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One of the oldest and most pretty hot springs in California, Harbin Hot Springs is now operated as a non-profit retreat and workshop center. We are situated N of San Francisco, above the Napa Valley wine region. Guests travel here from around the world to soak in the natural spring pools, receive massages or our famous Watsu, sun on the clothing-optional decks, practice yoga, attend workshops, hike the hills, or to simply relax in the embrace of nature.
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For many guests, Harbin's greatest allure is its spring-fed hot, warm, and cold pools. Our clothing-optional Mainside Pool Area now features a total of eight different pools. These include all the pools you may remember from earlier visits, plus a new, trellis-area Hot Plunge, and a dedicated Health Services Pool for semi-private professional aquatic bodywork treatments.
Although the fire of 2015 changed the familiar terrain and trails, there's still much for Harbin's hikers to enjoy. We've restored some old trails and established some new ones, giving you the opportunity to explore with new eyes. It's fascinating to see how the fire affected the land, trees, and wildlife.
Harbin's own Dancing Bear Cafe features tasty, healthful, and predominantly organic vegetarian fare, with meat and gluten-free options. The Dancing Bear Cafe is Harbin's outdoor food cafe and picnic pavilion that is available to our guests. It's located between the Health Services office and the lovely lower Garden.
Harbin Yoga is designed to provide a heart-full space for your expanding and evolving Harbin experience. All classes support you to nurture your deeper understanding of yoga. In class, you'll have the opportunity to experience yoga as an uplifting practice centered in self-awareness. With this awareness, we'll explore breath, body, mind, and spirit.
Harbin hosts an impressive array of educational, spiritual, inspirational and entertaining events for guests. They can be a great way to share your Harbin Experience with fellow guests, while expanding your heart and mind. Events are generally held in the new Events Center, just steps from the lower Garden area. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of the page to keep informed on upcoming events.
Reviews (27)
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Chris C.
Jun 29, 2022
Very relaxing, very peaceful, has not fully recovered since its former glory since the 2015 fires but still a wonderful place
Sayoko S.
Jun 03, 2022
Great hot springs in the forest, enjoyed many years ago Kitchen was for vegan! Hope I can go back there near future
Lisa H.
May 17, 2022
The were really rude to us, they treated us like shit, they ducked up on which room we were supposed to be in
Basil R.
May 15, 2022
Harbin pre- fire was a total 5-star. Post-fire the experience is diminished. Although many amenities are new, the overall vibe has suffered greatly. I'll focus specifically on the food experience, which is now overpriced and very slow. We waited 45 minutes for our banh mi and rice bowls. We will come back, with sandwiches. Crisis averted.
Liam UiCearbhaill
May 14, 2022
We stayed in a Caravan. It was clean and easy to use. It kept us warm when the icy wind blew. The pools were clean and attendees respectful. Though they lost a lot in the fire, they are building back and filling in with mobile units effectively. I will be back.
Cholmondeley Luke St Cloud
May 14, 2022
Amazing place! Wonderful atmosphere and food. The last couple of times we've been there, there have been loads of shrieking children and parents calling across the facility and pools - I wish they would be more respectful of the spirituality of the place or that there were more restrictions on kids and their parents. Otherwise so amazing!
Estefani B.
Apr 26, 2022
My fiance and I really enjoyed our visit here. The staff was so nice and helpful. We loved the pools and the food was great! We definitely will be coming back! -Thank You Harbin
Jacob Bower-Bir
Apr 26, 2022
Comparatively inexpensive but one of your party needs a membership, which can be bought also relatively cheaply for a month at a time. The facilities are clean and most patrons follow the rules to keep them that way. Clothing optional, and most people exercise the option to go without clothing, but no one seems to hassle people either way. Make sure to do some exploring around the pools as not all of them are well marked, though that adds to the enjoyment and sense of discovery. The cafe and diner are fine and priced in line with similar establishments. There is a nice garden that you can eat and relax in. Child friendly.
Meghan K.
Apr 25, 2022
I had a traumatic experience with their front desk staff. This place is transphobic and ableist. I wrote this email to them and it has been sent to two different email addresses. "To whom it may concern - I'd like to file a formal complaint against the staff and management of your facility. I was to attend today on a day pass that a friend had purchased for me yesterday upon their arrival.

