Best Hot Springs Near Denver, Sorted by Drive Time

Pick Your Drive, Pick Your Spring

The most common hot springs question we get is some version of: “I have a Saturday free — where should I go?” The answer almost always depends on one thing first: how far are you willing to drive?

Colorado’s hot springs are spread across 400+ miles of the state. The closest is a half-hour from downtown Denver. The furthest on this list is seven hours. Both are worth it — just for completely different kinds of trips.

Here’s every spring on our list, organized by drive time from Denver. We’ve added honest notes on each so you can match the right spring to the day you actually have.

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Under 1 Hour — When You Have an Afternoon

Indian Hot Springs — 30 minutes (Idaho Springs)

The only Colorado hot spring you can reach from Denver before your lunch finishes digesting. Indian Hot Springs is in Idaho Springs, the historic mining town just off I-70. It’s a proper geothermal facility with individual vapor caves, soaking pools, and a pool fed by the same water that was drawing bathers in the 1800s.

It’s not glamorous. The facilities are old and the crowd is mixed — families, post-hike skiers, highway road-trippers. But there’s something authentic about it: genuine mineral water, genuine history, zero pretense.

Best for: A spontaneous weekday afternoon. Combining with a ski day at Arapahoe Basin or Echo Mountain. Showing out-of-town guests something genuinely Colorado without a big drive commitment.

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1–2 Hours — The Day Trip Sweet Spot

Hot Sulphur Springs Resort & Spa — 1.5 hours (Hot Sulphur Springs)

One of the most underrated springs on this list. Hot Sulphur is a quiet, low-key resort on the banks of the Colorado River with 20+ individual pools cut into a hillside. It’s been operating since 1903 and doesn’t seem to be trying very hard to modernize — and that’s the appeal. Low crowds, genuine mineral water, and a peaceful vibe that the busier I-70 springs can’t touch.

The drive up US-40 through Berthoud Pass is excellent, and the town of Hot Sulphur Springs is small and classic Colorado.

Best for: A relaxed day trip with minimal hassle. Going midweek when you want the place nearly to yourself. The traveler who’s done Glenwood twice and wants something quieter.

Radium Hot Springs — 2 hours (Radium)

A free, primitive hot spring on BLM land near the small town of Radium on the Colorado River. No facilities, no entrance fee, no staff. You park, walk to the riverbank, and get in. The pool is a natural rock formation with hot spring water mixing at the river’s edge, and dogs are welcome.

Radium is what hot springs were before anyone built a resort around one. It requires a little more effort — check river conditions before you go, and pack out everything you bring — but the reward is a soaking experience with zero crowds and zero cost.

Best for: Budget travelers. Dog owners. People who specifically want a primitive, no-frills experience. Combining with fishing or rafting on the Colorado River.

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2–2.5 Hours — A Full Day Done Right

Cottonwood Hot Springs Inn & Spa — 2 hours (Buena Vista)

A clothing-optional, wellness-forward spring tucked into a forested canyon above Buena Vista. Cottonwood has multiple outdoor pools, a creek, and an earnest back-to-nature ethos that makes it feel very different from the resort springs. It’s quieter, more intentional, and draws a crowd that’s here to actually unplug.

Buena Vista has become one of Colorado’s best small towns — good food, great river access, mountains in every direction. Cottonwood pairs naturally with a Buena Vista overnight.

Best for: Adults looking for a serene, clothing-optional environment without the drive to Valley View. A BV weekend anchor.

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort — 2 hours (Nathrop / Buena Vista)

The best “complete day trip” hot spring from Denver. Mt. Princeton has a proper resort — lodge, restaurant, bar — plus some of the most spectacular creek-side pools in the state. The natural rock pools in Chalk Creek, with a 14,197-foot peak rising overhead, are genuinely stunning.

This is the spring that works for everyone: solo soakers, couples, families, friend groups. The variety of experiences (resort pools vs. wild creek pools) means there’s something for every comfort level.

Best for: Groups with mixed preferences. A date or weekend getaway that needs more than just a pool. The traveler who wants to combine hot springs with a great dinner and a comfortable bed.

Radium Hot Springs — 2 hours

(See above — also listed here because it’s closer than you’d expect at 2 hours, not 3.)

