Diana’s Punch Bowl is a spectacular hot pool in a large travertine basin in the middle of Monitor Valley, northern Nye County, Nevada. Many natural wonders such as this would require entrance fees, contain interpretive stations, and would be very crowded; however, this site is open to all, only shut off by a barbed-wire gate. Quoted values of the pool’s temperature range from about 140 to 180 Fahrenheit (60-82 Celsius), cool enough for thermophilic algae. The whole depression is about 40 feet deep and 70 feet across. The feature has…