My friend gave the registration staff both my name and license plate number prior to my arrival today, and the staff member told my friend that I'd just have to identify myself at registration when I arrived this morning. I got to the reservation this morning came in with my service animal. We were greeted by a barking dog behind the counter that heightened the whole scenario immediately.

I was asked for the name of the reservation. It was safe to assume that was my name considering the information given to my friend yesterday. The staff member assumed this was the person who made the reservation for me, assumes their pronouns as she/her, and then asks if "she" is here. my response being an ask about who it is we are talking about. Oh. Meghan. that's me.

It was all very confusing and dehumanizing to be misgendered in a third person by the staff. A second individual came out that later identified themself as a manager. This person tried to find the name of the reservation assuming I would know the legal names of everyone in our party. This alone is wildly transphobic, and not a safe practice for trans folk.

And indeed, I did not know the legal name of the person holding the membership to your facility. Amidst the conversation, this manager asks if my service animal is in training. There are two questions ADA law allows a place of business to ask of a disabled person with a service animal. This is not one of those questions, and was wildly insulting and ableist.

I suggest your management refresh themselves in ADA law. Between the gender and disability discrimination, I was no longer able to continue to interact with this level of unprofessionalism. The manager seemed to lose their patience, and when I asked them to take a step back with the attitude, considering this was a office mistake on their end, the rebutted with me being the attitude.

At that point I walked out. If this is the way your management treats disabled trans folks, I highly suggest you all go through some serious diversity trainings. Going to a place to relax and recharge should not continue to traumatize disabled and trans folks. This is unacceptable behavior. As a result of your blatant discrimination I lost precious time with very dear humans to me that live on the other side of an ocean.

That is irreplaceable, and I am livid about it. We also all left the facility as a result of your discrimination, losing the three other folks six hours each of paid time in your facility. That is monetary, and while my pass was refunded, i do believe you ought to refund this lost time of theirs to the individual that is a member of your facility as three day passes. I'd love to see some accountability and acknowledgement on how you will be doing better to show up for the trans and disabled community.

I will be taking the time to write reviews as well, and do expect you as a facility to respond appropriately, as well as rectify your wrongs here. I would appreciate response and updates on how you will be showing that accountability. I can never recommend this space to other trans and disabled folks, and I do hope I can keep others from being traumatized by your staff.

Take care, " I have yet to be responded to. but they sent a nice apology to my friend that also wrote a letter. Do better Harbin. Also. maybe respond to me. Stop silencing trans and disabled voices.
Kadir Karahan
Apr 25, 2022
I really liked this place and am thinking to go there again soon. It's a big enough secluded area with beautiful nature, nicely constructed after a big fire and feeling truly free of work and technological tools for couple days.
Amanda O.
Apr 15, 2022
My husband and I went here a few weeks ago and I had reserved one of the domes for us. Ours had a king size bed and a small refrigerator. The room was perfect enough for us. Bed was comfortable. The two pools were amazing! As well as the main pools. Definitely will recommend to friends!
Jennifer Michels
Apr 09, 2022
Great place to go for a soak, steam or sun bathe on the deck. Since a good chunk of it burnt down a few years ago, there is a good deal of temporary buildings in use, like the showers, and changing area. They've succeeded in creating a nice outdoor dining area(food is pretty good too) but if circumstances find the weather unbearably chilly, your only recourse is a stuffy, smelly, temporary mobile unit. That would be my biggest gripe. Other than that, it's a nice place to soak, naked under the sky.
Diana Kakar
Mar 29, 2022
A brilliant get away at any level! They have camping/!bungalows and beautiful hotel rooms! Everyone is welcome and super respectful! In the evening I used the hot and cold pools in the morning I woke with the sun to meditate and feel the nurturing power of the land. A special special place! Bring a good book probably 2 towels and a hat and sunglasses if your there for the day.the sun gets warm/ hot!

