Soaking above the world's deepest measured hot spring

In the middle of Pagosa Springs, hot mineral water rises from a spring that nobody has been able to measure to the bottom. People call it the Mother Spring. In August 2011, a hydrologist lowered a plumb line into it while a Guinness World Records official watched. The line ran out at 1,002 feet without hitting anything, so the record reads “world’s deepest” geothermal hot spring, and the true depth is still unknown.

That same water feeds the soaking. The Springs Resort, on the bank of the San Juan River, channels it into a terrace of pools set at different temperatures, so you can pick how warm you want to sit and watch the river go by. At the source the water is hot, roughly 110 to 144 degrees, then cooled to comfortable soaking ranges.

If you would rather not pay, the spring also feeds free, rock-lined pools along the San Juan Riverwalk downtown, the ones people call the hippie dips. They are first come, first served and shallow.

Pools, temperatures, and hours shift with the seasons and the river, so check before you make the drive. The official details are on the Visit Pagosa Springs geothermal page.