Hot Springs Near Denver, Colorado: Day Trips and Overnight Soaks by Drive Time
This guide to the hot springs near Denver, Colorado sorts every soak by drive time and splits them into day trips, one-night stays and weekend runs, plus the beds that include the water. The closest true hot spring is Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs, about 45 minutes from downtown.
The nearest true hot springs sit 33 miles from downtown, and the far ones in Ouray are 332 miles, a spread of about 45 minutes to 6 h 35 min of driving without traffic. Everything in the table below is routed from downtown Denver with no traffic, chain laws or pass closures counted.
Read the table by drive order, then decide if the day pass is enough or if the springs come with a room.
Hot spring
From Denver
Day pass
Sleep at the water?
Eldorado Springs Pool, Eldorado Springs (near Boulder)
29 mi, about 45 min
Price not listed online
No, a 76°F / 24°C swim
Indian Hot Springs, Idaho Springs
33 mi, about 45 min
Mineral pool $30 weekday / $35 weekend / $40 peak, caves $35 / $40 / $45
Drive times: OpenStreetMap routing from downtown Denver without traffic, chain laws or pass closures.
What Is the Closest Hot Spring to Denver?
Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs is the closest hot spring you can soak in, 33 miles from downtown Denver or about 45 minutes on I-70. Soaking water comes two ways: rock caves at 108–113°F / 42–45°C and a domed mineral pool at 96–102°F / 36–39°C. The caves are 18 and over with ID, quiet, and phone-free.
Day passes run $30 weekday, $35 weekend and $40 peak for the pool, and $35, $40 and $45 for the caves. It is also the only property in Idaho Springs with thermal water on site, so a soak and an overnight can happen in the same building.
Eldorado Springs Pool is technically nearer at 29 miles, but the spring-fed water holds at 76°F / 24°C. That is a swim, not a soak.
The Grand Pool at Glenwood Springs, about three hours from Denver. Photo: Jason Cipriani from Pueblo, CO, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Can You Stay Overnight at a Hot Spring Near Denver?
Anything under an hour, like Indian Hot Springs, works as a day trip with no hotel needed. The 2 h 20 min to 2 h 55 min band, Hot Sulphur Springs and the Chaffee County springs at Buena Vista and Nathrop, is where one night pays off, because the drive home after a long soak loses its charm.
In that band, Buena Vista and Nathrop give you two different room deals. Mount Princeton includes pool access with the room from arrival through departure day, plus a summer 8-10 am guest window at the Infinity Pool. Cottonwood includes soaking arrival to check-out with pools open until midnight, and most cabins have their own outdoor soaking tub.
Glenwood and Steamboat at roughly 3 hours deserve a weekend. Glenwood has a bed right at the water, the lodge that comes with the pool among the Glenwood Springs hot springs hotels, while Steamboat has none. Pagosa and Ouray at 6 hours or more are their own trips, best as a loop rather than a there-and-back.
Indian Hot Springs: Weekday or Weekend?
Weekdays are the better deal at Indian Hot Springs: a stay gives you full access to the pool or caves, including your arrival and departure days. On weekends a stay covers one complimentary pool time slot per day and everything else is 20% off.
The weekday-versus-weekend split also shows in the day rates, $30 against $35 for the pool. Historic rooms date to 1905 and have half baths.
Chaffee County: Mount Princeton or Cottonwood?
The choice comes down to resort polish against a quieter, tubs-in-the-cabin stay, and the drive differs by only 4 miles. Mount Princeton sits in Nathrop at 129 miles, about 2 h 55 min, with Chalk Creek vents at 130–140°F / 54–60°C feeding developed pools of about 90–107°F / 32–42°C plus creekside rock pools you mix yourself with cold creek water.
Cottonwood, in Buena Vista at 125 miles or about 2 h 50 min, runs pools of about 94–110°F / 34–43°C with no WiFi or TV in the rooms and no alcohol on site. Its soaking is included from arrival to check-out and the pools stay open until midnight.
Mount Princeton
Cottonwood
From Denver
129 mi, about 2 h 55 min
125 mi, about 2 h 50 min
Pools
About 90–107°F / 32–42°C, creek vents 130–140°F / 54–60°C
About 94–110°F / 34–43°C
Day pass
$65 classic, $95 Relaxation Pass
Not published online, pay at the gate
Room includes
Pool access arrival through departure day, summer 8-10 am Infinity Pool window
Soaking arrival to check-out, pools open until midnight
Best for
Resort stay with family pools, spa 16+
Cabins with their own outdoor tubs, no WiFi, no TV, no alcohol
Glenwood Springs and Steamboat: The Three-Hour Soaks
Glenwood Springs is where a hotel actually hands you the springs: Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge includes unlimited pool admission during business hours plus full breakfast, the only lodging in town where the springs come with the room. The Grand Pool runs 90–93°F / 32–34°C, 405 feet long, with a 104°F / 40°C therapy pool beside it. Iron Mountain Hot Springs nearby sells day tiers from $43 to $135.
