Indian Springs Resort

About 32 miles from Denver sits a tiny hippy oasis called Indian Springs Resort. Mud baths! Mineral Springs! "Private jacuzzis with beautiful mountain view!" This sounded like the makings of a relaxing vacation!

The beautiful "mountain view". When we arrived at Indian Springs, my first impression was "this is it?" The building looks old. And I don't mean old in a vintage or historic way. Just old. Outdated. Not quite run-down but give it a few years.It looks like a place that was really really cool in the 1960's. It was built in 1905, so I'll give them a bit of a break, but there are seriously no frills here. It's not by any means dirty or gross, just very very basic.

The staff of Hot Topic-loving teenagers were not really helpful at all. Luckily, I had checked the website before we got there and decided on reserving a private outdoor jacuzzi, in addition to doing "Club Mud" and getting a pass for the mineral pool which totaled $45 each. There was also an option of a nude geothermic cave spring, but there are separate men's and women's caves, as you must bathe nude. Being that I was traveling with a male, I opted not to bathe alone.

The "mountain view" in the jacuzzi was hilarious. Basically, the tub is outside, and the mountain goes up at about a 90 degree angle. So, there's a wall of snow...We were told there was a locker room outside in our fenced off jacuzzi area, but it turned out to really be just an outside corral. What a cold change into my swimsuit! The resort has towels for rent, but I suggest bringing a few large ones of your own, and definitely bring flip flops to walk from your clothes to the tub. The tub itself was ridiculously hot, but cooled a bit after running the jets and throwing some snow in there. The sensation of extreme hot and extreme cold was actually pretty amazing. We had the jacuzzi for an hour, and just kind of laid there and cooked ourselves...letting the minerals do their work. Or something.

After the jacuzzi, we ran as fast as we could back inside, threw our clothes into the locker rooms (lockers are for rent for 50 cents) and ran into the Club Mud room. We were warned by Miss Hot Topic that the mud was cold (this was NOT on the website). The mud room reminded me of an outdoor patio. The room is lined with pool chairs, hot air blowers and a shower. The mud bath itself is surprisingly shallow. I dipped my foot in expecting it to sink, but found it only to be to my ankle. Instead of sitting in mud, you stand in the tub and cover yourself using your hands. It's cold. It stinks. A lot! I was brave and put it on my face. After you are covered, you sit back in the chairs, listen to the New Age music, and let it dry.

After about an hour you are a stiff mummy. The whole process is hilarious. But I must say, after I rinsed off, my skin was so smooth and radiant and lasted as such for at least a week.

Shallow mud bath The pool is fed by an underground geothermic spring and stays between around 80 to 100 degrees. The pool area itself is enclosed with a tin roof, and one wall is the exposed mountain outside. A bar is attached to the pool area and you can drink a beer while swimming. Well, maybe you aren't supposed to but you CAN. The pool itself is only about 4 feet deep, but is pretty large, with the water source in the corner. I wondered why everyone was huddled around the corner until I discovered after they left that the nicest, warmest, bath water like fountain was there, feeding the pool. After a few hours, I was wrinkled beyond belief, and decided it was time to leave.

I may sound like I hated this place, but actually I loved it. I was just surprised because the website is misleading, it leaves out a lot of information in addition to making the resort sound like a place of luxury. I felt amazing for days after my day of relaxation, and $45 couldn't even get me an hour of massage anywhere. Next time I visit, I plan to stay over in one of their cabins, and get a hot stone massage for my ailments.

For more information
www.indianspringsresorts.com

Posted by Lori in Denver on 14/Mar/2007

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