I had the pleasure of visiting several hot springs throughout the state of Colorado, in the summer of 2016. This trip did not include the archival research that I usually do with my hot springs trips in Canada, as I only had a few days to travel the state and this left very little time for research. Most of the information contained in this section was gathered from the book, “Touring Colorado Hot Springs” by Susan Joy Paul and Carl Wambach.
What I found most interesting about this trip was becoming aware of the subtle differences between hot springs in Colorado and those I’ve explored in Canada.
Specifically, I found most Colorado hot springs offered untreated water, with no chlorination. This can be great for soaking in pure hot springs water, with full mineral content; however, on a busy day, that water might not be very clean. Based on what I’ve read, though, Colorado hot springs keep a very regular cleaning schedule for their pools so that there is little or no risks to visitors. I think it’s interesting that all of the hot springs I’ve visited in Canada, so far, have all been treated with chlorine. I’m not sure why this is–perhaps public safety bylaws in Canada don’t permit untreated water in public swimming pools.
The other difference I noticed was most of the Colorado hot springs offered a variety of soaking pools to choose from, with most hot springs offering clothing-optional pools. Most of these clothing-optional pools were private baths that couples could share. Some hot springs had clothing optional pools that were a bit more secluded and gender specific. One hot spring was entirely clothing optional. I have to say, I really liked all of the soaking options.
Ray's Well 