Over Mother’s Day weekend, Charles and I decided to take a trip across Colorado to Telluride! It’s about a 7 hour drive through the mountains. Since we were leaving on a Friday night, we decided to break up the trip and make a pit-stop along the way. While there were a lot of places we could’ve stopped for the night, we decided to stop in Glenwood Springs.
Glenwood Springs, CO is about 3 hours away from Boulder. One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Glenwood Springs is because they are known for their hot springs! Early May in the mountains of Colorado is still a bit chilly, so the hot springs sounded very pleasant! We looked at 3 different options for hot springs in Glenwood Springs.
South Canyon Hot Springs
The first option is a nautral hot spring, called South Canyon Hot Springs. It’s about the size of a small pool with a short hike that’s completely free to use. This option was tempting because it was free, and the hot springs can be pretty pricey. However, it had been fairly rainy the week we went and weren’t really prepared for the mud, so I vetoed that one. Although in the right situation, this option could be super fun.
Glenwood Hot Springs Resort
The second option we looked at was the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool. This is a much more commercial hot springs, set at 104F degrees, and is essentially just a really large hot springs pool at a resort. This is a great option if you live close by, are staying at the resort, or will be spending the entire day at the pool. The pool is separated into a different sections, including swimming lanes, a splash pad, therapy pool with jets, and the recreational swimming section. The tickets are ~$40-50 (depending on season), and you get to stay all day. Charles and I were only going to get about 3 hours in, and a single large pool was just less appealing than the option we chose. The view of the mountains sure are gorgeous though!
Iron Mountain Hot Springs
The last option, and the option we chose, was Iron Mountain Hot Springs! These hot springs have a 3 hour time limit and are about the same price as the pool, but have a lot more variety! The hot springs have “16 geothermal soaking pools”, all with differing minerals and temperatures! They also had a food and drink bar that you could drink to the pools, so we each got a hot Sangria and it was perfect. The night we went was about 60F degrees, which wasn’t too cold when you got out of the pools or too hot to enjoy the hot springs. The hottest pool we went in was 107F degrees! My “sweet spot” was 104F, while Charles enjoyed the hottest. While it was the pricest option, it was well worth it!
We stayed at an AirBNB in Glenwood Springs, who happened to have left a discount code for the hot springs, so it worked out well. We went during the “off season” here in Colorado, so it wasn’t too crowded, but I would imagine that during the winter, it could be very croweded. They did have locker rooms, lockers, and showers available, which was very helpful. Overall, we had a great, relaxing evening at the hot springs and would highly recommend! Glenwood Springs also has an adventure park on the top of the mountain with a gondola ride, 2 roller coasters, an alpine mountain coaster, zip lines, and cave tours! We didn’t have time for it on this trip, but would love to go back and spend time at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park!
Sweet Colorodough
We woke up semi-early the next morning to continue our drive out to Telluride. We stopped at a local donut stop called Sweet Colorodough (love that name!). They were definitely a hot-spot in Glenwood Springs and had quite a following. If you’re ever in the area and enjoy donuts, it’s worth checking out! After enjoying our coffee and donuts, we got on the road, heading towards Grand Junction before cutting over towards the mountains of Telluride!
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