Welcome to Wild Willy’s Hot Springs – a heart shaped spring surrounded by mountains near Mammoth Lakes. My name is Monique and I was born and raised in Las Vegas. Even though I have traveled all over the world, I can never picture living anywhere else but Las Vegas. I love it here!
My parents have always made it a priority to travel as a family, starting at a young age. Despite taking at least one trip per year, what sparked my travel bug was our vacation to France when I was in the eighth grade. Being immersed in such a strong culture is what made me crave travel more.
I went on to start My Perfect Itinerary on a whim three years ago. I didn’t tell anyone about the website for months and tried to keep it a secret. I think I wanted to make sure I knew I wanted to go through with it before I blurted out to the world! I soon realized that if I didn’t have confidence in myself and take it seriously, it was never going to go anywhere.
My Perfect Itinerary is not my full-time job as I work as an HR Manager for a local Las Vegas company. However, it’s my portal for weekend adventures, depending on my personal time off to travel. I consider myself a total weekend warrior. You can follow my adventures at @myperfectitinerary.
My Experience at Wild Willy’s Hot Springs
I spotted a unique place on Instagram called Wild Willy’s Hot Springs a few years back and always had it in the back of my mind. It’s quite a long drive from Las Vegas, so I knew I would probably never make the trip out just to visit the springs. However, I took a girls trip to Yosemite National Park and Wild Willy’s was the perfect stop over on our long drive.
We stayed at the hot springs for about an hour and I feel that was the perfect amount of time! They are usually packed with people but since the air quality from the fires was bad this day, we had them all to ourselves. I’m not sure if that was lucky or unlucky – but either way, it was amazing.
The date was October, 2020 during the worst time of the fires. This meant that the air quality wasn’t the best. We met some locals in the area and they said we were lucky to have the hot springs all to ourselves. Usually Wild Willy’s Hot Springs is packed with visitors, unless you come for sunrise.
All in all, I had a great time at the springs. They were remote, relaxing and made for a great spot to make like-minded friends. I think it should be on everyones bucket-list because who wouldn’t want to soak in a heart shaped hot spring with a bunch of travelers, surrounded by mountains?!
P.S. Yosemite National Park is incredible. Here is my Two Day Yosemite Itinerary if you are planning a trip out there after visiting the springs. You can also visit Mammoth Lakes and June Lake – both of which are close to the hot springs and look so beautiful, especially during the fall months.
Need to Know Before you Go
If you love to camp, I think camping near the springs sounds like such a fun experience. You get to enjoy the springs with all the other campers and watch the sun go down! If you are traveling from further out, it doesn’t make sense to stay overnight. Just enjoy your pit stop at the hot springs on your way to Yosemite or wherever else you are traveling to.
Wild Willy’s is a nude-friendly hot spring! Even though everyone was clothed when I went, be aware of that just in case you plan on bringing young children. If you have a drone camera then definitely bring it! The heart shaped hot spring is ten times cooler captured from a bird’s-eye view.
