Unlocking The Frigid Fingers Of Winter

Colorado Hot Springs Promise Bliss in the Bubbles

GPHN staff report

Hot springs are Colorado’s ocean.

At the 44 hot springs that are open to the public and detailed in third edition of “Colorado’s Hot Springs” by Deborah Frazier, the bubbles whisper, the mist beckons and the humid heat embraces. The hot springs enfold the visitor with balmy, soothing heat that dispels the frigid fingers of winter.

Colorado’s hot springs number in the hundreds, counting small seeps, tiny trickles and private springs on private property. Most are scattered across the western part of the state.

In the book’s third edition, Frazier, a veteran Colorado journalist, not only describes the springs, but gives the histories dating back to the Native Americans.  And the owners of hot springs are interesting folks that you’ll meet as well.

Hot springs have been part of many historical twists and turn in Colorado’s past. Centuries before the first Europeans, the springs were used by Native Americans for rituals and ceremonies. Spirituality and steam were one. Settlers, miners and trappers claimed the hot springs and the U.S. Army removed the Native Americans and exiled them far from the springs.

By the early 1900’s, Colorado’s hot springs became a destination for East Coast refugees fleeing pollution and disease. The hot springs became spas with healing mineral water, music and sophisticated lectures. The waters were credited with healing cancer, baldness, sterility, mental illness and more.  Probably not, but soaking in warm water was a good tonic. Today, some folks sitting in the steaming waters also claim cures. As ever, the hot springs’ offers comfort, relaxation and repose.

Stretching from northwest Colorado to the New Mexico border, the hot springs vary from the sandy-bottomed cement pools of Juniper Hot Springs west of Craig to an assemblage of pools along the San Juan River at The Springs Resort and Spa in Pagosa Springs. The book tells about changes at well-known soaking spots, including Mt. Princeton near Buena Vista, Strawberry Park near Steamboat, the grand Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Pool and the mountain ringed Ouray Hot Springs Pool.

“Colorado’s Hot Springs” includes the family friendly hot springs, from Old Town Hot Springs in Steamboat, to the Hot Sulphur Springs Resort and Spa. There are the springs for adults and couples – like the Joyful Journey south of Salida and the Overlook Hot Springs Spa in Pagosa Springs. And there are a few commercial clothing-optional hot springs – including Valley View south of Salida, Orvis in Ridgway, and Dakota and Desert Reef near Canon City. Several wild springs are found on public land at the end of a hike — where clothing is often left by the poolside.

Frazier’s just-released edition includes directions, phone numbers, websites and all the other information hot springs’ seekers need to find the splendid soaking of their dreams.