Casa Diablo Hot Springs

Casa Diablo Hot Springs
The power plant (bottom) with the formerly active geothermal areas on the slope above (white areas)
Map
LocationMono County, California
Coordinates37°38′47″N 118°54′57″W / 37.64639°N 118.91583°W / 37.64639; -118.91583
Elevation7,319 feet (2,231 m)[1]

Casa Diablo Hot Springs is a hot springs and active geothermal location, near Mammoth Lakes and the Eastern Sierra Nevada, in Mono County, eastern California.

Geography

It is within the northern part of the Long Valley Caldera volcanic feature and zone, and beside U.S. Highway 395. California State Route 203 branches off to the west from the Highway 395 interchange at Casa Diablo Hot Springs, leading to the Mammoth Lakes and ski resort area, and Devils Postpile National Monument.

History

Casa Diablo Hot Springs was once the site of a regularly erupting geyser. It is noted as a Native American mining and manufacturing site specializing in obsidian materials.[2] Use of materials from this site is noted at least as early as the Millingstone Horizon.[3] Peoples as distant as the coastal Chumash people traded for material from this obsidian source.

Casa Diablo became a stage stop along the Bishop Creek to Bodie stagecoach route in 1878 (147 years ago) (1878). It was a relay station for the route to the mining camps of Mammoth City, Mill City, Mineral Peak and Pine City. In 1881, Casa Diablo stage station ceased operating and was later used for other business as a trading post, a seasonal resort, a tavern, a gas station, a grocery store, a hardware store and a lumber yard.[4]

Geothermal power

The Mammoth Geothermal Complex is located here, owned by Ormat and operated by Mammoth Pacific, LP.[5][6] The geothermal plant opened in 1983.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Casa Diablo Hot Springs
  2. ^ Hull, KL (2001). "Reasserting the Utility of Obsidian Hydration Dating: A Temperature-Dependent Empirical Approach to Practical Temporal Resolution with Archaeological Obsidians". Journal of Archaeological Science. 28 (10). Academic Press: 1025–1040. Bibcode:2001JArSc..28.1025H. doi:10.1006/jasc.2000.0629.
  3. ^ Hogan, CM (2008). Burnham, A (ed.). "Morro Creek". The Megalithic Portal.
  4. ^ a b "Casa Diablo Near Mammoth Lakes". California Historic Point of Interest.
  5. ^ "Mammoth Pacific - the Basics of Geothermal". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-12-07. Mammoth Pacific, LP: "The Basics of Geothermal" - Casa Diablo . accessed 12.2.2010
  6. ^ "Mammoth geothermal development at Casa Diablo Hot Springs, Long Valley caldera, California". Archived from the original on 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2009-12-05. USGS.gov: Gallery