Paul, Actually I was referring to the 2 wheel parking area that is accessed through the Bowen Ranch when talking about not having hiked from it to the springs in years. I have never hiked to the hotsprings from down near the dam. I have ridden my mountain bike many times from the dam area to the springs. It is a fun trail to ride even though you have to get off the bike at times to get around tuff spots. I talked to a ranger that said they were allowing bikes on the trail at that time. I haven't done this ride in a few years. It is considerate to show respect for hikers when you ride past them on the trail. It used to take me about 45 minutes riding up from the spillway area to the springs. It will take longer if your not cranking the whole way without a stop. My brother did it in 28 minutes. He's crazzzzy! He likes to torture himself. He did a bike ride starting at the lowest point in the united states in Death Valley at 12 midnight and rode over 100 miles to the Mt Whitney portal and then hike to the top of Mt. Whitney ( the highest point in the united states ) and back down, all in under 24 hours without stopping. He's Crazzzzzy!! I will take my 25 minute hike to the hotpools thank you :-) 25 minutes you say, Yep, on the way down! Hiking out after a long soak is a differant story :-) You can also park on the other side of the dam and ride across the top to the spillway and then up the trail. I would recomend this second option since the area around the spillway is a known trouble area. I have been vandalized there a couple of times, car battery stolen and tires flattened. I've never had a problem on the other side of the dam next to the paved road. Speaking of the spillway Mindy ( M. Colt ), I don't know when the last time you were up there but the spillway for a long time now has had a large cement berm with very large boulders in front of it blocking anybody driving up it like in the old days. I think we are talking about the same spillway at the Mohave dam. I do remember when I was a kid going with by dad in his jeep and driving up the spillway before it was blocked to a forestry campground that used to be behind the dam. This was about 35 years ago and it was very nice a clean behind the dam back then. Now it has been severely violated in the form of trash, graffiti and vandalism which is a sad thing. Around the dam has become a rowdy party haven and has moterbikes and cars all over on the weekend. Not my cup of tea. I do know one person who regularly hikes up from the other side of the dam and actually prefers and enjoys this longer hike. He has been doing this for years even though he knows about the closer aproach from the Bowen Ranch area. Well each to thier own!