Cell phones are not allowed only on a few tech areas by the food truck so those are the pics I added.( But honestly such a great cell phone/lap top tech detox!) The food is beyond! Had tumric and Ginger Shots 2x a day lots of smoothies and delicious food! Truly want to devour the menu! Oh and the coffee is amazing!
J. G.
Mar 09, 2022
This place is truly relaxing. There is a variety of pools, the atmosphere is very chill and non judgmental. It is clothing optional and everyone is welcome. This was exactly what I needed for my body a week before surgery. I would highly recommend getting away to Harbin. Also the pools are open 24 hours a day so you can even get in when the ski is full of stars : I know some other reviews mention that the food is pricey and the menu is small but this is a pretty remote location so that is to be expected. Also the price for using the springs is VERY reasonable compared to some other similar places.
Cybele Lerman
Mar 08, 2022
Very peaceful. Nice variety of mineral pools to go in. Good food available at the "cafe". Pools were kinda crowded even on a weekday so be prepared for that.
Shahin S.
Mar 07, 2022
We visited Habrin this weekend. Here are some of my observations: - The surrounding nature is beautiful. It gets pretty cold at nights, at least in March. - The hottub near the doms was barely warm - There were very limited parking spaces near the common hottubs/pools. - They advertise it as a hot springs place, but it was unclear to us where the hot spring was.

I think it was mostly a fouple of large hottubs. - Clothing is optional. Most people were just fully naked in the hottubs. We enjoyed our time there, but I think there must be better places to visit next time.
Caitanya M.
Mar 05, 2022
I haven't been back to Harbin since it was burnt down and rebuilt so was very excited to come and bring a friend visiting from out of town. We opted to spend two nights in the dome lodging with kitchen. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the space. There was a strange smell in the kitchen and main staircase something akin (to me) to old fried fish and chips, and my friend felt nauseated the whole time due to the smell.

There was one full-sized double bed that sagged terribly in the middle and was probably meant for pygmy adults. We cancelled the second night (and for the record, we did receive a refund--thank you). One of the reasons why we chose to stay in the dome lodging was for the private pools. Unfortunately, the warm pool never really got warm. This could have been due to the temporary PG&E outage but even 14 hours later, the water was still barely warm so we couldn't use the dome pools, which, again, was the whole point of staying there.

The main pools themselves were clean, lovely, and relaxing, albeit one woman in one of the pools who wouldn't stop talking very loudly to anyone and everyone, despite our asking her to lower her voice. We had good interactions with almost all the staff members (minus one), so appreciate this a lot. If we had made just a day trip, I imagine we would rate this higher but since this review includes the lodging, we can only give this three stars.
Yolanda Cotton Turner
Feb 22, 2022
Secret hide away retreat center focused on meditation, healing, and connection with nature. This place is heaven! If you plan to visit, remember to respect the culture. People travel from afar to return to these healing waters. Bring your own towel & flip flops. Secret tip- bring an empty water bottle & fill up on this amazing drinking water before you leave!
Kt T.
Feb 19, 2022
Three days ago I visited Harbin Hotsprings for the first time. I went for a visit based on my friend's recommended as a location for healing and relaxtion. When we arrived at the Hot Springs we had a great time until I was a victim of racist harassment from a customer. This older white woman was celebrating her 68th birthday. She proceeded to ask me where I was from and when I told her I was from Arizona, she proceeded to stalk me, tell me that I couldn't possibly be from Arizona as she ued her hands to make "asian squinty eyes" at me and further make me uncomfrotable by telling me aloha!