Steamboat has no hotel with its own thermal water, so the play there is a base in town. Of the Steamboat Springs hotels near the springs, Rabbit Ears Motel sits 65 m across Lincoln Avenue from Old Town Hot Springs and its front desk sells discounted admission. Old Town charges $35 adult walk-in.
Strawberry Park is the wild card, $30 cash only with reservations required, and third-party guides put the source near 147°F / 64°C. Plan the reservation before you book the bed.
Are There Any Free Hot Springs Near Denver?
There is no natural hot spring inside Denver itself, and the in-city options on Visit Denver's list are spas such as Oakwell Beer Spa, RÖK SPAS and hotel spas. For free water you drive.
Rhodes Warm Spring is free and 85 miles out, Radium Hot Springs near Kremmling is free at about 100 miles, and Swissvale Warm Springs is free at 82°F / 28°C, warm rather than hot. None of them comes with a bed, so each one is a day trip with nothing to book.
Ouray's municipal hot springs pool, about six and a half hours from Denver. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Pagosa Springs and Ouray: Worth the Six-Hour Drive?
At 274 miles and about 6 hours to Pagosa, and 332 miles and 6 h 35 min to Ouray, both are worth it only as their own trip, not a day outing from Denver. Together they anchor the far end of the 800-mile Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop.
The payoff is water you can sleep beside. Box Canyon Lodge in Ouray keeps its flow-through tubs for registered guests only with no day pass, and The Springs Resort in Pagosa gives guests 24-hour soaking through a $45 nightly resort fee while day visitors leave at 9:30 pm. The Pagosa Mother Spring runs about 131°F / 55°C, feeding pools of 95–114°F / 35–46°C.
Its own geothermal wells, undiluted. The operator states caves 108–113°F / 42–45°C and the domed mineral pool 96–102°F / 36–39°C, all of it 'varies with the geothermal well flow'
Room includes
Weekdays: 'Full weekday access to our mineral water pool or caves', including arrival and departure days. Weekends: 'one complimentary time slot in our main mineral pool per day', everything else at 20% off
The closest water to Denver, with caves at 108–113°F / 42–45°C, full weekday access from arrival to departure, and historic 1905 rooms.
Geothermal vents in the bed of Chalk Creek, reported at 130°F / 54°C (hot-springs-atlas) to 140°F / 60°C (cohotspringsloop). You mix them with cold creek water yourself
Room includes
Pool access included with the room from arrival day through departure day. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, guests get an 8–10 AM window at the Infinity Pool, slides and upper cabanas before day visitors arrive
Pool access with the room from arrival through departure day, plus a summer 8-10 am guest window at the Infinity Pool.
Its own geothermal water, reported at 94–110°F / 34–43°C across the pools by cohotspringsloop. Uncovercolorado gives a different spread of 80–106°F / 27–41°C, and the operator adjusts pools seasonally
Room includes
Soaking is included with lodging, on arrival day and check-out day as well as the nights between
Soaking included arrival to check-out, pools open until midnight, and most cabins come with their own outdoor tub.
Room rates are per night before taxes, and the springs' terms are on each card.
Hot Springs Near Denver: Questions
What is the closest hot spring to Denver, CO?
Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs, 33 miles west or about 45 minutes on I-70, with caves at 108–113°F / 42–45°C and a domed mineral pool at 96–102°F / 36–39°C. Eldorado Springs Pool is nearer at 29 miles but runs 76°F / 24°C, so it is a swim rather than a soak.
How far is it from Denver to the hot springs?
From 33 miles and about 45 minutes at Idaho Springs to 97 miles at Hot Sulphur Springs, 125-129 miles in Chaffee County, about 157 miles at Glenwood Springs, and 274 to 332 miles for Pagosa Springs and Ouray. Drive times assume no traffic, chain laws or pass closures. The full drive-time table lists every spring.
Are there any free hot springs in Denver?
No natural hot spring sits inside Denver itself, and the city options are spas such as Oakwell Beer Spa and RÖK SPAS. Free soaks are out of town: Rhodes Warm Spring at 85 miles, Radium Hot Springs at about 100 miles, and Swissvale Warm Springs at 82°F / 28°C.
What town in Colorado has hot springs?
Idaho Springs is the closest to Denver. Further out, Hot Sulphur Springs, Buena Vista and Nathrop, Glenwood Springs, Steamboat Springs, Pagosa Springs and Ouray all have developed springs, and most have lodging at or near the water.
Are there private hot springs near Denver?
Yes, a few. Most cabins at Cottonwood near Buena Vista have their own outdoor soaking tub, Indian Hot Springs rents private indoor baths and outdoor cedar tubs 45 minutes from Denver, and Mount Princeton sells private hot spring experiences beside its resort pools.