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2.5 Hours — The Glenwood Springs Options

Two excellent springs share the same town at the same drive time. They’re very different experiences.

Glenwood Hot Springs Pool — 2.5 hours (Glenwood Springs)

The largest natural hot springs pool in the world. Two pools, a waterslide, a full resort next door, and a beautiful canyon setting where the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers meet. Glenwood is the hot spring most Coloradans visited as a kid on a school field trip, and it has maintained its status as the state’s most-visited spring for a reason.

It can get crowded — peak summer weekends are genuinely packed. But the experience of a 405-foot pool steaming in a canyon, with the Glenwood Canyon cliffs rising around you, is hard to replicate anywhere.

Best for: Families. First-timers who want a well-run, full-featured experience. Visitors from out of state who have one shot at a Colorado hot spring and want the iconic one.

Iron Mountain Hot Springs — 2.5 hours (Glenwood Springs)

The modern counterpart to Glenwood’s historic behemoth. Iron Mountain opened in 2015 with 16 soaking pools along the Colorado River, clean design, a reservation system that manages crowds, and a soaking bar. It’s well-run, beautiful, and deliberately less chaotic than the big pool next town over.

If you’ve done Glenwood and want something quieter, or if you specifically want river-side pools and a more adult atmosphere, Iron Mountain is the better choice.

Best for: Adults and couples who want the Glenwood area experience without the school-field-trip energy. Those who appreciate reservations and predictable crowd levels.

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3–3.5 Hours — Worth the Commitment

Strawberry Park Hot Springs — 3 hours (Steamboat Springs)

The most photographed hot spring in Colorado, and one that earns the hype. Strawberry Park is a series of natural stone pools fed by a 147°F source spring, set in a forested canyon north of Steamboat Springs. The setting is genuinely beautiful. After dark, it’s clothing optional and adults only.

Steamboat Springs itself is one of Colorado’s best mountain towns — excellent food, great skiing in winter, and a laid-back Western vibe that the I-70 corridor towns lack. Strawberry Park is the reason to anchor a Steamboat weekend.

Best for: The quintessential Colorado hot spring experience. A Steamboat Springs overnight or ski trip. Visitors who can go midweek to dodge weekend crowds.

Joyful Journey Hot Springs — 3.5 hours (Moffat, San Luis Valley)

An intentional, quiet hot spring in the wide-open San Luis Valley with exceptional dark skies and a wellness-forward atmosphere. Joyful Journey draws visitors who are here on purpose — it’s not on the way to anything popular, which keeps crowds down and the vibe calm.

The natural pairing is Great Sand Dunes National Park, 25 miles east. Hike the dunes in the morning, soak at Joyful Journey in the afternoon, watch the Milky Way come out over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the evening. That’s a great Colorado day.

Best for: Great Sand Dunes trip add-on. Night-sky enthusiasts. The traveler who wants a meditative experience without crowds.

Valley View Hot Springs — 3.5 hours (Villa Grove)

The most respected hot spring in Colorado among people who’ve been. Valley View is run by the Orient Land Trust as a conservation and restoration property — clothing optional, no day use, overnight stay required. The pools are fed by 120°F source water and sit on a hillside with 360-degree views of the San Luis Valley and Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

The clothing-optional policy and the overnight requirement filter out casual visitors, which means the atmosphere is unlike any other spring on this list: quiet, intentional, genuinely restorative. This is the spring that people come back to year after year.

Best for: Experienced hot spring visitors ready for the best. Adults who want total serenity. Joyful Journey and Valley View can be combined into a single San Luis Valley trip.

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5–5.5 Hours — The Southwest Colorado Circuit

These springs reward a multi-day trip. Each anchors a region that’s worth the drive on its own.

Orvis Hot Springs — 5 hours (Ridgway)

A small, clothing-optional spring in Ridgway with a loyal following and an unpretentious, community feel. Ridgway is the gateway town to the San Juan Mountains — Ouray is 10 miles south, Telluride is 40 minutes west. Orvis works best as part of a broader San Juan Mountains trip rather than a standalone destination.

Best for: San Juan Mountains trip anchor. Combining with Ouray and Telluride.