I emailed this incident to the owners who are own the Heart Concious Church. When I brought the situation to their attention to include a "no-hate-tolerance policy to our guest agreement." They said appologized for her behavior and told me they would consider it. These people are hipocrites and racist and you should not support this business that lacks accountability to protect ALL of their guests from hate.

Their appologies and lack of action will not keep their future guests safe. They need to get their "Midsommar so-called morals and values" in order as a self proclaimed church that honors to protect their guests.
Tarandeep Singh
Feb 18, 2022
I love this place. Perfect place for relaxing out of city. Not too far from SF. I'll recommend everyone to camp near Creek or in meadow as the prices of dome stay are just too high. Only suggestion to Harbin people is that they should fix the website as it's confusing while booking. How many days you want to stay does not corelate to the checkout day.
Margarita B.
Dec 29, 2021
Lovely as always. The pools were magical. We had a slight heating issue at ten pm, and the staff came out and fixed it within 15 mins. Everyone is very kind and professional. I do not understand why people complain about Harbin being clothing optional. It is clearly stated on the website. This is why the majority of us come to Harbin. It is unfortunate to see people body shaming others in their reviews. If you are not comfortable with nudity, go to one of the resorts in Calistoga.
Rayna B.
Dec 28, 2021
I am giving Harbin Hot Springs only 1 star. I love this place, and I am glad it is still here after the fire. I am so happy I can buy a day pass and enjoy the hot springs. I always come to Harbin when I visit the US. We do not have anything like that where I live. What I did not enjoy was being exposed to COVID. As a healthy, young, triple vaccinated person, I do not have to worry as much as any of you over 65 and immunocompromised. Harbin staff knows that COVID is a contagious, debilitating, and in some cases, deadly disease.

If you try to come into the registration area without a mask, you will be shown a door. They do not want to get sick, but they do not care. Harbin anti-COVID measures are infection control theater. Two years into the pandemic, they check visitors' temperature instead of the vaccine cards. Imagine my horror when I realized that the several loud people with whom I shared my space in the hot pool and the heart-shaped pool are not vaccinated and proud of it Harbin refuses to enforce vaccine policy because they want to get all the money while you carry all the risks.
Jay T.
Dec 09, 2021
TLDR: Do not under any circumstance stay overnight, and maybe pass on the hot springs too even though they clearly, desperately need your money. It's what they care about most, your money. They can't afford to actually care for you, especially not women. I love hot springs and have visited many throughout the US: you can skip Harbin. Never have I felt as unsafe as I did here.

Their low professionalism and bad state of affairs showed up in several ways during our visit. The few good staff interactions were at the friendly cafe. Harbin ran out of towels for overnight guests (yikes?), and we had to wait the following day to get one. We visited the cafe and there's a funny soupy mess of a dish called Buddha Bowl: unfortunately my friend found a bunch of grain weevil or beetles after eating the entire meal.

To the credit of their cafe manager: a full refund was given. Things to note about the pools: sexual activity is allowed despite what signs say. No staff did anything about the numerous couples having some fun in the warm pools. Also, expect that if you're a femme/woman, you will be leered and gazed upon by men. Oh well, this wasn't nearly as bad as what happened later.

My friend and I paid higher lodging prices to stay overnight in the dome that has a kitchen. We shared the small dome and communal space with a elder couple. On the first morning of our few-night stay, we woke to find a stranger in the dome kitchen. The person was a guest staying in a different dome. He proceeded to berate us, "don't you know you need to leave the doors unlocked?

This kitchen is to be shared by everyone." Bewildered, we were speechless as fixed himself breakfast and left. The elder couple in the dome agreed that the very-entitled and rude person should stay in the dome he paid for, and leave us alone. They called security, who assured us that he would be prevented from returning into our dome. Security asked us to place the strange guest's cooler/food outside.

