Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort, Nathrop, Colorado

 

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs and Spa Resort http://www.mtprinceton.com/

was an amazing place to stay. The cost was $170. a night including tax.  Our room (hillside- up by water slide) had a king sized bed (comfy) (you could also have 2 queens) and a refrig. no breakfast included- we ate breakfast one morning for about $12.00 pp..it was good food with nice views.

^^ This pic shows the bridge leading to the guest/adult only section of the resort!

The pools down here are open until 10pm. You can be a day pass only bather and have access to two large pools on the north side of the river- one of which is the original historic pool, the river and the water slide area up the hill. Day use people include local people and campers who are at Chalk Lake Campground (sites 2-8 are the best) and Mt. Princeton Campground -(sites 3,5,7, 9 and 11 are best)< I included this because the next time we will combine camping and a hotel stay in our visit!

 

 

 Water slide- it was fun even for "old" folks like us! (pool open until 6pm)^^

 If you stay at the hotel, and are an adult, you have access to the hot cascading pools. There are three pools in the cascade. The top pool is about 110 degrees, middle, 102 degrees and bottom pool 99 degrees. There is also a full sized pool 99-100 degrees for adults only.  The spa is located in this section of the resort.

The best part of the resort, in my opinion, are the "build your own" river pools. The river is COLD water, but all along the bank of the river are HOT spring seeps. It is your job to capture the hot water and make your own pool. If your dam breaks the river water comes in. Here is my husband floating in his own pool.


The closest town is Salida. We LOVED this town. It had a vibe that I can't describe- I could so live there- no chain stores at all- kind of a mini Austin, TX.  There was a river walk in town, a great restaurant called The Boathouse http://boathousecantina.com/home/  great food, great service, great view. Picture below is at the Boathouse.

 Below is the view of young people, kayaking and rafting in a man made water chute.  They stayed until dark- I wish I could have joined them.

 

An easy hike about 5 miles RT (out and back) was on the old railroad bed. You turn around at the highway- but cross the highway first to see the beautiful water falls!

 easy grade hiking...decomposed granite hiking surface

end of the hike highway- cross it to see the falls

If you want me to help you plan travel - contact me at jackiebarnes217@hotmail.com