Agua Caliente thermal waters, Thermal springs in Aconchi, Mexico.
Agua Caliente is a hot-spring area 13.5 km northwest of Aconchi, in central Sonora. Water rises from an underground spring of the same name at about 59 °C and divides into six further springs. Near the ranchería Los Alisos a small waterfall forms, where the water runs at ambient temperature.
Spanish conquistadors advancing north on evangelisation work discovered the springs in the 17th century. They built small stone structures to protect the water flow, and these works led Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History to recognise the site as a historical monument.
The springs are called "agua curativa" (healing water) in the region, and about 5,000 visitors a year come from across Sonora and Mexico to bathe in them. The site works as a recreational campo for day visitors rather than a village gathering spot.
The springs lie 13.5 km northwest of Aconchi, in central Sonora; the main outflow reaches about 59 °C, while the small waterfall near the ranchería Los Alisos runs at ambient temperature. Visitors use the site as a recreational bathing area, with an estimated 5,000 tourists a year. The stone works built to channel the flow are protected as a historical monument, so bathers should keep to the pools and leave those structures untouched.
The main spring splits into six more outlets, and near the ranchería Los Alisos it forms a small waterfall where the water has cooled to ambient temperature. The site is listed by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia as a historical monument because of the stone works built by 17th-century Spanish missionaries.
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