The Springs Resort & Spa — 5 hours (Pagosa Springs)

Home to the world’s deepest known geothermal hot spring (1,002 feet), with 25 pools at varying temperatures terraced above the San Juan River. Pagosa Springs is a full resort experience — spa services, hotel, restaurants — and one of the most polished hot spring operations in the state. The town of Pagosa is charming and far enough from the I-70 corridor that it draws a different, more intentional crowd.

Best for: A proper hot springs weekend destination. Families or couples who want resort amenities alongside excellent soaking.

Ouray Hot Springs Pool — 5.5 hours (Ouray)

A municipal pool with an extraordinary setting: the jagged San Juan Mountains rising straight up on three sides, the Victorian town of Ouray wedged into the canyon below. The Million Dollar Highway south of Ouray is one of the most dramatic roads in North America. The pool itself is clean, affordable, and open year-round.

Best for: San Juan Mountains loop (Ouray → Silverton → Durango). Winter visits with the ice park and canyon walls in snow.

Evans Plunge Mineral Springs — 5.5 hours (Hot Springs, South Dakota)

The outlier on this list — technically in South Dakota, not Colorado. But Evans Plunge has been drawing visitors for 130 years and is worth knowing about if you’re making the Black Hills trip. It’s naturally heated, indoors, and one of the oldest continuously operating mineral pools in the country.

Best for: Black Hills / Mount Rushmore trips. Road-trippers heading north.

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7 Hours — The Once-in-a-While Trip

Dunton Hot Springs — 7 hours (Dolores)

A restored 1800s ghost town in a private San Juan Mountains valley, converted into an ultra-luxury all-inclusive resort with natural hot springs. Dunton accommodates 30-ish guests at a time and has no day passes — you book a cabin stay. It is expensive ($950+/night). It is also one of the most extraordinary places in Colorado, full stop.

Best for: A special occasion trip where the experience matters more than the budget. The bucket-list Colorado hot springs experience.

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Quick Reference

Drive Time	Spring	Town	Type	Cost
30 min	Indian Hot Springs	Idaho Springs	Commercial	$20–$28
1.5 hrs	Hot Sulphur Springs	Hot Sulphur Springs	Resort	$25–$35
2 hrs	Radium Hot Springs	Radium	Primitive	Free
2 hrs	Cottonwood Hot Springs	Buena Vista	Clothing-optional	$20–$30
2 hrs	Mt. Princeton	Nathrop	Resort	$30–$40
2.5 hrs	Glenwood Hot Springs Pool	Glenwood Springs	Commercial	$20–$35
2.5 hrs	Iron Mountain Hot Springs	Glenwood Springs	Commercial	$28–$38
3 hrs	Strawberry Park	Steamboat Springs	Clothing-optional	$15–$20
3.5 hrs	Joyful Journey	Moffat	Commercial	$20–$28
3.5 hrs	Valley View Hot Springs	Villa Grove	Clothing-optional	Overnight req.
5 hrs	Orvis Hot Springs	Ridgway	Clothing-optional	$20–$30
5 hrs	The Springs Resort & Spa	Pagosa Springs	Resort	$35–$65
5.5 hrs	Ouray Hot Springs Pool	Ouray	Commercial	$16–$22
5.5 hrs	Evans Plunge	Hot Springs, SD	Commercial	$15–$25
7 hrs	Dunton Hot Springs	Dolores	Resort (all-incl.)	$950+/night

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How to Use This Guide

A few practical notes before you go:

Traffic matters. The drive times above assume normal conditions. I-70 west on Friday afternoons and US-40 on ski weekends can add 45–90 minutes to anything on the western slope. If you’re going on a Friday, leave by noon or leave Saturday morning.

Seasons change the math. Mountain passes add time in winter. Kenosha Pass (US-285), Berthoud Pass (US-40), and Independence Pass (CO-82, seasonal) all behave differently in November through March. Check CDOT road conditions at cotrip.org before any mountain drive in winter.

Some springs require reservations. Iron Mountain and Valley View both require advance booking. Several others fill up on weekends. Check before you drive.

The right spring is the one that matches your day. A Tuesday afternoon at Hot Sulphur Springs is better than a Saturday at Strawberry Park. Don’t let drive time be the only factor — consider the day of the week and the season just as much.

Browse individual spring pages for current hours, pricing, and directions: All Springs →