Pagosa hot springs, Natural thermal pools in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, US.
Pagosa Hot Springs is a hot spring system on the western slope of the Continental Divide in Archuleta County, Colorado. Its sulfur-rich water rises from about 6,000 feet below the surface at temperatures between 110 °F and 144 °F. The Mother Spring feeds dozens of primitive, rock-lined soaking pools along the banks of the San Juan River in the center of Pagosa Springs, plus developed private pools at three locations in town.
The area was long known to Native Americans, who valued the water for its healing properties. The modern resort was later developed to make this natural resource accessible to visitors.
The Ute name Pah gosah means either "healing water" or "water that has a bad smell", after the hydrogen sulphide the springs give off. The Navajo place the emergence of the Diné from the Fourth to the Fifth World near Pagosa Springs, and Captain John Macomb recorded in 1859 that the springs were a "place of peace" used by several tribes.
The Mother Spring feeds dozens of primitive, rock-lined soaking pools along the banks of the San Juan River in the centre of town; these are free and open to the public around the clock. Developed private soaking pools fed by the same spring operate at three locations in town. The water emerges between 43 and 62 °C, so test each pool before entering.
In 2020 a team from the Colorado School of Mines, the Center for Mineral Resources Science and the U.S. Geological Survey lowered a measuring device into the Mother Spring. It reached 1,002 feet, the full extension of the tape, without finding the bottom, setting a record for hot spring depth. The water rises from about 6,000 feet down, heated by volcanic activity.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,826 contributors worldwide.