A friend and I who live at opposite ends of the country get together once a year, usually in Sept or Oct, to spend a few days at a resort/spa. The mudbaths in Calistoga intrigue me. Has anyone gone to a mudbath, and is there a resort that you can recommend in the area? Thanks.

They are very interesting! The one we went to I think was Golden Haven.

http://www.goldenhaven.com/spatreat.html

You are naked in the bath. I think you'd have to be or you'd never get the mud out of your suit. The mud has some grit to it. Honestly I thought I was sitting in a giant tub of poo. It was not nearly as luxurious as I was hoping. Maybe they have others that are more upscale. After the bath you hose each other off with high pressure hoses like pigs. You would not believe the crevices that will have mud in them.

Also went to goldenhaven. It's not very luxurious, looks more like a Motel 6, and now I question whether this is at all sanitary.

I have not been to Golden Haven but have been to two others and can highly recommend them. Doc Wilkinson's has been recently redone and is right in the center of town (easy to walk to great restaurants and shopping). Have gone there several times with my women friends. Also been to Calistoga Village Spa and it is also very nice. If you like spa treatments, you will enjoy Calistoga.

Several years ago we did the whole mud bath trip...(I believe we went to Calistoga) it was interesting to say the least. They you are naked in a cement tub filled with warm mud. Once you get out, you shower off about 5' from the tub in a very open room, things may have changed since then.

I often think back to that trip and wonder just how sanitary that mud bath really is! I am sure they don't change the mud.

I would prefer a whole body scrub vs. the mud bath.

There was something about heating the mud up between customers to de-germ it, but yes it is the same mud.

Loki saying Golden Haven was like a Motel 6 sums it up perfectly.

My experience with mudbaths was in Ojo Caliente, NM. Have not been up there recently but one did wear a suit and because we have so many sunny days per year here in NM, one would mud-up from a container filled with goupy mud, lie on a lawn chair and allow the mud to dry before showing off in an outdoor shower and/or soaking in a very muddy pool. The joy in this experience is that it brings out the Kid in everyone and everybody seems happier afterward. This sure is a benefit in addition to whatever toxins are drawn out or other such advertised benefits. I found it a wonderful, fun experience and would do it again.

Never been to the mud baths but this place was great. We followed the enzyme bath with massages... really great...like meltingin a giantvat of damp, aromatic sawdust.

http://www.osmosis.com/enzbath.cfm

My wife and I did a mud bath, soak, massage, and facial (her only) about three weeks ago at Golden Haven. It's nothing fancy, but maybe a step above Motel 6. It was fun, and I enjoyed talking to the other people there (three ladies in the waiting room while my wife was getting her facial were very entertaining, and used a term I'd never heard before: crack spackle!) Anyway, my wife loved it - she's a periodic spa user - but for me, well I didn't see what all the hub-bub was about. The main difference I felt after the treatments was a much lighter pocket.

Check out the Indian Springs Resort, lodging is in little bungalows and resort guests can use the wonderful Olympic sized pool until midnight. ***kim***

It's been many years so I can't remember the spa, but my husband and I went with another couple. No, it wasn't co-ed, but it still made for a lot of laughs. The places that mud creeps into ..well, never mind. Of course my nose started itching as soon as I was covered with mud. LOL The attendant scratched it for me. There also was a hot whirlpool bath, being wrapped in wool blankets, and a message. It was great.

peterboy that's it - Osmosis is name of the place I was trying to recall. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for your replies. I am rethinking the mud bath. Don't think I want "second hand" mud.

There was a place in Calistoga, I think it was called Lavender Hill spa, that advertised no re-use of mud for its baths, fwiw.

Thanks, I'll check out their website.

if it is any consolation, the spas that re-use the same mud claim that the temp of the mud is so high that there is not way any bacteria or anything else could survive.

I used second hand mud, and I'm still alive! Between the soak and the shower afterward, you come out pretty clean.

Hmmmmm...it's not the temp of the mud,which is about 100-110 degrees, it's the temp of the 212 degree rinse they use after each patron that sanitizing it. That rinse is then flushed away.

Mr R5 & I love the mud baths, especially this time of year when it is cooler. We've been going to Calistoga multiple times a year for nearly 15 years. Honestly, there is little to worry about. The mud baths are a combo of volcanic ash, peat moss (aids in buoyancy) and boiling mineral spring water.
You'll be soaking for about 10-12
minutes the bath. Floating is the mud is kind of like weightlessness. After each patron the mud is rinsed with 212 degree water to completely sanitize it, then that water is drained away.

You will then shower, sit in a mineral bath, and then be wrapped in
blankets for 15 minutes to relax and sip cool water.
Heaven, I swear.
We have them about twice a year
and always feel so cleansed and relaxed. We always do 90 minutes of massage and foot reflexology after.
Pure Bliss in out post spa Gumby-like state.

R5