I woke up to, I kid you not, the sound of a rattlesnake outside. That’ll get you up real quick! I couldn’t see it from the window, but I realized the comfort of our tent had lulled me into thinking we were not in the wild. But we were! No wonder they had us sign that waver…
Now, the thing about this hotel, which we didn’t realize until talking to the other guests at dinner, was that their sister camp had hot springs. That is definitely worth getting up early for, so in the wee hours we drove down the road to Dunton Hot Springs. There we found another absolutely stunning landscape.
The hotel is situated on the greenest meadow I’ve ever seen, and did I mention this used to be a ghost town? Yep, they made this hotel on the site of an abandoned mining town, converting some of the old log cabins into hotel rooms decked out in frontier decor. It looked like a film set, complete with a teepee. Um, how do I get that as my hotel room?
There are several hot springs on the property, all with different temperatures, and we were directed to the one behind the bath house as the most comfortable. We scurried out the back in our bathing suits and found the clay pool.
The special thing about these Colorado hot springs is that unlike other thermal spots there’s no sulfur – just the nice hot water without the smell. I sat out here for a good while.
I took a peek inside the bath house and it was so breathtaking! A rustic cabin full of greenery and a hot spring pool in the center of the room. The back side of the building had a full wall of windows that looked out on the meadow. With no other guests around we enjoyed the steamy solitude. The indoor pool was way too hot, so I sat on the edge and dipped a toe in.
After the hot dip, we showered and headed to breakfast out on that magical terrace. I mean, come on! You could not take a bad picture of this place if you tried!
After breakfast we packed up, bid our adieus to the friendly staff and hit the road again. Colorado, I’m coming back to you!
Telluride -> Santa Fe
Distance: 292 Miles
Driving Time: 5 hours, 55 minutes
I LOVE Santa Fe, so despite being very sad about leaving Dunton after only one night, I was looking forward to the next stop. It’s all turquoise and fringe, adobe and desert – truly an atmospheric place! I’d only been to Santa Fe in the winter around Thanksgiving, so I looked forward to feeling the full heat of a New Mexico summer.
