Harbin Hot Springs is a spiritual grounding place immediately on the first visit to the healing waters and new-age community that took over this idyllic valley in 1972.
It all started when a hippie used a sudden inheritance to buy the former health resort and in fact the entire valley, founded the 'Heart-Conscious Church's and attracted a steady stream of spiritual and physical wellness seekers, that enjoy, mostly naked, the natural hot springs, the yoga, massage, and each other. Over time the pools and hotel facilities became fancier, but you could always pop in for a 24 hour soak including free camping, free yoga sessions, various spiritual gatherings, a lively community kitchen, evening movie shows, and much more, all for a small fee.
Unfortunately many of the buildings got destroyed by a series of wildfires, mainly the 2015 Valley Fire en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Fire , and it took years to rebuild. The old charming resident community, temples, etc have not yet returned.
But it was heartwarming to see that the pools are restored and improved, camping is still included for free, yoga is slowly returning once a day guided by volunteers, and many of the creative and lovely guests are still coming, even though the expensive reconstruction resulted in a doubling of the entrance prices.
Finally biked from the bottom to the top of the large valley entirely owned by Harbin, perfectly rewarded by yoga and three times in one day several long soaks in the various pools, sauna, steam room, and water massage jets. Bliss ♨️