Ontario Hot Springs is a hot-water well in southern San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The geothermally heated water from the well is the central feature of a resort called Avila Hot Springs near Avila Beach.
| Ontario Hot Springs | |
|---|---|
| Avila Hot Springs Hidden Valley Hot Springs Hawaiian Hot Springs Ontario Plunge Budan Hot Springs | |
 | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 35°10′50″N 120°42′11″W / 35.1805°N 120.703°W[1] |
| Elevation | 9 m (30 ft)[1] |
| Type | Thermal |
| Discharge | 50 US gallons per minute (190 L/min)[2] |
| Temperature | 57 °C (135 °F)[3] |
| Depth | 14 m (46 ft)[3] |
Geography
editOntario Hot Springs is about 8 mi (13 km) south of the city of San Luis Obispo along U.S. Route 101 in California.[4] According to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), Ontario Hot Springs is located "along Gragg Canyon, 3.1 km (1.9 mi) east of the community of Avila Beach," at an elevation of 9 m (30 ft) above sea level.[1] The resort is in a "level hollow surrounded by rural hills".[5]
History
edit
The hot springs are the result of an attempt to drill for petroleum on the ranch of Herman Budan in 1908,[6] which his daughter Edith Budan had recently inherited.[7][8] The drill struck "half a mile east of the San Luis spring, and in it a flow of gas and water similar to that in the early well had been obtained".[6] Ontario Hot Springs are named after Ontario silver mine in Utah, which Herman Budan codiscovered with George Hearst and which became the basis of the Hearst family fortune when it was commercialized at some point after Budan departed Utah for California.[7]
Circa 1917 Edith Budan ran the springs as a health resort. A report from the California mineral and mining bureau stated, "The temperature of the water is given as 175° Fahrenheit; it is too hot to be borne by the hand. The flow is through an iron pipe 3' above the ground and the water domes up over this noticeably. The equipment at present consists of three tubs for bathing, to which the water is conducted directly from the well".[9] A county history reported, "She is conducting and is the owner of Ontario Hot Springs, located on the state highway between San Luis Obispo and Pismo, on a part of the ranch owned by her father...Here Miss Budan has erected suitable buildings, and a bath house with eight tubs. The accommodations are modern, and suitable attendants are provided for her patrons. She has built up a fine business and a great many people have been benefited by treatment at the Ontario Hot Springs."[10] The springs, along with the Ontario Junction House, with its saloon and cabins, became a stopping point for the Hollywood crowd on their way to Hearst Castle at San Simeon, and visitors reportedly included Charlie Chaplin, W. C. Fields, and Rudolph Valentino.[8] Amenities of the resort reportedly included alcohol during Prohibition,[11] and sex workers.[8]
Budan died in 1948 and left the springs to a charity that sold the land in 1954,[12] and the property was sold again in 1969, undergoing several name changes between then and the 1990s, including Hawaiian Hot Springs, Hidden Valley Hot Springs, and Avila Hot Springs.[8] As of 1969, the 16-acre (6.5 ha) Hidden Valley Hot Springs spa was "deteriorating" and the new owners renamed it Avila Hot Springs and began renovations.[2] Circa 1979, the springs were operated as Avila Hot Springs and RV Park, and offered an outdoor swimming pool and soaking pool, and tiled "Roman tubs" indoors.[5] The indoor tubs offered water up to 130 °F (54 °C).[5] By 1990, the Los Angeles Times described it as "favorite vacation stop for families who like the informal atmosphere. Children especially enjoy the 50-by-100-foot freshwater swimming pool, recreation hall, and snack bar".[2] According to the GNIS, "A proposal was submitted by the RMMC in August 1990 to change the name Ontario Hot Springs to Avila Hot Springs. On 10 September 1992, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) rejected the proposal in support of the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names, which disapproved the name because the change appeared to be for commercial reasons."[1] Avila Hot Springs continues to operate as a resort, offering cabin and tent camping with a spring-heated pool.[13]
Water profile
editReported water temperature ranges from 128–178 °F (53–81 °C).[7] According to a 1968 survey, the water contains sodium bicarbonate and has a strong odor of hydrogen sulfide.[14] The water has 540 mg/l total dissolved solids.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ontario Hot Springs
- ^ a b c Grimm, Michele; Grimm, Tom (May 27, 1990). "Soak Up Your Cares at Springs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ a b c Higgins, Therberge & Ikelman (1980).
- ^ n.a. (December 17, 1937). "Scores of Hot Springs Located in Southland". Travel. The Los Angeles Times. p. 43. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ a b c Loam (1979), p. 150.
- ^ a b Waring (1915), p. 71.
- ^ a b c Hall-Patton, Mark (December 5, 1991). "The Ontario Name in South County: Where did it come from?". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ a b c d Hall-Patton, Mark (April 29, 1993). "Even Valentino liked a hot dip once in awhile". The Tribune. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ Bradley & Logan (1917), p. 97.
- ^ Morrison & Haydon (1917), p. 318.
- ^ "Springs Raided". The Tribune. October 22, 1932. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Ontario Springs to Become Health Resort". The Arroyo Grande Valley Herald Recorder. August 17, 1951. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Avila Hot Springs". Avila Hot Springs. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ Berkstresser (1968), p. A-15.
Sources
edit- Berkstresser, C. F. Jr. (1968). "Data for springs in the southern coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges, of California". Data for Springs in the Southern Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges of California (Report). USGS Numbered Series Open-File Report No. 68-10. California Department of Water Resources. Menlo Park, Calif.: U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Water Resources Division. doi:10.3133/ofr6810.
- Bradley, Walter W.; Logan, C. A. (1917) [Field work November 1915]. "Mineral Springs and Wells of San Luis Obispo County". Mines and Mineral Resources of the Counties of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura. State Mineralogist's Reports. Field assistants: Emile Huguenin, Clarence A. Waring. Ferry Building, San Francisco: California State Mining Bureau. pp. 97–103 – via HathiTrust.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - Higgins, Chris T.; Therberge, Albert E. Jr.; Ikelman, Joy A. (1980). Geothermal Resources of California (PDF) (Map). NOAA National Geophysical Center. Sacramento: California Department of Mines and Geology. County code number: SL-12.
- Loam, Jayson (1979). Hot Springs and Pools of the Southwest. Capra Press. ISBN 9780884960973. OCLC 4593438.
- Morrison, J. H.; Haydon (1917). History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county and environs who have been identified with the growth and development of the section from the early days to the present. Los Angeles, California: Historic Record Company. hdl:2027/wu.89067382226 – via HathiTrust.
- Waring, Gerald Ashley (January 1915). Springs of California. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 45–46. doi:10.3133/wsp338. Water Supply Paper No. 338. Retrieved 2023-11-11 – via HathiTrust. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
