Your going to get some odd, to unfriendly looks while hiking the Bowen Ranch trail, or elsewhere around DCHS, at one time or another, if hiking nude. A certain amount of the people who visit arn't aware that the area around DCHS is considered clothing optional. Best to not get into an argument with the few folks you might run across, that show themselves to be intolerant of the Naturist atmosphere down there. As time goes by, there will be more of this type of encounter, because of the changing mix of people who are beginning to visit DCHS, because of its increasing exposure, and popularity. Regarding the hike in from the Bowen parking lot. The first short section of your hike to the 3W02 trailhead crosses BLM lands. The last time I talked to the BLM enforcement Ranger, Barry Nelson, he said that hiking nude on BLM lands is a violation of state laws, and they would cite offenders. However I have not heard of this happening along that portion of the trail. Also the Sherrifs dept takes a similiar view, as I found out talking to some of thier people locally. The history, from what I have seen, tends to show that these two agencies don't appear to bother any folks that may be hiking nude from the Bowen Ranch, down the Bowen Ranch Trail ( 3W02 ), to DCHS. I think the USFS has some sort of understanding with them, even though the BLM or the Sherrifs would most likely not admit to this. I always keep some shorts handy, just in case, where ever I'm at up there, I may happen to come across some of the " less tolerant " agency personel. As for the general public, in my personal experience of 20 years of visits, I have only, one time, ran across an individual that showed himself to get outright physically threatening because of my nudity at DCHS. So with that in mind, I find DCHS still to be a great place to enjoy the clothing optional experience. There is an abundance of thoughtful, open minded people that visit these springs, and this even by itself, makes my trips to DCHS, a worthwhile adventure :-)