Glenwood's Grand Pool: a soak the length of a city block and a half

Stand at one end of the Grand Pool in Glenwood Springs and the far wall looks a long way off, because it is. The resort lists the pool at about 405 feet long and 100 feet wide at its widest, holding more than a million gallons — 1,071,000, per their own figure — and calls it the world’s largest hot springs pool. It has been open since 1888, so generations of swimmers have floated here under the same canyon walls.

The water comes from the Yampah spring, which the Ute people called Big Medicine. It surfaces hot, then gets cooled to a comfortable soaking temperature kept near 90 degrees, warm enough to sit in for a while without overheating. That mix of size and steady warmth is the whole appeal: room to swim laps or just drift.

A few honest notes. It is the area’s marquee draw, so summer weekends and holidays fill up, and tickets are timed — buy ahead and check current hours rather than showing up cold. If you want variety, the same town offers two other soaks: Iron Mountain Hot Springs, with its terraced pools above the Colorado River, and the underground Yampah Spa Vapor Caves. For pricing, hours, and tickets, start at the resort’s Grand Pool page.