Tag: Tecopa Hot Springs Campground
Flippin-Hamrick Crew Officially Takes Keys to Tecopa Hot Springs & Campground
A new era has officially begun at the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground. On Wednesday, the Flippin-Hamrick crew announced they have “received the keys” to the county-owned facility, marking the formal start of their tenure as concessionaire under a new ten-year agreement with Inyo County. The announcement was shared with the community through a public statement…
Inyo County Rewrites the Rules at Tecopa Hot Springs
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors is set to approve a new ten-year agreement at their October 21 meeting, granting Flippin Happy Campers & Lance Hamrick LLC the right to operate and maintain the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools, one of the Amargosa Basin’s most enduring public amenities. The contract marks the third public–private…
Optimism Grows as Tecopa Hot Springs Concession Contract Nears Finalization
After months of uncertainty, momentum is building toward a finalized agreement for the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground & Pools concession. Both county officials and the incoming operators say they’re close to sealing the deal, with hopes of reopening by early November. At the September 23 Inyo County Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Will Wadelton noted…
Heard Around Town: Waiting on the Record
Inyo County has confirmed that it is still in the process of negotiating the concessionaire contract with the selected respondent for the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools. As a result, officials say, TecopaCabana’s public records request related to the submitted applications remains on hold. “This PRA will be resumed once negotiations are complete,” the…
New Concessionaire Recommended for Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools
Inyo County has recommended awarding the concession agreement for the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools to Flippin Happy Campers & Lance Hamrick LLC, opening the door to the next chapter in the stewardship of one of the Mojave Desert’s crown jewels. The County, which issued a request for proposals earlier this year following the…
Sagebrush Sally: Trust Runs on Truth
Dear Sagebrush Sally, I’m troubled by a recent public social media post that blames reporting by your website for the end of the Tecopa Hot Springs Park concessionaire contract, rather than acknowledging the operators’ own documented failure to comply with Inyo County requirements and the terms of the contract they signed. The post even referenced…
Three Decades Later, Unofficial Water Test Used in Official County Process
A water quality report from 1995 is being used by Inyo County officials in 2025 as supporting documentation in their search for a new operator for Tecopa Hot Springs County Park — even though the report was never commissioned by the county. The decades-old analysis was conducted by J. Edward Guilmette, an environmental consultant who…
Past Agreements, Future Stakes: Inside the Contracts Shaping Tecopa Hot Springs Park
As Inyo County prepares to select the next operator for Tecopa Hot Springs Park, prospective applicants would do well to study the evolution of the concessionaire agreements that have governed the site over the past two decades. Two contracts in particular—the 2004 agreement with California Land Management (CLM) and the 2021 renegotiated contract with Tecopa…
Heard Around Town: Water, Wildflowers, and Willpower
SIFPD Declines Water Tank Offer, Focuses on New Fire Stations and 2026 Tax Measure At the most recent meeting of the Southern Inyo Fire Protection District (SIFPD), the board turned down a proposal from local landowner Jon Zellhoefer, who had offered the district use of a water tank located on his property—currently listed for sale…
Inyo County Opens Door for Bold Proposals at Tecopa Hot Springs Bidder’s Conference
The path forward for the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools came into sharper focus this week as Inyo County officials fielded questions from prospective operators during a Bidder’s Conference held at the Tecopa Community Center. Many questions were answered, offering new insights into what bidders can and should include in their proposals — and…
New Records Reveal Tecopa Hot Springs’ Books
Prospective operators eyeing the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools are poring over Inyo County’s request for proposals, searching for clues and benchmarks that might help them craft realistic financial projections for this iconic but demanding desert site. Newly released financial records spanning three years offer a revealing look at the fragile economics behind one…
Big Fix, Big Risk: Inyo County Lays Out Hurdles for Tecopa Hot Springs Revival
The future of the historic Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools continues to be the biggest news in Tecopa as Inyo County seeks proposals for a new concessionaire to operate, maintain, and—ideally—revitalize this aging desert oasis. TecopaCabana submitted twenty detailed questions to the County, which recently released partial answers to about half of them, below,…