We were shaken by this and also wondered: why didn't security retrieve the person's food themselves? Why wasn't that person being ejected from the property at this single offense of crossing boundaries? As women travelers, we felt our sense of security violated. Maybe we should have left that evening? On the following morning, guess who was in the kitchen again: rude-entitled person, fixing himself breakfast.again!

It turns out that an actual staff person on the housekeeping team unlocked the dome and let him in! The staff person told us, "You should not have thrown this poor guest's food out. I did not want to ask consent from you all because I did not want to knock on your bedroom doors and trouble you." The staff person's rationale was that allowing this man to fix himself breakfast was not a big deal, that we should practice heart consciousness by permitting him to use the kitchen because he came all this way expecting to have a kitchen.

Staff person: "I just wanted to make everyone happy." The staff person did not seek consent from any four of us actually staying in the dome. Our consent was not sought. We were overruled by the staff person's decision to accommodate that single guest. We did not feel safe enough to even stay the last day and left without visiting the pools again, for fear of encountering the rude guest who may yell at us and we would 100% likely be without any protection from their staff.

We have since been in conversation via phone, email, etc since leaving the property and they claim: we care about you and your safety. But, actions speak louder than words. The offender should have been removed from the premises. I asked for a partial refund for our stay, and they are unable to provide that refund. Their actions clearly state: we will continue to let harassers stay here without consequence. Their actions are clear: they care about you in theory, only verbally and in practice they just need to run the hot springs to bring in money. Harm-doers are welcome here.
Angela L.
Sep 28, 2021
The most thing that I love about this place is its closeness to nature. Different from other commercialized places among Calistoga, this place is hidden, private, serene. With 30 more minutes of hilly drive, It has a great view of the valley. It has multiple pools with different temperatures and settings, even a koi pond and small waterfall. When we got there, the bay hasn't rained for almost the whole year.

However we were able to enjoy the drizzle in the mountain. The hike next to the spring facility is also quite enjoyable, it provides the same view but more throughout and a glance at its other cute accommodations. We enjoyed the warm sheltered pool the most, its so relaxing. Everyone else are so quite and respectful.
Jasmine H.
Sep 11, 2021
It's so sad to me to see bad reviews of Harbin. Harbin is a sacred, magical space and it always has been (even though it has been hard hit recently since the fire & COVID). And, seriously, if you're uncomfortable with nudity, just go somewhere else.
Parcia M.
Oct 15, 2020
Harbin Hot Springs is a spirit-oriented non-profit retreat center that offers serenity and body restoration. You can find cottage lodging and camping on site. It's clothing optional, with sulfur and hot spring baths available. I reserved a two night stay at Harbin cottages and discovered that after soaking in the pool, my body was in restorative mode and driving home after soaking is not ideal since the body is so relaxed. Harbin offers cold and warm pool plunges, camping, hiking or attending workshops.

There is a cafeteria that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. The concept of impermanence was tested on Harbin when a fire broke out in 2015. Harbin has slowly worked to rebuild the land and pool areas with a new age ambiance. Many travel to Harbin seeking a deeply transpersonal experience. I spent time expressing gratitude while journaling, ate my meals in the beautiful garden, bathed in a sulfur pool and hot spring pool, meditated among aged trees and it's deeply rooted limbs while listening to bubbling spring water from a nearby creek, hiked high trails, made offerings to Ganesh and Kuan Yin, and laid out on my cottage porch looking out at the stars.

I discovered that the sulfur meditation pool healed my achy joints, bloated stomach, cleared puffiness in my face, and cleared up my periodic muscle spasms in my hands and feet.
Caley G.
Aug 16, 2020
After a disappointing experience with Harbin's then lack of enforcing the Ca. State mask law, I have been assured that changes in compliance have been implemented. I appreciate the responsive action of ensuring that the Harbin Experience remains safe and enjoyable. As a decades long fan of this facility, I want to support it. Thank you, Harbin, for creating a place of sanctuary and safety.