Hot Springs and Pools of the Southwest: 40th Anniversary Edition

Great way to honor the previous authors and all the contributors to this book over the years. It is an excellent way to plan a hot springs trip in general, and while on the road. More credible and easier to access while on the road then some of the Internet sites.

Overall, this is basically a straight reprint with only a handful of additions, deletions or updates in the entire book. Much of the info was inaccurate when written 20 years ago, and while the book will likely get you to any given spring, you may not recognize what you find from the book's description.Marjorie Gersh-Young took over this book series when its original author and her significant-other died. She seems to have rarely left her home, relying instead on others to do the exploration. Unfortunately, her understanding of geography wasn't good, and since she rarely visited the springs in her book, she was writing second-hand. Then, what she wrote was republished over & over and over, without any revision or reality testing The current authors have repeated this, and that is my biggest complaint. The book is just a cash cow, and does not include a serious effort to review all the listings for their current status & accuracy.Things have changed in the last 2 decades, especially in the last 2 years (after this book was written), but you would not know it looking at the listings in this book most of which are verbatim clones of what was in prior editions going back to the mid-2000s. For example, Chimney HS p32 mentions Black Rock Station (or Lockes) as if it still existed, but this isolated store closed close to 20 years ago. Good luck if you rely on this book for where to get supplies or gas. Or Reese River p25 was great when the pictured pool existed. But it was bulldozed a decade ago.The current authors have also continued this series' habit of renaming springs willy-nilly. Some friends call a spring something new and viola, it has a new name. See Gridley p17, which the authors rename Devil's Faucet because someone stuck a sign to that effect (pictured). Despite the traditional name or what is in prior editions of this series, or the several professional hot spring data bases dating to the 1930s. They also renumber springs in each of their editions, making it unnecessarily difficult to discern springs added or deleted between editions.The maps included are the same crude, line-drawn maps used since the earliest edition in the 90s. Cartography standards have progressed; this book has not. Further, the authors past & present have never been all that careful with their placement of springs on a map. See where the put Kyle p24 in this edition (about 3 mountain ranges over). Not a single new map has been added to this edition.There are a few "new" photos, but they aren't actually newly taken. Just new to the book.The series continues to strive to include GPS coordinates for all springs, but 20 years after they started this it is still a work in progress. The authors could spend a night or two with Google Earth and get them all. If they were to be bothered to.The book still includes hot tub spas, and cold well fed swimming pools, a legacy of the original author, but of questionable value in 2021. Further, from what I've seen in the Northwest editions of this book, absolutely no effort has been made to update the info for those businesses first included nearly 30 years ago. So, if they have a phone # with a changed area code, or are out of business, such changes may not be reflectedBottom line: if you want just one hot spring book, buy this one or ANY of the other editions published in the last 10 years. All about the same. You won't notice a difference I'll bet. As to the authors, they need to get their act together given all the online resources available to both them and us. Otherwise there is no point for consumers to buy new editions of their book. Cause there is nothing "new" about them.PS no where in their books do the current or prior authors deal with their ethics in publicizing often very environmentally delicate springs to a public that now commonly travels in huge RVs and has no understanding of the sensitive desert environment most of these springs are found in. What if a spring simply can not handle the use & abuse it will receive if they put it in this book?

Does anybody know if or when a new "Northwest" book might be coming out? This book is very helpful and definitely worth 5 stars.

Best way to get info on your local hot springs.

Very poor quality

Havnt recieved yet but heard these guys are the new torchbearers of hot spring books as the old torchbearers have since retired and giving them permission to continue the tradition of hot spring guide books. At least this is what it says on the website of the authors of this book

Lots of great places to try