Lee Hot Springs are in the NW¼ Sec. 34, Tl6N, R29E. In the past these springs may have been called Allen's Hot Springs (Miller and others, 1953), although Allen Springs are shown on modern topographic maps about 0.5 km northwest of Lee Hot Springs. Miller (1978) reported a temperature for Allen Springs of 26ºC, and the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy measured 24ºC in 2002. The area is now often called Lee-Allen Hot Springs. Spring sinter deposits are found at both Allen Springs and Lee Hot Springs (Miller, 1978).
Hot water was not reported from the area by Russell (1885) when he visited Allen Springs. Apparently, hot water was discovered by road workers in a hand-dug pit in ca. 1912, probably near the site of the area presently called Lee Hot Springs. A 10-inch well was drilled in 1932 at an area where digging revealed hot water (Miller, 1978). The well encountered boiling water and steam, and was subject to frequent geysering for some time. About a dozen shallow wells were drilled by Ted Ax in the 1950s to 1970s; most were reported to have encountered hot water, and either flowed or geysered (Miller, 1978). Thus, it appears that the geothermal system was concealed until discovery in about 1912. However, the sinter deposits were suggestive of possible hot water at depth. In 1978 Oxy Geothermal Inc. drilled an exploratory well, the Federal No. 72-33(K) to 919 m in NW¼ NW¼ Sec. 34, T16N, R29E (Garside and Schilling, 1979, Appendix 2).
The hottest flow at Lee Hot Springs is from a well located in a small area of siliceous spring sinter. This well is probably 17 m deep, and has reported temperatures between 88°C and boiling (Mariner and others, 1974; Glancy and Katzer, 1975), and a measured temperature of 96°C in July 2002. Another well 50 m to the west of this flows water at 31.6°C. Both hot springs and Allen spring were sampled in 2002, and Na-K-Ca geothermometer temperatures calculated from both the boiling and warm fluids sampled at Lee Hot springs are nearly identical at 178°C, similar to that estimated by Mariner and others (1974) of 162°C and 173°C, using the silica and Na-K-Ca geothermometers, respectively.