Hot Sulphur Springs

After leaving Utah's "Dinosaurland", we headed for Hot Sulphur Springs, CO. It was time for a day off from hiking and exploring. Since there were no RV parks in Hot Sulphur Springs, I booked us a room at the Hot Sulphur Springs Resort & Spa so we could enjoy the numerous hot mineral pools that they had available. We got checked in and suited up and Matt and I headed from our room to the main lodge to access the pools. Rob stayed behind in the room for a bit to work out first.

Naturally, the first thing Matt wanted to check out was the big swimming pool (which was neither heated nor filled with mineral water). He and I spent quite a while there and then headed over to investigate the hot pools that Matt could go in to. While the resort has a number of them, children under 16 can only access the four that are at ground level. The numerous ones that are higher up into the hillside are too hot for kids. All of them are nicely smelly, are at varying temperatures ranging from about 98 up to around 115, and are different colored depending on which minerals are prevalent. I have to admit that my limit is around 103 degrees. Anything hotter than that is just too hot for me.

Rob joined us and wandered around, sampling various pools. By this time, Matt and I had become deeply involved in a game of keep away with another large family in the "cold pool". Eventually Rob joined in and we all played for quite a while. Eventually, we headed for the hot pools to warm up. I left Rob in charge of Matt and explored the levels of the resort that Matt wasn't allowed in. I took dips in a couple of pools, one of which was a deep blue due to magnesium. I really liked that one but the majority of them I deemed to be too hot so I headed down to Rob and Matt once more.

We passed several hours this way and Rob got to soak in the hottest pools to his heart's content. Eventually we decided to pack it in and see what we could find for food. I have to admit, there really isn't much to the town of Hot Sulphur Springs and none of the places that looked like they served food appeared to be open at the terribly late hour of 7:30 pm. Nancy, the GPS, informed us that there was a restaurant in the next town, about 8 miles away, so we headed there. I, for one, felt a whole lot better after I'd had something to eat.

The next morning, Rob went for a run and Matt and I had one last visit with the plethora of chipmunks that ran around the grounds. Then we packed everything up and headed for Rocky Mountain National Park, where we spent the next three days.