It’s hard to beat the relaxation of soaking in a natural hot spring. Colorado has some of the best hot springs around thanks to the geothermal activity of the Rocky Mountains, and the aquatic offerings provide a full range of experiences.
If wild places are your jam, you can hike to totally natural hot springs. If it’s the resort and spa experience you’re after, you have a wide variety. Swimming pools and family fun? Got that too. And if your vibe is a mountain cabin with your own private hot spring soaking pool, you can find that too. You even have options that require swimsuits and others that are clothing-optional. But all swimsuits aside (or on, or off), we want to know: Which hot springs are near Colorado Springs?
So we’ve rounded up the 15 hot springs closest to Colorado Springs. Because sometimes you just need a quick soak. Or a weekend getaway. All of these hot springs are within a 3-hour drive of Colorado Springs, making them good for a day trip and perfect for an overnight or weekend escape. There is one that’s even located in hometown Manitou Springs.
While there’s no such thing officially, we’ll call this the Colorado Springs Ring of Hot Springs — perfect for your soaking bucket list. For your planning purposes, we’ve calculated these distances from the center of downtown, so adjust accordingly depending where you live. Let’s dive in, in order of proximity to Colorado Springs.
Hot Spring Resorts and Pools
SunWater Spa
Where: Manitou Springs
How close to Colorado Springs? 6 miles
Drive time: 15 minutes
SunWater is the hometown hot spring, and it’s a beauty. The vibes are spa relaxing and yoga healing, and the soaking happens in private, cedar tubs placed on terraced decks. Views of Pikes Peak and the mountains surrounding Manitou Springs fill the horizon. SunWater draws its water from 7 Minute Spring, one of Manitou’s eight mineral springs. The water is solar heated to perfect soaking temperatures from 99 to 104 degrees. So technically it’s not a hot spring, but you’ll never know the difference. The hot natural spring water and spa-like experience with an aaaah factor of 10 works for us.
Dakota Hot Springs
Where: Penrose
How close to Colorado Springs? 36 miles
Drive time: 45 minutes
Just a mile off of Colorado State Highway 115 between Penrose and Cañon City, Dakota Hot Springs is easy to access, but it’s far from fancy. The 70-foot wide pool was discovered in the 1920s when oil drilling efforts struck water instead of black gold. This is no frills soaking — and usually no swimsuits. The hot spring is clothing-optional except on Tuesdays. There are restrooms, a cabana and basic camping on-site (no hookups). Bringing your own food is encouraged if you play to stay awhile. Reservations are required.
Desert Reef
Where: Florence
How close to Colorado Springs? 40 miles
Drive time: 50 minutes
Hidden away in a rocky moonscape outside of Florence, Desert Reef feels like an eclectic world away. Fresh off a full renovation in 2022, the main soaking area features a 50-by-36-foot pool plus four smaller pools. New Airstream trailers and tiny homes with private soaking pools are available for overnight stays. There’s a chic simplicity to the new Desert Reef that matches its stark landscape. In staying true to its funky roots, this is a clothing-optional desert oasis except on Fridays until 7 p.m. Reservations are required. Visitors must be 18 or older. And during clothing-optional hours, males must be accompanied by their partner or a female. If you’re considering trying public skinny-dipping for the first time, Desert Reef can be a great spot. You can get some tips in our First-Timer’s Guide to Clothing-Optional Hot Springs.
Indian Hot Springs
Where: Idaho Springs
How close to Colorado Springs? 100 miles
Drive time: 1 hour 30 minutes
This historic oasis lies just off of I-70 in the mining town of Idaho Springs. The Ute and Arapahoe nations considered this hot spring sacred for generations, and Indian Hot Springs has been providing “health baths” since 1863 in the pioneer mining gold rush. In fact, some of the structures still in use today date back to the late 1800s. The soaking options at Indian Hot Springs include a large main pool inside a tropical atrium (there’s a banana tree growing there), outdoor jacuzzis, private indoor baths and geothermal caves. The gender-specific caves are clothing-optional Monday-Thursday. In Club Mud, you can treat your skin to a coating of mineral-rich clay. And there is also a spa and lodging for an extended stay.
Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resorts
Where: Nathrop / Buena Vista
How close to Colorado Springs? 101 miles
Drive time: 2 hours
Mount Princeton has been gradually expanding during the last decade, making it easily the largest hot spring resort near Colorado Springs. Open year-round since 1897, the hot spring complex now includes a half dozen soaking areas, a full-service spa, multiple lodging options, a restaurant, bar and wedding venue. Our favorite soaking is in the creek, where hot spring water mingles and flows with the cold of the creek in rock-lined pools — as long as seasonal flows are low enough. Kids love the waterslides, open in summer. Adults love the quiet of the 16-and-older soaking on the spa side of the creek. And the cocktails from the bar. And the private infinity pool rentals. Like we said, lots of options.
