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The bathing pool.
Where the Verde River and Fossil Creek come together, there are natural hot springs which erupt from the earth and if you look real careful there are also the ruins of the Verde River Hot Springs Hotel and Resort. The ruins are worth finding. We start by following a bumpy, steep, winding, dirt road for miles. As we near the remains of the defunct Childs Power Plant we drive past an official sign which states “Nudity Prohibited” and cites the state statute which makes it so. Someone has added graffiti to the sign so it now reads “Nudity Not Prohibited”. These hot springs have a reputation for nakedness. We park at the campground and cross the shallow wide river. Is it a bad sign when you start a hike by crossing a creek and discover a flock of vultures roosting in a cottonwood tree on the other side?
The crossing was not bad at this time of year (early summer) the water barely reaching our thighs. There have been people who have washed away and drowned during flood stages. So be careful! We walk along the shore, heading upstream easily before we come to another relatively shallow spot to cross again. We wander an old dirt road and look for our final crossing, almost a mile from the campgrounds, and just short of the old palm trees which mark where the resort used to stand. The Verde River Hot Springs Hotel was a happening spot during the jazz age. There are even rumors that Al Capone used to vacation here. There is no historical evidence at all to support this rumor.
There is not much left of the old hotel except for the palm trees and a few concrete foundations. The bath house however is still in pretty good shape. I mean it has no doors, windows or roof, but the stone walls have survived extremely well. The bath tub itself is still in wonderful shape. Little concrete conduits run from the small caverns where the hot water flows from the earth and take it to the concrete hot tub. The water drains out one end before tumbling into the cool clear river in a little waterfall so the water in the hot tub stays sparkling clean. The tub could easily hold a dozen people and has an underwater bench for comfortable sitting. There are pool tools stashed alongside one wall to keep the tub clean and indeed it is. The bath house is located on a picturesque spot about thirty feet above the river and just as the river takes a picturesque bend.
The bath house is covered with graffiti. Each stone that comprises the wall where the pool tools are stashed is painted bright colors of blue, green, yellow and violet. The inside walls are covered with a smorgasbord of graffiti. There are Day of the Dead skulls, knights in armor, brightly colored unicorns, revolutionary manifestoes, representations of the Arizona flag, and my favorite was an otter playing a banjo made of an entire tree. On the far wall was a mural depicting the Verde River Hot Springs Hotel in its heyday and giving the dates 1922 – 1962. Like any collection of graffiti there is rude vulgar nonsense, most of the obscene stuff featuring depictions of famous cartoon characters. It is important to note that the graffiti comes and goes in waves and there can be unfortunate times when vulgarity and racist nonsense dominate the walls. Most of the time people seem to be inspired by the sacredness of the spot and most post happy images, words of peace such as quoting the book of Genesis or the lyrics to John Lennon’s Imagine. There were several literary quotations citing Kafka, Ed Abbey, and Thoreau. One corner had a short spiritual verse with Spanish and English translations side by side.
The East Verde River has a series of hot springs which erupt along its course. Deep groundwater, far beneath the surface is cooked by the primal fires of the planet. The hot water needs a fault line which it can travel quickly back up to the surface of the earth before it can cool. Limestone formations like those of the Verde Valley are excellent for creating hot springs. The ruins of the old resort are the biggest and most developed but there are several other hot springs up and down the river such as Shepherd’s Springs. Fossil Creek is famous for its spring. Although producing cool water, the Fossil Creek springs produce over 20,000 gallons of water a minute, over 1.2 million gallons of water an hour. The canyon goes from being bone dry to long deep pools and banks full of blackberry bushes in a matter of fifty feet. Perched atop a small cliff above the river, many hot springs revelers soak in the hot tub until they feel a little too warm and then leap into the cool river. There is a rope ladder one can use to climb up the cliff to jump back into the hot springs.
My most recent visit to Verde River Hot Springs there was one graffiti piece in the corner which was a tribute to someone who had passed away which summarized the feel of the Verde River Hot Springs Hotel ruins.
They come from the country
They come from the city
They come with no food, they come with no water
And they ask “Where is the Circle K at?”
They come with booze and they come with drugs
And they come with their puritan views.
They come from different countries, they come from
Different states. They even come with their own gurus.
They come for the beauty, they come for the serenity
They come with their axes cutting down trees
They come with clothes, they come with
Their religious views and they say “Oh my God,
You’re a bunch of nudes.”
They come from afar and ask “When’s the next trash pickup?”
They come as rangers, they come as cops
They give out tickets for no tops
They come in their vans, they come in their cars
They come with no shoes and say
“Oh my, the hot springs are how far!?”
They come with their mates
They come with their girlfriends
And they leave with new friends.
(In loving memory of Apple Pie James.)
Gary Every is an award winning author who has won consecutive Arizona Newspaper Awards for best lifestyle feature for pieces “The Apache Naichee Ceremony” and “Losing Geronimo’s Language”. The best of the first decade of his newspaper columns for The Oracle newspaper were compiled by Ellie Mattausch into a book titled Shadow of the OhshaD. Mr. Every has also been a four time finalist for the Rhysling Award for years best science fiction poetry. Mr. Every is the author of ten books and his books such as Shadow of the Ohshad or the steampunk thriller The Saint and The Robot are available either through Amazon or www.garyevery.com.
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