Hot Springs in Tennessee | Are There Hot Springs

Are there hot springs in Tennessee?

No. Tennessee has no natural hot springs. Red Boiling Springs, an hour north-east of Nashville, was a mineral spring resort town from the 1840s to the Second World War, but its springs were never hot.

The nearest hot springs are in Hot Springs, North Carolina, about 60 miles from Knoxville and 220 miles from Nashville in a straight line. From Memphis, Hot Springs, Arkansas, is nearer, at about 180 miles.

How close are hot springs to Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis?

Tennessee sits between two hot spring towns: North Carolina's to the east and Arkansas's to the west.

From	Nearest hot springs (straight line)	Next nearest
Nashville	Hot Springs, North Carolina220 miles	Hot Springs, Arkansas, 370 milesBath County, Virginia, 400 miles
Memphis	Hot Springs, Arkansas180 miles	Hot Springs, North Carolina, 410 milesBath County, Virginia, 600 miles
Knoxville	Hot Springs, North Carolina60 miles	Bath County, Virginia, 260 milesHot Springs, Arkansas, 520 miles

From Knoxville, Hot Springs, North Carolina, is close enough for an evening soak. Memphis is the one city where Arkansas comes first.

Red Boiling Springs and Tennessee's spring resorts

Red Boiling Springs, in Macon County near the Kentucky line, was settled in the 1780s, and visitors came to its mineral springs for their supposed healing powers. In 1844 Samuel E. Hare bought the Red Boiling Spring and about 20 acres and built a commercial health resort around it.

The resort grew in the 1850s as better turnpikes brought visitors, stalled in the Civil War, and picked up again in the mid-1870s. The town boomed from the 1880s until the Second World War, and by 1916 it had four hotels, including the 64-room Palace Hotel. The Cloyd Hotel, built in 1890, burned in 1924 and was rebuilt in brick in 1927; it is the Thomas House Hotel today.

After the war, changes in transport and medicine, penicillin above all, ended the resort trade. Older springs resorts dot Middle Tennessee too: Wynnewood at Castalian Springs, built in 1828 as a stagecoach inn, ran as a mineral springs resort into the early 1900s and is now a state historic site.

Spas and springs in Tennessee

Mineral pools and baths at two wellness spas, a hotel from Red Boiling Springs' resort days, and a log inn that was a springs resort.

Resort spa
Southall
Franklin
A farm resort spa with a mineral pool, sauna, steam room and thermotherapy; weekday spa passes by reservation.
Day spa
The Nest
Bristol
An affordable wellness retreat with mineral bath soaks, infrared saunas and a salt room.
Historic hotel
Thomas House Hotel
Red Boiling Springs
A B&B on the site of the 1890 Cloyd Hotel, rebuilt in brick in 1927 in the town's mineral spring resort days.
Spring history
Wynnewood State Historic Site
Castalian Springs
Built in 1828 as a stagecoach inn and later run as a mineral springs resort; the largest surviving log structure in Tennessee.

Map of spas and springs in Tennessee

Where each of the 4 places in Tennessee is. Pin shapes show the type; open the larger map for more detail.

Spring site Spa or hotel Heated pool

Rules and good manners

Good to know.

Reserve spa passesSouthall limits weekday spa passes, so book ahead.
Pair history with a soakRed Boiling Springs and Wynnewood are both on the way north-east of Nashville.
Mind the after-careThe CDC recommends a soap shower after any hot tub to cut the risk of hot tub rash.

Planning a soak in Tennessee

When to visit

The spas run year-round. Wynnewood has set visiting hours; check the site before you go.

Costs

Spa passes and treatments are paid. Southall's weekday spa day passes are limited and need a reservation.

Getting around

Franklin is 20 miles south of Nashville. Red Boiling Springs is about an hour north-east of Nashville, near the Kentucky line, and Castalian Springs is near Gallatin. Bristol is in the far north-east.

Common questions

Was Red Boiling Springs a resort?

Yes. It was a mineral springs resort from 1844, busiest from the 1880s to the Second World War. The Thomas House Hotel is the rebuilt Cloyd Hotel of 1890.

Are there hot springs near Knoxville?

Yes, just over the state line: Hot Springs, North Carolina, is about 60 miles from Knoxville in a straight line.

Are there hot springs near Nashville?

The nearest are in Hot Springs, North Carolina, about 220 miles away, then Hot Springs, Arkansas, about 370 miles away.

Where can you soak in a mineral pool in Tennessee?

Southall in Franklin has a mineral pool among its spa facilities, and The Nest in Bristol offers mineral bath soaks.

Where is Red Boiling Springs?

In Macon County near the Kentucky line, about an hour north-east of Nashville.

Pictures of places to soak in Tennessee

Photos of Southall and Thomas House Hotel, all places to soak in this guide. We only use photos whose license allows reuse and credit the photographer under each one. The full credits are on our photo credits page.