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Tag Archives: Hot Sulphur Springs

Hot Springs

Posted on January 26, 2017 by lesliegb6720

Courtesy of Loco Steve at Flickr

Driving west on I-70, I smell something stinky.  Something that reminds me of rotten eggs or sulphur.  What is that smell?  A few miles down the road, and the answer to my question is evident — Glenwood Springs, Colorado, home of famous hot springs pool, a mammoth hot springs pool.

Large and green, filled with bobbing heads — moms, dads, children and grandparents.  The pool is enormous — much bigger than an Olympic sized swimming pools.  Some are just wading around or even sitting along the edge, much like you’d sit in a hot tub.  Others are actually swimming laps through the green water.  All this despite sub-freezing temperatures and snow on the ground.

Colorado is known for its mountains, its skiing, its wilderness — drawing visitors from far and wide.  But ever wonder why so many of its towns seemed to have the word “springs” attached to it?  Steamboat Springs, Glenwood Springs, Pagosa Springs, Idaho Springs, and the list goes on.

The springs referred to are hot springs, of which there as many hot springs as ski resorts.  And on their own, they can be a major draw depending on the community.  While the town of Steamboat Springs probably attracts many more tourists for its world-class skiing as for its hot springs, a town about one hour south depends on its hot springs for any kind of visitation.

Hot Sulphur Springs is a tiny community along Highway 40.  Most people only know the town because they must drive through it on the way to Steamboat.  The Hot Sulphur Springs Resort and Spa has seven natural springs flowing into 21 mineral pools and baths to soak your weary body into.  It’s a great reason to not just pass through this town, but spend a night and enjoy the springs.

Glenwood Springs has an entirely large town built around its venerable hot springs.  The 400-foot Glenwood Pool has its own resort and lodge, but other hotels in town offer “hot springs” packages as an add-on to a weekend in Glenwood.  In fact, Amtrak even has a piece of the action offering a weekend train ride, complete with stays at adjacent hotels to the pool.  They’ve created an entire business out of marketing their hot springs.

We as tourists were not the first to discover the soothing nature of hot springs in Colorado.  In fact, the Ute Indians discovered the many hot springs and used their healing properties for aches and pains as well.  The Ute referred to the large hot springs at Glenwood as Yampah, meaning “big medicine.”

If it’s ruggedness you desire, there are hundreds of hot springs off the beaten path — ones that you have to earn through a backpack or long hike.  Conundrum Hot Springs in the Maroon Bells Wilderness requires an 8.5 uphill hike with a 2500-foot gain in elevation.  But all that work is rewarded by not only a hot soak, but an amazing view of 14,000-foot peaks soaring above you.  Unfortunately, the word has gotten out and summer weekends have become overrun with partying people who are polluting the water.  The Forest Service is considering going to a quota system.

Or if complete charm is more your thing, look into the Strawberry Park Hot Springs near Steamboat.  What an idyllic spot to get rid of the aches and pains from a hard day’s mountain biking or skiing!  The pools are made of stone, and flow from one terrace to the next.  Not only that, but due its remote location outside of town, the stargazing is epic as well.

So next time you’re planning a hike, a camping trip, or a longer visit to Colorado, instead of using the run of the mill hot tub at the lodge, look into what nature provides through its geologic processes and find a hot spring to while away the evening.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Glenwood Springs, Hot Sulphur Springs, Strawberry Park Hot Springs, Yampah | Leave a comment |

Town Slogans and Welcome Signs

Posted on August 17, 2015 by lesliegb6720
Fruita WTF

Fruita’s controversial sticker

On a road trip coming back from Steamboat Springs last week, I passed through the small town of Hot Sulphur Springs.  Catching my eye as I entered the tiny hamlet of six hundred or so souls, was the town welcome sign with the moniker, First in Winter Carnivals.  This got me thinking about the interesting town slogans you see as you drive the back roads of Colorado and throughout the west.  Why do they pick these slogans, are they even important, and who decides on the slogan, for what purpose?  What makes this little town that is on they way from Granby to Steamboat, first in winter carnivals?

In the case of Hot Sulphur Springs, a quick look at history shows that it literally did hold the first Winter Sports Carnival west of the Mississippi in 1911.  The small carnival, featuring tobogganing, ice skating, and cross country skiing, is thought to have led to the massive winter recreation industry that fuels Colorado’s economy today.  A winter carnival is still held today in Grand County celebrating all thing winter and it all started with they tiny town of Hot Sulphur Springs.  And I don’t need to tell you how big or meaningful the winter ski industry to Colorado now.

Probably the most interesting one I’ve encountered in Colorado is Morrison, a small town along the Front Range foothills known best for the spectacular Red Rocks Amphitheatre nearby.  Morrison’s clever slogan is the “Nearest Faraway Place.”  That one is somewhat easy to reason out, as Morrison is quite close to the city of Denver, but does have a small town, nature vibe.  But my all time favorite for a town in the west isn’t in Colorado, but a few hours north in Gettysburg, South Dakota which states Where the Battle Wasn’t. Even our big city of Denver is somewhat spoofed by another much smaller town in Iowa going by the same name, coining itself as the Mile Wide City.Gettysburg sign

Town slogans are not decided easily or without controversy.  Two Colorado towns were involved in a bit of controversy over slogans  Steamboat Springs, and Fruita, Colorado.  Steamboat Springs has long touted itself by the nickname, Ski Town, U.S.A. since 1959, an obvious connection to their longstanding winter sports heritage, and a way to promote winter tourism to the area.  A couple of years ago, Salt Lake City decided they wanted go by the slogan of Ski City, U.S.A.  You wouldn’t think that a nickname or slogan would mean that much, but it meant something to the Steamboat Ski Resort folks, who filed a lawsuit against Salt Lake City for poaching their nickname. The suit was settled in 2014, with Salt Lake City agreeing to drop the U.S.A. part, and simply going by Ski City.

Fruita, Colorado cleverly took a more humorous approach to their town and their nickname, which reads Welcome to Fruita.  Oval stickers with block initials are quite popular among tourists to pick up as a memento of the places they visit.  For instance, Rocky Mountain National Park sells thousands of RMNP stickers to their millions of visitors.  The Fruita folks decided to use this design and play on their welcome signs to create a memorable WTF (Welcome to Fruita) stickers, which sold like hotcakes.  In spite of the sales success, the City Council and certain residents didn’t take too kindly to the humor, and the stickers and the accompanying campaign were abandoned.

Thinking all of this out, does a slogan really matter?  Does it draw more people to your town or attract publicity? Look no further than our biggest city here in Colorado for the answer.  There aren’t too many people you can find that don’t know Denver as The Mile High City.  It certainly has provided strong branding and identity for Denver, and a clever nickname that is easy to remember as well as reminding folks of our high altitude.   So you may be wondering after reading all about town slogans, what our welcome sign here in Nederland uses for its nickname?  One, that needs no explanation, and for me rings true every day I make the drive home to our mountain community — “Life is Better Up Here.”

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Fruita, Gettysburg, Hot Sulphur Springs, Nederland, Salt Lake City, Ski Town USA, Steamboat Springs, town slogans | Leave a comment |

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