Tassajara Hot Springs, Los Padres National Forest

Tassajara Hot Springs is a collection of natural hot springs within the Ventana Wilderness area of the Santa Lucia Range and Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County, California. The hot springs were used by the indigenous Native Americans for generations before they were discovered by Europeans in about 1843. The springs have been the site of various resorts since 1868. A horse trail was in use until in 1886, when a stagecoach road was constructed over Chews Ridge to the springs. Monterey County designated the road to the resort as a public highway in June, 1870. Charles Quilty bought the resort in 1886. He had a sandstone hotel built. He and members of his family owned the springs until 1945. The new owners refurbished the hotel but it burned in a fire in 1949. The resort changed hands several times over the next three decades. One owner planned to add a helicopter service, but he was killed in an airplane crash. Since 1967, the hot springs have been the site of a Zen Buddhist monastery which is open to visitors during the summer months only. ()