Cottonwood Hot Springs Inn & Spa
Where: Buena Vista
How close to Colorado Springs? 99 miles
Drive time: 2 hours
Cottonwood Hot Springs is a low-key soaking spa 5 miles outside of Buena Vista at the base of Cottonwood Pass. The soaking area features four sizable hot spring pool and a cold plunge, and Cottonwood describes itself as a different kind of soaking spa — not fancy and entertaining but comfortable, relaxing and healing. There is no Wi-Fi. Lodging options include hotel-style rooms in the lodge, rustic cabins (some with private pools), hostel-style rooms and campsites for tents and RVs. And you’ll find massages and a variety of holistic healing treatments on the spa menu, but not frilly sugar scrubs. Swimsuits are required, and children are allowed only during daylight hours.
cottonwood-hot-springs.com/colorado
Charlotte Hot Springs
Where: Buena Vista
How Close to Colorado Springs? 99 miles
Drive time: 2 hours
This is Buena Vista’s newest hot spring — and the newest addition to this list of hot springs closest to Colorado Springs. Charlotte Hot Springs opened in December 2023 just west of Buena Vista. An indoor botanical garden gives a tropical feel to this boutique hot springs. Guests can soak in three circular, stone pools and explore the flowers and plants in the greenhouse year round. The hot spring is owned by the same family that owns and operates the Merrifield Homestead Cabins (see below). Their new public hot spring is named after their grandmother who was born in Buena Vista in 1906.
Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center
Where: Salida
How close to Colorado Springs? 103 miles
Drive time: 2 hours
Think public rec center swimming pool with warm water, and you’ll have a good idea of the Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center. As part of Salida’s Parks and Recreation Department, this pool provides lifeguard-supervised swimming and soaking, as well as water yoga, kayak lessons and other aquatic fitness sessions. The lap pool is usually 82-84 degrees, and the smaller leisure pool runs 97-100. It’s a good place for the kids to burn off some energy.
cityofsalida.com/aquaticcenter
Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa
Where: Moffat
How close to Colorado Springs? 134 miles
Drive time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Joyful Journey is a peaceful retreat on the north side of the San Luis Valley, which means its horizon is filled by the towering Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There are three main soaking pools, plus a pair of jacuzzi tubs. Lodging options range from a lodge and casitas to yurts, tipis and campsites. You can enjoy spa treatments, yoga classes and walks in the stone-lined labyrinth and meditation hill. Native American elders and spiritualists from Crestone consider the area extremely sacred and energetically active, with the waters at Joyful Journey encoded with that energy from the earth. Read about a stay here in Go Off the Beaten Path: Joyful Journey Hot Springs.
Valley View Hot Springs
Where: Moffat
How close to Colorado Springs? 140 miles
Drive time: 2 hours 45 minutes
You can immerse yourself in nature here — fully. Valley View Hot Springs is an off-the-grid, naturist eco-sanctuary that is entirely clothing-optional. There’s a swimming pool and a collection of natural soaking ponds that extend up the hillside. The property is nestled against the base of the Sangre de Cristos, and the pools offer elevated views looking down across the San Luis Valley. Some require a steep 1/4-mile hike. There is no artificial light around the pools, making for spectacular stargazing. Several cabins, rooms and campsites provide lodging options, and families are welcome. Day passes are available too. Reservations are required.
Sand Dunes Recreation
Where: Hooper
How close to Colorado Springs? 185 miles
Drive time: 3 hours
Locals in the tiny town call it the Hooper Pool, and this oasis in the middle of the San Luis Valley provides swimming and soaking with a community vibe. Kids love the large 50-by-100-foot swimming pool, maintained at 98 degrees year round. Parents enjoy the 25-person therapy pool kept at 105-107 degrees. And soakers looking for an adults-only experience gather in the Greenhouse to enjoy four soaking pools, a sauna, tropical gardens and a bar with a small plates menu. Campsites accommodate RVs and tents, and there are four rental cabins if you want to stay on-site. You can read more about it in Go Off the Beaten Path.
Private Hot Spring Cabins
So you don’t like to share? You don’t have to at these private cabin rentals that each have their own hot spring soaking pool. These are all located among the Collegiate Peaks near Nathrop, Buena Vista and Salida, where the geothermal activity is your therapeutic delight.
Merrifield Homestead Cabins and Hot Springs
Where: Buena Vista
How close to Colorado Springs? 99 miles
Drive time: 2 hours
These two restored historic cabins are perched alongside Cottonwood Creek just past the Cottonwood Hot Springs Inn and Spa.
Antero Hot Springs
Where: Nathrop
How close to Colorado Springs? 101 miles
Drive time: 2 hours
These three restored log cabins sit along the banks of Chalk Creek beneath Mount Princeton’s Chalk Cliffs. Each has its own hot spring pool.
Treehouse Hot Springs
Where: Nathrop
How close to Colorado Springs? 101 miles
Drive time: 2 hours
This round, five-bedroom house overlooks Chalk Creek with 360-degree views beneath the Chalk Cliffs. The covered, private soaking pool is 14 by 27 feet, so there’s plenty of room for your large group.
Aqua Hot Spring
Where: Nathrop
How close to Colorado Springs? 102 miles
Drive time: 2 hours 10 minutes
This two-bedroom A-frame cabin has its own hot tub-style soaking pool alongside Chalk Creek.
Read More
Hot Springs and a Healing Getaway in Pagosa Springs
First-Timer’s Guide to Clothing-Optional Hot Springs
Best Cabin Getaways Near Colorado Springs
This article was originally published in February 2023 and updated in January 2026.
