Desert Hot Springs, CA
Just north of Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs spreads across a hillside, separated from the busy, resort-filled valley by Interstate 10 and a sudden switch in both landscape and mood. It has always seemed content to do its own thing, sitting just a bit apart from the Coachella Valley’s glossier, more famous neighbors. People call it Spa City now—back in its early, more optimistic days, some even dubbed it the Spa Capital of the World. But aside from the catchy nicknames, there’s something genuinely special here: this is one of those rare places in California where hot and cold mineral springs both bubble up side by side, crystal clear, untouched by any odd sulfur smell, filtered for ages through layers of ancient rock. Desert Hot Springs really doesn’t make sense without its water—the city has always revolved around what lies beneath it.
Long before anyone built a spa or drilled a well, the Cahuilla people were already here. They named this place Sec-he, which means “boiling water,” and the springs flowed right at the center of their world. Deeply woven into their stories of creation and spirituality, the waters held a sacred place, thick with meaning tied to nukatem, spirit creatures from their traditions. For centuries—maybe over a thousand years—the Cahuilla honored these springs with ritual and care. Be sure to include this location in your visit to California.
The first non-Native settler with his name in the records didn’t show up until the early 1900s. Cabot Abram Yerxa, who’d chased gold in Alaska and sold an Inupiat language translation to the Smithsonian back in 1901, staked out his homestead here in 1913. One night, camping with a Cahuilla man, he was guided to where he would dig his first well on a hill he christened Miracle Hill. That discovery basically set the course for everything that followed.
As the 1920s and 30s rolled in, Yerxa and other newcomers started telling more people about the remarkable springs they’d found. In 1932, Yerxa introduced developer L.W. Coffee to the mineral water. Coffee got it right away. By 1941, he’d built the first big hot mineral bathhouse—a wooden affair with sprawling pools and changing rooms—and began planning out the beginnings of the town we know today. The night the bathhouse opened, some two thousand people showed up, with nowhere to sleep but their cars and tents. You couldn’t miss their excitement.
Desert Hot Springs became an official city in 1963 and thrived thanks to its spa scene. For a while, folks claimed more than 120 spas dotted the place—that’s how it landed the bold Spa Capital of the World title. Even now, more than 20 mineral spring resorts are still here, drawing in wellness fans, people needing real relief, or anyone after the simple pleasure of a long soak in warm, mineral-rich water. The magic ingredient? No sulfur smell—just clear, inviting pools loaded with calcium, bicarbonate, sodium, and other good stuff.
Of all the quirky spots in town, Cabot’s Pueblo Museum is the big standout. Cabot Yerxa spent almost twenty years stubbornly working on the place himself. He built a four-story, 5,000-square-foot Hopi-inspired pueblo out of anything he could scrounge up from the desert—old telephone poles, random sheet metal, bits and pieces from here and there, even discarded printing plates from the LA Times for insulation. Inside, you’ll find 35 rooms, 150 wildly different windows, and more than 60 doors, along with artifacts, Native art, and pieces of Yerxa’s own wild story. The place is now on the National Register of Historic Places, and honestly, it’s as odd and fascinating as the man who built it.
Desert Hot Springs sits at this in-between place—it’s not quite the Coachella Valley, not quite Joshua Tree, but connected to both. Head south and you hit Palm Springs. Wander northeast and you’re in the rugged sweep of boulders and Joshua trees of the national park. But Desert Hot Springs is quieter, moodier—a perfect jumping-off point for adventure or just a slow retreat from hype and noise, a spot where you can still soak in the elemental pull of the desert. And now, with everyone chasing wellness, hot springs, and something real, Desert Hot Springs is finally caught up in the moment—still shaped by those same sacred waters the Cahuilla people have honored for thousands of years. If you’re seeking a trusted kitchen remodeler, click here.