Vichy Springs Resort

What to expect

Vichy Springs is an old-fashioned country resort in the oak-covered hills just east of Ukiah. It opened in 1854, and the resort calls itself the oldest continuing business in Mendocino County. The state lists it as California Historical Landmark No. 980. Some of the buildings date from the 1850s and 1860s, and the place still feels more like a historic inn with a bathhouse than a modern spa.

The draw is the water. It rises naturally carbonated and averages about 90°F32°C. The resort says it flows at more than 100 gallons a minute and carries about 3,800 milligrams of dissolved minerals per liter, a chemistry it compares to the famous springs at Vichy in France, which is where the name comes from. Sit still in one of the baths for a minute or two and your skin is covered in fine bubbles. People call them the “champagne baths,” and that is a fair description.

Do not come expecting a scalding soak. At 90°F32°C the baths feel warm in summer and merely pleasant in winter. For heat, there is a communal in-ground hot pool kept at 104°F40°C. In season there is also a large unheated swimming pool, and on the property’s 700 acres there are walking trails and a waterfall with a cold plunge pool at its base.

The baths and pools

• Vichy mineral baths: The carbonated spring water at its natural temperature, about 90°F32°C. This is what the resort is known for.
• Hot pool: An in-ground communal pool at 104°F40°C. It is fed from a cold, deep mineral source and heated, so it is hotter than the baths but not the same carbonated water at its natural temperature.
• Swimming pool: A 25-meter (80 by 30 foot) unheated pool, open May to October for daytime swims.
• Chemisal Falls pool: A small natural pool at the base of a 40-foot waterfall on Little Grizzly Creek, about 30 to 40 minutes’ walk each way on resort trails. It is cold.

The resort says it uses ozone as the main sanitizer in the swimming and hot pools, with bromine as the state requires, and no chlorine.

The resort markets the water for skin complaints and digestion, and its history page says the Pomo used it for ailments such as gout and eczema. Those are the resort’s claims, not medical advice.

Getting there

Vichy Springs is at 2605 Vichy Springs Road, Ukiah, on Sulphur Creek about 3 miles east-northeast of downtown, at around 800 feet. Ukiah is on US 101, roughly two hours north of San Francisco.

From US 101 in Ukiah, head east on Perkins Street, which continues across the valley floor as Vichy Springs Road. Follow it into the hills to the resort at the end. The road is paved and fine for any car, and there is parking on site. Remember that pets cannot even wait in the car in the lot.

When to go

The resort is open all year for overnight stays and day use.

• Spring is the pick for hikers. The resort says its trails have one of the best wildflower displays in the region, and the falls are at their fullest in spring and early summer.
• Summer is hot in the Ukiah Valley, and the 90°F32°C baths and the swimming pool make sense on a warm afternoon. The pool is open May to October. Watch for rattlesnakes and poison oak on the trails.
• Winter suits the hot pool better than the baths. Bring a robe for the walk between them, which the resort itself recommends.
• Holidays are busy, and day use is cut to two hours at a time.

Prices and booking

Day-use rates for 2026, per person, as the resort lists them:

• Up to 2 hours: $45
• Up to 3 hours: $65
• All day: $110, or $55 if you book a spa service
• Breakfast: $21
• Rentals: towel $3, bathing suit $3 per item, bathrobe $13

Day use runs from 9am to 5pm and covers the mineral baths, the hot pool, the swimming pool in season, the trails and the picnic tables. Each day guest leaves a $110 deposit by cash or card at check-in, and you settle up for two hours, three hours or the full day.

Spa services include a one-hour massage at $170 and a 90-minute massage at $215. Book treatments ahead by phone at 707-462-9515.

Overnight rates include the baths, pools and trails from 3pm on arrival day until noon on departure day. Rooms carry an 11% county tax. Cancel at least 7 days before arrival (14 days in holiday periods) to avoid a one-night charge, and expect a $30 handling fee per booking.

Rules and etiquette

• Swimsuits are required everywhere on the property.
• No pets or comfort animals, including in the parking lot. Breaking the pet or smoking rules costs $300.
• No smoking in rooms, buildings, the spa, the baths or the pool areas. There are designated outdoor spots.
• Hike at your own risk, in proper shoes. The resort warns about poison oak and snakes in summer.
• Late checkout needs approval and costs $50 an hour.

Where to stay nearby

The resort has 26 rooms and cottages: twelve Mountain View rooms from about 1866-1870, five Creekside rooms, eight one- and two-bedroom cottages, and the Applewood Suite, built in 1852. Check-in is at 3pm and checkout at noon. WiFi is included.

Ukiah, about 3 miles away, has chain motels, restaurants and groceries. For a different kind of soak, Orr Hot Springs is about 12 miles west of Ukiah on the road toward Mendocino. It is a small, rustic, clothing-optional retreat with communal and private tubs and a very different feel. Farther afield, the clothing-optional retreats Harbin Hot Springs and Wilbur Hot Springs make a longer springs trip.

Safety notes

• Hot pool: 104°F40°C is a lot for a long stay. Keep soaks short, drink water and get out if you feel lightheaded. Check with a doctor first if you are pregnant or have heart or blood pressure problems.
• Trails: The Vista Point Trail climbs about 800 feet in half an hour, and the Cinnabar Mine Trail runs 60 to 90 minutes each way to an old mercury mine. Carry water, stay out of old mine workings and wash off quickly if you brush poison oak.
• Summer heat: Ukiah Valley afternoons can be very hot. Hike early.

History

The Pomo knew these springs long before settlers came. Wikipedia credits Frank Marble as the first westerner to find them, in 1848 (the resort says 1849), and William Day built the first cottages in the early 1850s. From 1866 to 1896 Colonel William Doolan ran the place as Doolan’s Ukiah Vichy Springs, named for the French spa. Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Jack London and Robert Louis Stevenson are among the guests the resort and Wikipedia list. A post office ran here from 1893 to 1936. After decades of decline, Gilbert and Marjorie Ashoff leased the property in 1977, bought it in 1981, restored it through the 1980s and reopened it fully in 1989.