While Americans have always been drawn to scenic desert and mountain locations, natural hot springs offer their own unique kind of allure. Some RV parks, in fact, have been built right on top of natural hot springs and provide their guests with pools that are constantly replenished with healing waters.
Trip Planning
Go RVing to These Great Hot Springs Destinations
Enjoy a relaxing RV trip at these hot spring locations along the West Coast!
Fountain of Youth Resort & Spa in Niland, California, in a remote desert location just east of the Salton Sea, offers a variety of spa facilities, including hot spas, a raw mineral spa, mineral soaking tubs, his and her mineral steam rooms, a saltwater swimming pool and a chlorinated swimming pool.
Further to the north, Desert Hot Springs, in California’s Coachella Valley, has several RV parks with pools fed by natural hot springs. These include Sam's Family Spa RV Park, whose mineral spas are fed by three natural hot mineral springs. The spas are not chlorinated and utilize flow-through technology to constantly recycle the water. The park also has a large, fresh water, chlorinated swimming pool. Guests also enjoy fishing and feeding the ducks at the park’s large pond. Peacocks and other waterfowl are also on the premises.
Other Desert Hot Springs destinations of this type include Caliente Springs Resort and Sky Valley Resort, which offer multiple mineral pools and spas at different temperatures.
Several other spa resorts in Desert Hot Springs and neighboring Palm Springs offer natural hot springs experiences as well, and there are nearby campgrounds and RV resorts that can be used as base camps to visit these resorts. These include the Palm Springs / Joshua Tree KOA Holiday in Desert Hot Springs and Emerald Desert RV Resort and Thousand Trails Palm Springs, both of which are in Palm Desert.
(Photo courtesy of Fountain of Youth Spa, Niland, California)
One particularly unique hot springs experience is available at Belmont Hot Springs RV Park and Resort in Garland, Utah, about 75 miles north of Salt Lake City. The park offers a 60-foot-deep mineral hot springs lake that’s popular with scuba diving enthusiasts — even in winter, according to park owner Michael Yamin.
Of course, most RV parks do not have hot mineral springs on site. But many campgrounds and RV parks can be used as base camps for relaxing RV trips to visit both historic and modern hot springs resorts across the country.
(Photo courtesy of Belmont Hot Springs RV Park and Resort in Garland, Utah)
In fact, the oldest tourist attraction in the Black Hills of South Dakota isn’t Mount Rushmore, but the Evans Plunge, which features a naturally spring-fed pool great for families and people of all ages. Other neighboring hot springs include Moccasin Springs Natural Mineral Spa. Hot Springs area campgrounds include Hidden Lake Campground and Resort and Sunrise Ridge Campground.
Colorado, for its part, has hot springs all over the state, with multiple campgrounds nearby. Examples include:
- Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort in Nathrop: Established in 1879, this hot springs resort’s amenities include a 400-foot water slide, a family relaxation pool and an onsite steakhouse and bar. Nearby campgrounds include:
- Hot Sulphur Springs Resort & Spa in Hot Sulphur Springs: This resort features 21 pools and private baths. Nearby campgrounds include Red Mountain RV Park in Kremmling.
- Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs: This hot springs destination a mineral water swimming pool and flowering tropical plants as well as palm and banana trees under a translucent dome. Additional enticements include geothermal caves with sunken, walk-in hot tubs. Nearby campgrounds include:
- Ouray Hot Springs in Ouray: This hot springs destination has been operating since 1927 with five separate geothermally heated pools, including adults only and family pools. Ouray Hot Springs also has water slides, a climbing wall, and an obstacle course for kids. Ouray is also home to Weisbaden Hot Springs, which complements its hot pools with vapor caves and a secluded private outdoor soaking pool with a waterfall. The original structure at Weisbaden Hot Springs was built in 1879 and was known as Mother Buchanan’s Bath House. Nearby campgrounds include:
Glenwood Springs, CO
Glenwood Springs, Colorado has a couple of hot springs resorts, including Glenwood Hot Springs Resort and Iron Mountain Hot Springs. Glenwood Hot Springs Resort complements its hot pools with water features for children and teens, including a Sopris Splash Zone and Shoshone Chutes Adventure River, which are open from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend and on weekends in spring and fall, weather permitting. Iron Mountain Hot Springs features 16 geothermal pools, including a family pool with an elevated jetted spa, as well as a cafe and bar. Nearby campgrounds include Glenwood Canyon Resort in Glenwood Springs.
Visitors to Pagosa Springs, Colorado can enjoy a variety of hot springs experiences, including those provided by The Springs Resort & Spa, Healing Waters Resort and Spa and Overlook Hot Springs. Nearby campgrounds include:
- Pagosa Riverside Campground in Pagosa Springs
- Sportsman's Campground and Mountain Cabins near Pagosa Springs
Steamboat Springs, CO
Steamboat Springs, Colorado, for its part, entertains hot springs enthusiasts at Old Town Hot Springs and at Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Old Town Hot Springs is a historic but family friendly hot springs in Steamboat Springs with eight pools, aquatic climbing walls, two 225-foot water slides and a 3,000 square foot hot activity pool. Strawberry Park Hot Springs complements its hot pools with private areas for Watsu and table massage treatments. Although Strawberry Park Hot Springs is open year-round, many guests take a private shuttle service to the resort, which offers no RV parking. Two-wheel drive vehicles are also prohibited on the road to the resort from Nov. 1 to May 1. Nearby campgrounds include Steamboat Springs KOA Holiday in Steamboat Springs.
(Photo courtesy of Ouray Hot Springs by Matt Inden)
