Hiking and Hot Springs of Glenwood Canyon, Colorado
By Jennifer Voigt
Quick FactsDestination:
Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, USA |
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO: In the dead of winter, snow falling all around them,
about 150 people splash and swim in two large outdoor swimming pools. It is nighttime
and the temperature has dropped considerably since the middle of the day. Snow falls
on wet heads as people chat quietly to one another. Are they members of the Polar
Bear Club, in training for a plunge into an icy lake? Or are these people extreme
athletes readying themselves for the next X-Games?
I am one of them. I am in my bathing suit, sitting with my upper body and torso
completely out of the water. My bare arms and neck are exposed to the freezing air.
It's February and I'm entirely comfortable. My husband gets out of the water and,
barefooted and in swim-trunks, walks fifteen feet across the snow to the cooler
of the two pools. We are hardly extreme sportspeople. Instead, we are regular bathers
taking advantage of the ancient hot springs that has lured visitors from around
the world to this mountain town for over 100 years.
Nestled in the Colorado River Valley, 5,700 feet above sea level, Glenwood Springs lies just down river from the Glenwood Canyon, one of the most spectacular points of geological interest in the American West. With its popular hot springs and proximity to the Canyon as well as the famous ski resort town of Aspen, Glenwood Springs is an excellent base for exploring the natural wonders of Colorado. Glenwood Springs also offers people interested in the history and lore of the American West access to one of its most famous residents: Doc Holiday's grave is just a short hike away.
Hot Springs Lodge
and Pool
As its name suggests, Glenwood Springs grew up around the hot sulfur spring that
now heats its most famous landmark – a huge swimming pool the length of two
city blocks. Built in 1888, the current pool is heated by a hot spring first visited
by the Ute Indians. The Utes attributed healing properties to the springs and called
it "Yampah," which roughly translated means "big medicine."
Early Colorado entrepreneurs seized on the idea of building a European style bath
at the hot springs and invited the Viennese architect Theodore von Rosenberg to
build a bathhouse at the site. The bathhouse was completed in 1890 after workers
diverted the Colorado to attach the land on which the bathhouse was to sit, which
was then and island, to the north shore of the river. Teddy Roosevelt, lover of
the American West, visited the hot springs not long after.
On hundred years later, some things have changed. The Hot Springs Lodge and Pool
provides a 107-room hotel, an athletic club, sports shop, and the Hot Springs Grill
and Deli. There is poolside dining in the summer and miniature golf. In the summer
bathers can also take advantage of a waterslide. Teddy Roosevelt could never have
anticipated a pool in cyberspace, but there it is! Find pictures of The Hot Springs
Lodge and Pool online, of course, at www.hotspringspool.com.
There are actually two pools on the property. The smaller and hotter of the two
is heated to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, while the second is heated to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
True to their international origins, they attract bathers from far and wide. It
is not unusual to hear your fellow bathers speaking a polyglot of European languages.
I hear people speaking German every time go, which is not surprising, since the
Germans have embraced the ritual of the public bath since the Roman occupation.
In the last several years it seems that I have heard more and more people speaking
Eastern European languages. Indeed, on my last trip, I spent an evening floating
blissfully, and with complete ignorance of meaning, listening to the sounds of a
Russian conversation going on next to me.
The pools are most peaceful at night. Whereas a day ticket for the pools will cost an adult $8.75, an adult ticket runs $5.75 for use of the pool from 9 pm until closing at ten. By this time, the families with young children have retired for the evening, and the dark sky affords bathers the illusion of semi-privacy. Conversations grow less animated and become almost lazy as the bathers lower their voices almost in response to the vanishing light. My husband and I have been coming to Glenwood Springs almost since we first met. Of course, as Coloradoans, we came to Glenwood as children to swim in the big pool. But now we have the impression that however well we remember Glenwood Springs from our childhood, it's really for lovers. Swimming in the pool at night, you forget the strangers swimming around you, and as they disappear into the mist, the only reality becomes you and your beloved. Add a good snowfall and it’s easy to imagine yourself in an enchanted forest or a fairyland.
Glenwood
Canyon 
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