Cottonwood Hot Springs
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Cottonwood Hot Springs comes out hot, near the upper end of hot, too much for a straight soak at the source. It is in Chaffee County, Colorado, about five miles from Buena Vista, close to eighty-seven hundred feet up. Public access and land owner are missing from the record. A USGS site exists, and a 1976 sample showed alkaline water carrying iron.
An unnamed road runs past within a couple hundred feet; this one is a pull-over. High country with real winter, five-plus feet of snow, a yearly mean below forty. Precipitation is moderate across the year. The file has nothing on land unit or designation. Study the climate chart before any cold-season trip.
Winter gets the nod in the record for best months. Roadside. Collegiate Peaks campground is about five miles away by the file. Fee: not recorded. It is hot enough to hurt; test before contact and do not sit in the outflow without checking it first. Access status is blank, so establish who owns the ground.
Aircraft with laser scanners measured this ground to within inches. The scan strips out trees and buildings, leaving the bare shape of the land around Cottonwood Hot Springs.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 465 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the north
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's about 2½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 94% of the springs on this site.
Heat flow measures the warmth working its way up through the ground from deep inside the earth. Where it runs high, rain and snowmelt that seep down through cracks in the rock come back up hot.
See every spring on the geothermal heat map →
Heat flow estimate: Stanford Thermal Earth Model (Aljubran & Horne, 2024), CC BY 4.0.
The water at Cottonwood Hot Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 8.5).
Overview Collegiate Peaks Campground is located 11 miles west of Buena Vista, Colorado, along Middle Cottonwood Creek near the top of Cottonwood Pass. The campground offers well-spaced campsites and scenic views of the surrounding mountains. Visitors enjoy fishing and exploring local trails. A commercial hot springs inn and spa is located about 5 miles east of the campground. "First come, first served" does not necessarily mean that the site will be available when you get there. Someone may...
At 8,683 feet, Cottonwood Hot Springs is in high-altitude territory where the air is noticeably thinner. Soaking in hot water accelerates dehydration and can amplify altitude effects like headache and fatigue. UV radiation is roughly 35% stronger here. Wear sunscreen even on overcast days and take breaks from the water to rehydrate.
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Slightly Alkaline Springs (pH ~8.5)
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