Casa Diablo Hot Springs

{{Infobox spring

|name = Casa Diablo Hot Springs

|coordinates = {{coord|37|38|47|N|118|54|57|W|region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}

|elevation = {{convert|7319|ft|m}}{{gnis|258026}}

|photo = Casa Diablo.jpg

|photo_caption = The power plant (bottom) with the formerly active geothermal areas on the slope above (white areas)}}

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.{{cite journal|first=KL|last=Hull|year=2001|title=Reasserting the Utility of Obsidian Hydration Dating: A Temperature-Dependent Empirical Approach to Practical Temporal Resolution with Archaeological Obsidians|publisher=Academic Press|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|volume=28|issue=10|pages=1025–1040|doi=10.1006/jasc.2000.0629|bibcode=2001JArSc..28.1025H }} Use of materials from this site is noted at least as early as the Millingstone Horizon.{{cite web|first=CM|last=Hogan|year=2008|title=Morro Creek|work=The Megalithic Portal|editor-first=A|editor-last=Burnham|url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18502}} 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 {{start date and age|1878|p=y}}. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.noehill.com/mono/poi_casa_diablo.asp|work=California Historic Point of Interest|title=Casa Diablo Near Mammoth Lakes}}

Geothermal power

The Mammoth Geothermal Complex is located here, owned by Ormat and operated by Mammoth Pacific, LP.{{cite web|url=http://www.mammothpacific.com/geothermal.html |title=Mammoth Pacific - the Basics of Geothermal |accessdate=2010-12-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714024628/http://www.mammothpacific.com/geothermal.html |archivedate=2011-07-14 }} Mammoth Pacific, LP: "The Basics of Geothermal" - Casa Diablo . accessed 12.2.2010{{cite web |url=http://lvo.wr.usgs.gov/gallery/32022545-035_caption.html |title=Mammoth geothermal development at Casa Diablo Hot Springs, Long Valley caldera, California |accessdate=2009-12-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215070039/http://lvo.wr.usgs.gov/gallery/32022545-035_caption.html |archivedate=2009-12-15 }} USGS.gov: Gallery The geothermal plant opened in 1983.