A quick stop off Highway 79 transports visitors to a distinctly California haven — crisp white buildings, terra cotta roofs, shady palm trees and geothermal pools that are filled with healing minerals.

Murrieta Hot Springs is halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego — a pitstop off Highway 15 and into lush greenery amid an unassuming commercial area. The property has lived several lives over 100 years — ranging from a predominantly Jewish-frequented hotel to a vegetarian commune and then a Christian Bible college.

In February, it returned to its roots as a place for the public to gather, feeding their curiosities in holistic healing and offering luxuries with old-world charm and poolside service.

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Oasis Pool at Murrieta Hot Springs Resort.

After a century of openings and closures, how have the ancient hot springs adapted to the present?

Evidence of the hot springs’ health benefits existed long before colonizers moved into what would later become California.

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The Luiseño people called the springs “Cherukanukna Hakiwuna” and used the water for healing centuries before the Spanish arrived, mixing the water with dirt to take mud baths. After the Spanish arrived, the water was used to heal body sores.

Murrieta Hot Springs pool exercise, 1987.

Aqua yoga at Murrieta Hot Springs Resort.

Testimonies of the springs’ power rolled in as the Temecula Land & Water Company took over the site in 1884 and added a hotel, bathhouse and steam laundry service. A Los Angeles doctor promoted visits to the springs to enjoy its “ameliorative attributes.” A bolder claim came from a San Diego real estate developer who said his hearing was restored after treatment in the water.

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After German immigrant Fritz Guenther from Los Angeles bought........

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