Grover Hot Springs State Park is a state park of California, United States, containing natural hot springs on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Park amenities include a swimming pool fed by the hot springs, a campground, picnic area, and hiking trails. The park was established in 1959. It was named after Alvin Merrill Grover, who owned a share of the land in 1878 and built a bathhouse and a fence around the springs.
Natural History
Geography Grover Hot Springs State Park is a 553 acre park located at in the northern Sierra Nevada, at the edge of the Great Basin. The park is located four miles west of Markleeville, via Hot Springs Road off of SR 89. The valley was formed by glacial action during the ice age. The hot springs are the result of the subduction of the Pacific plate under the heavier American continental plate.
Ecology The park's main ecosystems are pine forest, sagebrush, and open meadows. Incense cedar, mountain alder, and juniper grow nearby. Bald eagles, sharp-shinned hawks, turkey vultures, mountain lions, black bears, coyotes, raccoons, bobcats, owls, and bats have all been observed in the park.
Hot springs The thermal waters of the hot springs hold both health and spiritual value for the area's native Washoe people. The Washo name for the springs is dih-teh-ee (our place) lo-om (hot springs). In the present day, visitors can swim in a pool filled with sanitized water from the hot springs at the end of the Hot Springs Trail. The six mineral springs are naturally 148˚ F, but the pool is kept between 102-104˚ F by using a holding tank where the hot water is allowed to cool. The pool appears yellow-green because of a reaction between bromine, which is used as a sanitizing agent, and mineral salts naturally occurring in the hot spring water.
Technical data +Hot Springs energy output Temperature 147 °F 41 °C Flow 105 gpm 398 L/minCapacity0.2 MWtAnnual energy1.4 GWh
+Element analysis (mg/L)Grover Hot Springs information plaque on location Sodium 440 Iron < 0.02 Potassium 13 Manganese 0.08 Lithium 0.82 Ammonia < 0.10 Rubidium 0.06 Bicarbonate 775 Cesium 0.1 Carbonate < 1.0 Calcium 31 Sulfate 160 Magnesium 1.9 Chloride 190 Aluminum 0.002 Fluoride 4.2 Silica 100 Boron 3.1 Sulfide < 0.05
+Element analysis (μg/L) Cobalt < 50 Copper < 10 Cadmium < 10 Mercury < 0.1 Nickel < 20 Lead < 100 Zinc 110
+Gas escaping (vol%) Oxygen+argon 1.4 Nitrogen 62.0 Methane 0.34 Carbon dioxide 36.4
See also List of California state parks
References
External links
Grover Hot Springs State Park