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HotSpringIndex

Editorial Policy

Last updated: June 2026

This page explains who is behind HotSpringIndex, how our pages are produced, and the standards every page on hotspringindex.org is held to. We publish it so readers, journalists, and search engines can judge our work by a clear, stated process rather than guesswork.

Who runs HotSpringIndex

HotSpringIndex is an independent publication built and maintained by the HotSpringIndex Editorial Team. We are not funded, owned, or directed by any of the agencies, companies, or organizations that appear in our data. We do not accept paid placements, sponsored rankings, or fees to add, alter, or remove an entry. Our editorial judgment is not for sale.

How our content is produced

HotSpringIndex covers U.S. natural hot springs: water-temperature classification, locations, and safety. We build our pages from the USGS/NOAA Thermal Springs List for the United States: we gather the primary records, process them with documented, repeatable methods, and present them as pages a non-specialist can read. We classify each spring from the maximum surface temperature in the USGS/NOAA Thermal Springs List into five water-temperature tiers: Cool (below 86°F/30°C), Warm (86–99°F), Ideal (99–104°F — the classic hot-tub range, capped at the CDC/CPSC safe limit), Hot (104–113°F — above the safe limit, burn risk), and Scalding (above 113°F/45°C — dangerous, often a vent or geyser). Springs with no recorded temperature are shown as “temperature not recorded” and never assigned a tier.

We are upfront that this is a data-publishing operation, not a wire service of on-the-ground reporters. Where we add narrative, that narrative describes and interprets the underlying public data — it never invents facts the data does not contain. Every page is checked against the source, and the methodology behind any score or ranking is documented and linkable.

HotSpringIndex is produced by our editorial team. Every spring’s classification is computed from public USGS/NOAA records and presented with its data source. We describe springs from documented measurements and cited sources rather than claiming personal visits.

Editorial standards

  • Primary source only. Every figure traces back to the USGS/NOAA Thermal Springs List for the United States, cited and linkable on the page where it appears.
  • No invented numbers. If a value is not in the underlying public data, it does not appear on hotspringindex.org. We never generate synthetic statistics to fill gaps.
  • Documented methodology. Rankings, grades, and composite scores are editorial calculations derived from public data using stated, repeatable formulas — not certifications or endorsements.
  • Dated and refreshed. The underlying USGS/NOAA inventory is a historical reference dataset (compiled 1965–1980) that is rarely revised; we refresh when the source is updated.
  • Corrections welcome. When a reader or the source identifies an error, we fix it — see our Corrections Policy.

Verification and fact-checking

Because our numbers come straight from the USGS/NOAA Thermal Springs List for the United States, our verification work is about faithful processing rather than re-reporting. The detail of how we check figures before publication is described in our Fact-Checking Policy.

Ownership and funding transparency

HotSpringIndex is part of a small portfolio of independent public-data sites. The site is free to read and carries no display advertising. We do not sell personal data. Where an outbound link is an affiliate link, it is disclosed and never changes our editorial judgment.

Contact

Questions about how a page was produced, or about these standards? hello@hotspringindex.org. See also our About page and our Corrections Policy.