Have one Mother Nature of a good time with Glenwood Hot Springs Resort as your base camp for outdoor recreation
There is an abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities to choose from in Glenwood Springs, Colorado that bring out your wild and free side. Create the perfect outdoor recreation itinerary based on your adventure appetite, knowing you can retreat back to Glenwood Hot Springs Resort for blissful soaks and additional adventure in the world’s largest natural hot springs pool.
Or start the day loosening up your muscles in the soothing waters and grabbing some nourishment with breakfast at the poolside Grill, both included with stays at Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge, before exploring miles and miles of local trails and waterways. Your mind, body and soul are sure to be fully synchronized and ready to go big!
Water Play
If your travel crew is inspired by a water theme for vacation, Glenwood Springs delivers at epic levels. Tumbling its way through Glenwood Canyon, the Colorado River supplies some of the state’s most spectacular river rafting excursions, including Class IV and V rapids and flats for floating, swimming and splashing around.
Being wild and free certainly is at the heart of kayaking culture, which is alive and well at Glenwood Whitewater Activity Area, where paddling enthusiasts practice and demonstrate maneuvers on a standing wave. The Colorado River offers kayakers everything from smooth water to Class III and IV rapids, with boat launches conveniently located at rest areas in Glenwood Canyon.
The Roaring Fork River, running from Aspen to Glenwood Springs, provides river runners with colder and shallower water and has Colorado’s longest stretch of designated Gold Medal water for fly fishing. Float, wade or shore fish to have a shot at tempting the local trout population.
Small streams and high alpine lakes also are abundant in the White River National Forest for outdoor recreation, and don’t forget the Colorado River for fishing! The Glenwood Canyon Recreation Path makes many walk-and-wade sections section of this river easily accessible. Or take advantage of the Grizzly Creek boat launch and float to Two Rivers Park in Glenwood Springs. Consider our Fly Fishing Package if you wan to combine a stay with a day of guided fishing~
Hot Springs Pairing: As part of Glenwood Hot Springs Pool’s Sopris Splash Zone that debuted two summers ago, Shoshone Chutes is a three-minute, open-air tube ride (single or double tubes) that plunges riders downhill with plenty of twists and turns. Riders feel like they are traversing the Colorado River, and you’ll hear all ages hooting and hollering with delight. Rent a poolside cabana to rest for a spell before heading back for more.
Aerial Adventures
Whether it’s tandem paragliding and skydiving or ziplining across the Colorado River, there are aerial adventures galore in Glenwood Springs and outfitters to help make them happen! Professional certified instructors ensure paragliding and skydiving launches and landings are slow and gentle, and in between there are magnificent views of the Glenwood Canyon, Continental Divide, Maroon Bells, and Roaring Fork Valley’s five ski areas.
For action that starts a little closer to the ground but is still within the seriously fun category, Glenwood Canyon Zipline Adventures has lines that soar over the Colorado River and an aerial adventure course with crazy obstacles like an Indiana Jones-style bridge. There’s even a Happy Hour Zip, where you can zipline for two hours in the afternoon and wrap up with a cold beer or cocktail.
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, the only mountain-top theme park in America, also offers unmatched aerial fun with unique thrill rides like the Soaring Eagle Zip Ride, Alpine Coaster, Giant Canyon Swing and Glenwood Canyon Flyer. This outdoor recreation is an unmatched experience anywhere else!
Hot Springs Pairing: What serves as a splash pad, where kids and their adults can play at Glenwood Hot Springs Pool during the day, turns into the spectacular lighted Grand Fountain at night. Not only is it a blast to watch while soaking in the hot springs after a day of adventure, visitors strolling across the pedestrian bridge to grab dinner or a drink downtown can admire the changing colors and water sprays that reach up to 17 feet. The pool is open until 9 p.m., so you might just have time for a swim post-dinner before catching a great night’s sleep at Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge.
Trails to Traverse
Surrounded by mountains and bisected by two rivers, Glenwood Springs has miles and miles of trails to explore on foot, bike and horseback. All ages can get a taste of the wilderness on anything from paved pathways along river and rail corridors for hikers and bikers to steep, narrow single track for hard-charging mountain bike enthusiasts.
Glenwood Springs has been busy constructing new mountain bike trails like Wulfsohn, Grandstaff and South Canyon and improving trail interconnectivity. For those who prefer skinny tires, Rio Grande Trail offers more than 40 miles of distance riding along a gentle railroad-grade incline and traverses from Glenwood Springs to Aspen, with other great towns like Carbondale and Basalt in between. Meanwhile, the Glenwood Springs Recreation Path curves 16 miles through Glenwood Canyon with an uphill climb, which means an exhilarating descent on the way back.
Visit Glenwood Springs offers all sorts of ideas for hikes, and outfitters make it easy to explore trails via horseback and off-road vehicles. Glenwood Adventure Company even offers Wine, Beer and Cheese Jeep Tours and Sunset Dinner Tours that combine excursions on horseback, ATV, side-by-side vehicles and Jeeps with dinner outdoors!
Hot Springs Pairing: Hanging Lake, one of many popular hikes in the area, has impressed locals and guests for decades. Get a taste of this special place at Glenwood Hot Springs Pool’s Sopris Splash Zone with waterfalls modeled after Hanging Lake in the kids’ area, along with three mini-water slides, interactive water features, shallow play areas, and shade structures. After a big day, savor every bite of a soft-serve ice cream twist cone from the poolside Grill; it’s sure to remind you of twisting and turning up local trails.
High Flyers
Glenwood Canyon is sure to impress rock climbing aficionados with routes like Mudwall, Dead Horse, Neighborhood, Slab and Quartzite Wasteland. Or head to the east side of the Glenwood Springs tunnels along I-70 to a limestone crag known as the Puoux, which is divided into four sections, each with routes of varying difficulty.
If climbing walls are a better fit for time and your posse’s experience level, head indoors at Glenwood Springs Community Center or try out the town’s two outdoor climbing walls at Glenwood Canyon Resort and Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
Glenwood Springs also is a great place to try out or soar with your existing disc golf skills on courses at Sunlight Mountain Resort and Colorado Mountain College – Spring Valley Campus. The courses are free to play, you just need to bring your own discs. Course hours are dawn until dusk.
Hot Springs Pairing: While climbing and disc golf can take you to new heights, there is nothing quite like catching air on the diving boards at Glenwood Hot Springs Pool before relaxing in the bubble chairs, with warm hot springs surrounding every limb. Grab a brew at the poolside Grill patio for the ultimate in relaxation. If you need even more of a workout before calling it a day, stop by the on-site Athletic Club.
Where do you truly feel wild and free? Glenwood Springs is a great place to fuel that inner fire with outdoor recreation and find relaxation nirvana at Glenwood Hot Springs Resort which has been drawing people to the area for nearly 140 years.