It is a major adventure to get to this isolated mountain retreat, which primarily serves as a monastery. Entrance to the hot springs is limited to paying guests -- during the season guests are welcome -- so this is not a spot you can drive to and leave. A visitor must book a cabin and stay overnight. The link above to the San Francisco Zen Center will get you to a reservations page, with prices.

American Dipper nest along Tassajara Creek. The arid habitat is good for Costa's Hummingbird.

Tassajara Hot Springs is shorthand for Tassajara Mountain Zen Center, operated as a monastery and retreat by the San Francisco Zen Center. There are natural hot springs here along Tassajara Creek in a barren, often desert-like habitat. The Zen Center is closed parts of the year for retreats and training, but is open at times in spring and summer for tourist. There are cabins and dining room with delicious vegetarian meals, and there are hot springs, often enclosed, for men, for women, or both. It tends to be very hot in the middle of the day in summer here.

Tassajara Hot Springs is at the end of a long, narrow, rough dirt road, some 14 miles from where the pavement ends at Jamesburg, along Tassajara Road, off of Carmel Valley Road. The last 14 miles of the journey to Tassajara consists of a winding dirt road with sheer drop-offs and a steep, narrow descent over the last five miles. One must use a low gear to drive the last very steep 5 miles. It is definitely an adventure to get here.