Where are the Calistoga Hot Springs?

In my position as the Visitor Center Coordinator at the Calistoga Visitor Center I repeatedly hear this question: Where are the Calistoga Hot Springs? Visitors, and especially Europeans, expect to find public hot springs ready to jump into. Well, you may be able to do that in other places of the world, but in Calistoga, that would mean jumping into 180 degree hot water. The springs need to be managed and the temperature reduced to a comfortable 104 degrees and below. That is where the hotels come in; they are the managers of the hot springs and we have several hotels who manage the hot springs and thus offer mineral pools for your enjoyment. As a guest of the hotel or as a day spa user, you can enjoy the geothermal waters. So, the answer to the question, where are the hot springs?, lies in the ground below us, where the hot water heats up.