Hot Springs

Hot Springs is in Big Bend National Park where Tornillo Creek enters the Rio Grande, in the southern tip of Brewster County some four miles upriver from Boquillas Canyon and the Mexican village of Boquillas. The natural springs at the site are known as Boquillas Hot Springs. Boquillas is Spanish for "little mouths" and refers to the many small streams or arroyos that drain this part of the Sierra del Carmen range (see SIERRA DEL CABALLO MUERTO) and flow into the Rio Grande. Later, when the springs were promoted for their health benefits, the settlement there was called Hot Springs, and a post office by that name was established at the site in July 1914. Although there are several other small hot springs in the area, these larger and more accessible springs are the best known.

On the cliffs near the springs are pictographs (see INDIAN ROCK ART) painted by the various Indian tribes who roamed the Big Bend area for many centuries; at the foot of the cliffs are kitchen middens as well as depressions in the rock that were used as mortars. At a site where hot springwater poured off a lip of rock, an ancient bathtub-like depression was found chiseled out of the sedimentary rock.

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Evelyn Hilton | © TSHA

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Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Belongs to

Hot Springs is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

No

Place type

Hot Springs is classified as a Town

Associated Names

  • [Boquillas Hot Springs]

Location

Latitude: 29.18214960
Longitude: -102.99210830

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No