This means hiking, mountain biking, and trail running can be experienced almost year-round. The nice thing about living barely over 7,000 feet above sea level is that the trails dry out a little sooner than in the high country. Checkout Pagosa Outside for more information on trips that’ll fit your family’s style and speed. The fun peaks in June when the carefully-crafted whitewater park dappling the river’s in-town course takes on a life of its own, providing smiles and hoots-and-hollers from the colorful parade of river runners. For the ultimate coziness, book a cabin at the Fireside Inn and relax beside the – you guessed it – fireside with a good book.Īs the snow melts to Spring, the San Juan River swells to a rushing torrent ideal for rafting and kayaking. Other wintertime outings include snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice fishing, backcountry skiing and hut trips in the pine-studded wonderland (Of course, no chilly outing is complete till it’s been capped off with a soak in the springs and a hot toddy). Powder hounds flock to the rugged terrain for its guaranteed adventure, charming remoteness and the potential for the best skiing of their lives. In winter, Wolf Creek Ski Area sits supremely aloft in a mysterious vortex that seems to get snowstorms even when the surrounding San Juan Mountains are barely receiving a dusting. The only question that remains is how will you adventure?

Like most Colorado mountain towns, Pagosa Springs offers something different throughout the seasons.

Fast forward to 2018, when the appeal of Pagosa Springs has changed very little, with both residents and visitors alike still gravitating toward the region for its tranquility, jaw-dropping beauty and nurturing waters. With the arrival of the railroad in the early 1900s, the town began its transformation from dusty and derelict to a more sophisticated retreat destination attracting more affluent travelers, like John Wayne and other Hollywood icons. Whenever they’d get paid, they’d hurry to town, pockets jingling with money ready to be spent on food, feminine company, and other refreshments. The hardrockers would spend days on end toiling in the high places, shouldering boulders and the burdens of making ends meet at the mercy of what the mountains may or may not reveal. With three million acres of wilderness surrounding Pagosa Springs, a visit to the springs feels like a step back in time to the wild, wild West.īuilt on trading and ranching, Pagosa Springs evolved into a bona fide mountain town with the arrival of miners. More than interesting aromas, the Pagosa region sits along the banks of the San Juan River, whose headwaters trickle from the Continental Divide framing the horizon to the north of town. The Ute Indians named it ‘Pah-gosah,’ which means “water with bad smell.” Long before Pagosa Springs became an official town in 1891, Native Americans had been flocking to these odiferous pools for the soothing health benefits of curing diseases, relieving sore muscles, restoring balance to the soul and a hundred tiny other perks of kicking back for a bit. There’s a little town in Southwest Colorado where treasures run deeper than the seemingly-bottomless geothermal hot springs burbling to the delight of soakers and sulfur-smell lovers alike (okay, maybe only a handful of people enjoy the smell of rotten eggs, but the minerals found in these rich waters make up in healing properties what they lack in perfume).

Pagosa springs hot springs information