Hortense Hot Spring
Hortense Hot Spring is scalding at the source. This is Chaffee County, seven miles or so from Buena Vista, and the USGS thermal point here carries a reading hot enough to cause burns on contact. There is no chemistry sample attached. Who owns the land and who may visit are not recorded. Buena Vista is the town to base from.
The record puts the spring a fifth of a mile off an unnamed road, so count on a short walk. Elevation is high valley country. Snowfall runs a bit over five feet in a normal winter and the climate is fairly dry. Mount Princeton campground is the one camp listed, under three miles off.
December through February score best. Keep your hands out of the water at the source; the reading is far beyond what skin tolerates. Access and ownership are both blank, so treat this as unverified ground. Camping at Mount Princeton campground is close by. Nobody has logged water chemistry.
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 Hortense Hot Spring.
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 1,235 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 twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 89% 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.
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Overview Mount Princeton Campground is located in beautiful Chalk Creek Canyon in central Colorado. This popular facility is within 4 miles of a private hot springs resort, making it an ideal location for rest and relaxation. "First come, first served" does not necessarily mean that the site will be available when you get there. Someone may get there before you. This is a popular campground and is normally full starting on Friday, sometimes as early as Thursday, so plan accordingly. Recreati...
At 8,300 feet, Hortense Hot Spring 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 33% stronger here. Wear sunscreen even on overcast days and take breaks from the water to rehydrate.
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Hortense Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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