New Mexico spa and a restored Colorado ghost town. Some are true retreats with meals, silence and workshops; others are resorts with wellness packages. Below is what each offers, whether you can visit for the day and who it suits best.

The seven hot springs retreats at a glance

Details checked on each retreat's own website on November 13, 2026. Hours, rates and access change with the seasons, so confirm before you book travel.

1. Breitenbush Hot Springs, Oregon

Best for: a quiet, unplugged personal retreat. Breitenbush sits in the forest of the Oregon Cascades and runs as a retreat and conference center. There are three ways in: a day use pass that gives full access from 9am to 6pm, including the springs, sauna and the daily well-being offerings; an overnight personal retreat, which includes meals and 24-hour access to the pools and sauna; or a booked workshop or special weekend.

The food is a vegetarian buffet, and the culture leans toward silence and low technology, with Quiet Weekends and Women-Only weekends in the events calendar. Lodging comes in a wide range of types and price points. For more in the state, see our guide to wellness retreats in Oregon.

2. Harbin Hot Springs, California

Best for: soaking as a spiritual practice. Harbin, in the hills of Lake County north of Napa, is owned and run by the Heart Consciousness Church as a spirit-oriented nonprofit center. Its Mainside pool area has eight pools fed by springs of different temperatures, from hot to cold, and the Silent Meditation Pools are kept for quiet soaking. In the tradition of Japanese onsens and European spas, the pool areas are clothing optional.

You can visit for the day, camp or stay in lodging. Alongside soaking there are on-land and in-water bodywork sessions, sound baths, prayer circles and community gatherings. Harbin is mid-way through rebuilding work, so read its construction updates before you book.

3. Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California

Best for: a workshop with world-famous baths. Esalen was founded in 1962 and is known as the birthplace of the human potential movement. It is a nonprofit educational retreat center on the Big Sur coast, and its hot spring baths on the cliffs above the Pacific are the reason many people first visit. Guests come by advance reservation for workshops, massages or Self-Guided Explorations, a flexible personal retreat format without a fixed schedule.

It is not cheap, but donor-funded scholarships exist. Highway 1 through Big Sur is prone to closures, so check Esalen's travel advisory before you set off. More options nearby are in our California retreats guide.

4. Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort and Spa, New Mexico

Best for: history and mineral water. Ojo Caliente was established in 1868 and calls itself one of the country's oldest health spas. It lies between desert cliffs and a cottonwood-lined bosque north of Santa Fe, and its springs carry four different minerals, iron, soda, arsenic and lithia, in sulfur-free water. There are twelve communal hot spring pools, plus private tubs.

Day soaking runs from 10am to 10pm with no reservation needed, which makes it the simplest place on this list to try. Overnight guests get unlimited soaking from 7:30am to 10pm, including on arrival and departure days. Its sister resort, Ojo Santa Fe, has spring-fed thermal pools minutes from downtown Santa Fe. See our Santa Fe retreats guide for more.

5. The Springs Resort, Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Best for: a structured wellness break with lots of pools. The Springs sits beside the San Juan River in southwest Colorado, and every pool is fed by the Mother Spring, which the resort describes as the deepest geothermal hot spring on Earth. You can come on a day pass, stay overnight, or book one of its 2-day or 3-day wellness retreats and personalized wellness pathways, which add spa treatments and guided sessions to the soaking.

It is busier and more resort-like than Breitenbush or Harbin, with several restaurants on site, but the river setting and the range of pool temperatures make it a good winter choice. Colorado has more options in our Colorado wellness retreats guide.

6. Dunton Hot Springs, Colorado

Best for: a private, high-end retreat. Dunton is a restored 1800s mining ghost town in an alpine valley of the San Juan Mountains, just across the range from Telluride. Hand-hewn log cabins are furnished to a luxury standard, the old saloon serves the food, and the original spring still rises at the top of the town. The resort offers day and overnight packages, and the whole town can be booked for group retreats, family gatherings and weddings.

It is the most expensive option here and suits a couple's escape or a small private group rather than a solo seeker looking for community.

7. Ten Thousand Waves, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Best for: a Japanese-style spa retreat. Ten Thousand Waves is a mountain spa above Santa Fe modeled on Japanese bathhouses, with hot tubs, massage, an izakaya restaurant and ryokan-style lodging. Its tubs are not a natural hot spring, so it is the one choice here for the experience rather than the geology. All services are by reservation. It pairs well with a day at Ojo Caliente for a two-stop New Mexico soaking trip.

How to choose a hot springs retreat

• Retreat or resort? Breitenbush and Harbin are community-run with a spiritual or quiet culture. The Springs, Ojo and Dunton are resorts with retreat packages. Esalen is a workshop center first.
• Clothing: Harbin's pools are clothing optional. Ask about the policy if it matters to you either way.
• Winter access: mountain roads to Breitenbush and Dunton can be snowy; Highway 1 to Esalen can close. Check before you travel.
• Health: long soaks in very hot water are not advised in pregnancy or with some heart conditions. Drink water and limit time in the hottest pools.
• Budget: a day pass is the cheapest way in. Our guide to what a wellness retreat costs shows what overnight stays usually run.

More retreat ideas on the Retreat Central homepage.