Venturing out beyond the public area of Hot Creek we discovered a little white bridge that crossed the steaming creek. Hot creek is heated by geothermal springs that boil and bubble up in to the river. The hot water continues downstream with steam rising off the river as it passes through vast ranchland with a large number of herds of deer, horses, bulls and cows. The river eventually flows, still steaming in to Lake Crowley. There are a number of locations to take beautiful pictures but the road is anything but smooth. Long and dusty there are a number of turns you can take that lead nowhere or may take you to a spanning visit that overlooks the valley. It's great fun if you're not in a hurry.