Kern Hot Spring
79 mi from Fresno · ~2.3 hr drive
Kern Hot Spring is a hot spring catalogued in California by the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System — about 79 miles from Fresno, CA, inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. Coordinates and the closest documented metro are listed below; for current access and soaking rules, check with the relevant land manager before visiting.
Safety & access
This feature is inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks and is federally protected. Stay on designated boardwalks and trails — leaving them damages fragile thermal-features and is illegal. Soaking is prohibited in most NPS thermal areas.
Before you go: check current conditions and access rules with the relevant land manager — National Park Service unit, U.S. Forest Service ranger district, Bureau of Land Management field office, state-park department, or the property owner if it's private. Wild thermal water can be unsafe to enter without a thermometer; surface temperatures can vary dramatically from the deeper pool. When in doubt, don't soak.
- State
- California
- Nearest city
- Fresno, CA · 79 mi · ~2.3 hr drive
- Type
- Hot spring
- Coordinates
- 36.4782°, -118.4060°
- County
- Tulare
- GNIS ID
- 252140
About Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Kern Hot Spring is inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, a U.S. National Park managed by the National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, boardwalk routing, and reservation requirements are published directly on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter.
Entrance fee: $35 per vehicle. Per vehicle, valid 7 days. Single fee covers both parks. An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units and is worth it after ~3 park visits per year.
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/seki/
Visiting Kern Hot Spring
The exact location is at 36.4782°, -118.4060° — open in Google Maps for driving directions from your location.
If you've visited Kern Hot Spring and have current notes (parking, access, soaking rules, fees, ownership), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn more.
Stay nearby
Other hot springs within 30 miles
Sources
Location data for Kern Hot Spring comes from the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System (public domain), feature class "Spring". We filter the GNIS Spring catalog to thermal features by name pattern (hot spring, warm spring, geyser, boiling spring, thermal). The GNIS records the geographic feature itself; access rules, ownership, and current conditions come from the relevant land manager. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page or contact us.