Dotsero Warm 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.
Dotsero Warm Springs sits on Bureau of Land Management land in Eagle County, Colorado, about nine miles from Gypsum, under the Colorado River Valley Field Office. Open access, per the record. The water runs a little under bath temperature. USGS sampled it in 1978 and found neutral water with iron.
Seventy-five feet or so from an unnamed road, so you can pull up and walk over. Elevation is a bit over six thousand feet. Winter is heavy, with well over seven feet of snow most winters, and yearly precipitation is moderate. BLM ground without any further designation, and nothing in the file describes the ground between road and water.
The record puts the season in December through February, and given the snowfall a winter visit means checking the road first. Roadside and open. Gypsum Campground is listed about seven miles off. No fee recorded. Chemistry is from 1978. The water is below bath temperature, so in cold weather it will not feel as warm as the name promises.
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 Dotsero Warm Springs.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 330 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
A slice through the ground from northwest to southeast, 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 Dotsero Warm Springs is neutral (pH 7.0). It is notably rich in calcium (may support bone density and joint health), sodium (supports circulation and skin hydration), and sulfate (traditionally used for skin conditions and inflammation).
Gypsum Campground is located along the Eagle River and is readily accessible from Interstate Highway 70. The campground is open May 15 - November 15 annually. There is no reservation system. Campsites are occupied on a first come, first serve basis. Inactive volcanic crater and lava flow are nearby to Dotsero. Visitors who want to enjoy camping, picnicking, sightseeing, and wildlife viewing can access the river from the campground, which offers gravel roads with primitive walk in fishing and...
Dotsero Warm Springs sits at 6,187 feet above sea level, way above the mile-high mark. You may not feel the altitude strongly, but hot water still dehydrates you faster at elevation. UV is about 25% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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