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Famous Hot Springs Around the World

Tap a hot spring to learn more about it.

Blue Lagoon (Iceland)

A geothermal spa famous for its striking milky-blue mineral-rich water, which is actually the byproduct of a nearby geothermal power plant's operations, maintaining a warm temperature year-round regardless of the harsh Icelandic climate outside.

Pamukkale (Turkey)

A unique site featuring brilliant white terraces formed over thousands of years by mineral-rich thermal water flowing down a hillside, with the name itself translating to "cotton castle" in Turkish.

Beppu (Japan)

One of Japan's largest hot spring resort areas, famous for its collection of distinctly colored "hells" (jigoku) β€” dramatic natural hot spring pools meant for viewing rather than bathing, including ones colored deep blue, blood red, and murky brown.

Lake HΓ©vΓ­z (Hungary)

One of the largest natural thermal lakes in the world suitable for bathing, continuously fed and refreshed by an underground spring, maintaining a warm temperature even during the coldest winter months.

Grand Prismatic Spring (United States)

The largest hot spring in the United States, located in Yellowstone National Park, famous for its vivid rainbow-like rings of color produced by different types of heat-loving bacteria thriving at different temperature zones within the spring.

How Hot Springs Generally Form

Hot springs typically form when groundwater seeps down and comes into contact with geothermally heated rock, often near volcanic or tectonically active regions, before rising back up to the surface as naturally heated water.

Natural wonders shaped by geology and, sometimes, human activity

While most famous hot springs form through entirely natural geothermal processes, some, like Iceland's Blue Lagoon, exist in their current well-known form partly because of human industrial activity, illustrating how the line between "natural" and "human-influenced" landscapes can sometimes be more complicated than it first appears.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all of these famous hot springs safe to bathe in?

It varies considerably β€” some, like the Blue Lagoon and Lake HΓ©vΓ­z, are specifically developed and maintained for safe public bathing, while others, like many of Beppu's "hells" and Grand Prismatic Spring, are far too hot or chemically extreme for bathing and are intended purely for viewing.

Why do some hot springs have such vividly different colors?

The striking colors seen in many hot springs, such as Grand Prismatic Spring, are primarily caused by different species of heat-tolerant microorganisms that thrive at specific temperature ranges, each producing distinct pigments that create the spring's visible color bands.