Turning Up the Heat in Glenwood Springs

Like most mountain towns, Glenwood Springs offers up all the activities that one would expect: skiing, rafting, mountain biking, golfing, lakes for fishing, and more.  One of the things that Glenwood Springs has to offer vacationers that not all other mountain towns have is their hot springs. You’ll find both the Yampah Spa Vapor Caves and the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool, the biggest hot spring pool in the world!

While there are plenty of outdoor activities to do in Glenwood, their hot springs and vapor caves are the main attraction, so much so that they have brought many famous people throughout history to them, including Al Capone, Molly Brown, and even President Theodore Roosevelt!  If you’re wondering where to stay should you make your vacation spot Glenwood Springs, the answer is easy: Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge.

Whether you are looking to take your Colorado vacation in the summer or winter, Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge has something to meet almost any visitor’s needs.  Known as the “Spa of the Rockies,” a name coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, the main attraction to this breathtaking location is the hot springs pool.  Spanning an impressive two blocks, this natural wonder offers a one of a kind hot spring experience.  Once you find yourself immersed in the relaxing waters of their hot springs, you will understand why the Glenwood Hot Springs’ motto is “Feel the Wonder.”

While the hot springs pool may be the main attraction for your vacation to Glenwood Springs, it is certainly not the only thing visitors can enjoy.  The lodge also offers up personalized spa treatments for both men and women.  These gender specific treatments come with their own accoutrements so as to target each visitor’s tastes, such as soothing music for women and large flat screen TVs in the men’s area.

The lodge also prides itself with reinventing natural and holistic spa treatments, using only natural ingredients, such as fruit and vegetable extracts, and the natural occurring mineral water that pulses up from the Earth.

If you’re looking for a more traditional spa experience, then a visit to the Yampah Spa Vapor Caves may be the ultimate stop in Glenwood Springs.  Used for centuries, starting with the Native American Ute tribe who named the caves, and the only known natural vapor cave in the world, the Yampah Spa Vapor Caves provide a venue where visitors can purify both body and mind.  In fact, the literal translation of Yampah in the language of the Ute means “Big Medicine,” and is considered a sacred place where people can come to heal and nurture both their body and mind.

The cave has remained almost entirely the same over time, with the exception of marble benches that were added so that visitors could sit and relax.  For those who find traveling into the Earth an uneasy or claustrophobic experience, the site also offers “above ground” spa treatments that include body and beauty treatments.

Once you’re done with your trip to the hot springs pool and the Yampah Vapor Caves, you can relax in one of the Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge’s 107 newly remodeled rooms, or enjoy a meal at the lodge’s poolside restaurant grill, which provides a number of different meal options for breakfast or lunch.

If you thought the spa treatment ended once you get back to your room, you’d be pleasantly mistaken.  Each room has been remodeled with the intention of extending the experience into your room.  The lodge has accomplished this by incorporating subliminally relaxing color tones that can be found in their soft, sage-colored walls, their rich mahogany wood, their cinnamon-toned fabrics, and the other earthy-colored motifs. This makes Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge the ultimate Colorado vacation destination for relaxation.

If You Go

For more information on what Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge has to offer or to make reservations visit: http://www.hotspringspool.com/ or call 1(800) 537-SWIM (7946)

For more information about the other “Natural Wonders” that Glenwood Springs has to offer visit: http://www.visitglenwood.com/natural-wonders

For more information about the Yampah Spa Vapor Caves and what they have to offer visit: http://www.yampahspa.com/caves.html

Evan Witt is an Illinois native with a degree in English Literature from Lake Forest College, and as a frequent visitor to Colorado, he enjoys fishing, camping, hiking, and photography.