colorado Archives - Pam LeBlanc Adventures

After a hard day of skiing, kick back at revamped Durango Hot Springs

by Pam LeBlanc | Feb 26, 2023 | Blog

Visitors soak in pools filled with naturally heated water at Durango Hot Springs & Resort. Pam LeBlanc photo

I consider myself a bit of a hot springs connoisseur.

I love bobbing in a naturally heated pool of water (kind of like a dumpling in a bucket of soup), especially after a rigorous day of skiing, hiking or mountain biking.

I’ve dipped a toe or 10 in geothermal springs across the western United States. The best are springs that burble up at the side of otherwise cool rivers, in the back country. They’re not developed, other than the rocks that someone stacked around them to trap the warmth.

Some require a long hike in, like one I stumbled upon while backpacking the High Sierra Trail in California. The small, hidden soaking pools tucked among pine forests in the Jemez area of New Mexico rank at the top, too, as do the more developed springs like Strawberry Springs near Steamboat, with its hippie vibe, and Pagosa Hot Springs & Resort, just down the road in southwestern Colorado.

I’ve spent blissful hours soaking at Glenwood Hot Springs, Ouray Hot Springs, Mount Princeton Hot Springs, and Salida Hot Springs, all in Colorado; Boquillas Hot Springs in Big Bend National Park in Texas; and Heise Hot Springs in Idaho, too.

A bucket of steamy water splashes over Jordan Rane of Los Angeles at Durango Hot Springs & Resort. Pam LeBlanc photo

This week I added a new one to the list: Durango Hot Springs and Resort, located not far from Purgatory Ski Resort.

If you’ve visited Durango before, you may remember funky old Trimble Hot Springs. I never visited the place but know a few folks who loved it and were sad to see things change.

Changes at Durango Hot Springs

A new owner took over in 2019, turning the once humble destination into a much fancier resort. Today Durango Hot Springs features 41 soaking pools and water features, including what looks like a giant mining bucket near the entrance that slowly fills with water and tips over, gushing what looks like a bathtub full of steamy water over anyone standing beneath it, every 7 minutes.

Unlike some hot springs, these don’t smell like sulfur, but they are loaded with minerals. In all, 32 minerals, including lithium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, fluoride, silica, and iron are found in the water. The resort’s website describes the benefits of each.

Temperatures in the soaking pools, staggered along a hillside, range from the mid-90s up to 112 degrees. The owners tout a special filtration system that infuses the water with oxygen bubbles. (Don’t worry, it’s not like soaking in Topo Chico – you can’t feel a difference.)

Visitors soak in geothermal pools at Durango Hot Springs in February 2023. Pam LeBlanc photo

Indigenous people used the geothermal pools hundreds of years ago. Later, pioneers soaked in the warm water, and the first hotel went up in 1882. A newspaper ad in 1884 described the old springs as a health resort – with a bar and billiard parlor on site. (It later burned, as did a building that replaced that original structure, according to the Animas Museum.) Marilyn Monroe visited in 1950s.

I made two visits to the hot springs last week. Nothing’s better than sitting in an outdoor tub filled with naturally heated water while snow sifts down on your head after a day of cat skiing in waist-deep powder.

If you go to Durango Hot Springs

The resort is located just north of Durango near the intersection of Highway 550 and Trimble Lane.

Proper swim attire is required. Remove jewelry or it might tarnish. Admission is $39 for adults or $15 for children. A special “club area” that includes private changing rooms, shows and private soaking tubs, costs extra.

The springs is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Reservations are recommended. During the summer, bands perform each Tuesday and Thursday from 6-9 p.m.

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In Breckenridge, sculptors transform blocks of snow into art

by Pam LeBlanc | Jan 27, 2022 | Blog

Artists have five days to complete their work. Pam LeBlanc photo

Huge frozen works of art are rising from blocks of snow in downtown Breckenridge, Colorado.

I wandered to the Riverwalk Center after dinner last night to take in some of the sculptures-in-progress. About a dozen teams are competing in this year’s International Snow Sculpture Competition, which first took place here in 1990.

The Breckenridge Ski Resort makes the snow used for the contest at the mountain and delivers it to the competition site, a few blocks off Main Street in downtown Breckenridge. There, the snow is loaded into 10 by 10 by 12-foot frames and stomped down three separate times to compact it enough that the sculptors can use it.

A team works on their entry late Tuesday night. Pam LeBlanc photo

Each sculpture is based on a small model submitted by the snow sculpting team.

I watched as three men used blunt-edged paddles to hack their 25-ton block of snow into the crude shape of a figure sitting at a piano. They pointed to a small model of a bear playing a piano, which they dubbed “Bearthoven.”

Each team has five days to finish their work. They can only use hand tools; power tools are not allowed.

Past sculptures have included swimmers, a skull, a hippo, musicians and more.

This year’s competitors include teams from Ecuador, Germany, Mexico, and the United States.

Sculptures remain on display until Feb. 2, 2022. Pam LeBlanc photo

Gold, silver, and bronze awards are named, along with artists choice and people’s choice. In 2020, the last year the competition took place, Team Mexico took home the gold for the second year in a row. Team Great Britain won silver and Team India won Artists Choice.

Carving ends Jan. 28, and the finished pieces will remain on display until 7 p.m. Feb. 2 at Riverwalk Center, 150 West Adams in Breckenridge. Viewing is best after dark, when the sculptures are illuminated by colored lights. Admission is free, but reservations are required if you plan to go on Saturday, Jan. 29. For more information go here.

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