This is STOP 12, the 34th and 35th days of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop in Durango, CO
The Drive from Durango, CO to Glenwood Springs, CO
Durango CO to Glenwood Springs Co
Today is the 34th day of our 68 day planned road trip – so we are half-way through the journey which doesn’t seem possible!
As mentioned in our last post, we leave Durango and head north on US 500, the eastern side of the San Juan Skyway to Silverton. We then drive the section known as The Million Dollar Highway from Silverton to Ouray. We’ve heard stories about driving this section both from a scenic point of view and a treacherous point of view. There is still snow on the road and it is even more knuckle-biting than we imagined – not for the faint of heart!
There are very, very few guard rails and one momentary lapse of concentration can send you plummeting over the side of a drop off hundreds of feet deep. The road has been plowed and salted but there are sections in the shade where ice lurks. We quickly lose count of the number of hairpin turns as we cross over three very steep mountain passes (Red River, Molas and Coal Bank).
As beautiful a drive as this is, we are pretty sure we would never again do this road in winter conditions! That is saying a lot from a couple who seek out adventure roads.
We enjoy passing through Ouray because we stayed there for one night back in 2009. It is interesting to see both how it has changed as well as how it hasn’t.
We continue on US 550 to Montrose where we divert onto US 50 east and then County 347 north to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
The Black Canyon is 48 miles long and this park contains 12 miles of it. It is named The Black Canyon because the walls are so steep that some areas get a mere 33 minutes of daylight per day. Cut by the Gunnison River, the water drops an average of 34 feet every mile. The greatest descent is at Chasm View where the river drops 240 feet per mile. By comparison, the Colorado River drops 7.5 feet for every mile inside the Grand Canyon.
We’ve been to this park back in 2009 and remembering its beauty, we decide to stop again and hike in a different area (there are 8 main trails). We decide to travel to the end of the south rim drive first and then decide which hike and/or overviews to stop at on the way back. At the end is the Warner Point Nature Trail and the sign lists the distance in yards rather than x.x miles as most trails do. Nancy tries to do some math in her head and incorrectly thinks it is about a 1/2 mile loop. About 1/3 of a mile into the so far all downhill trail – Nancy quits knowing she isn’t prepared (no water and not a fan of all uphill hiking on the way back). She waits at an overlook for 45 minutes while Harrison continues on. As it turns out, the hike is actually 1.5 miles and rated “moderate”. It is .75 miles downhill followed by .75 miles uphill. Harrison agrees that Nancy would not have handled this particular hike. We do a makeshift lunch of peanut butter, crackers and beef jerky.
We don’t have time for another hike, so we drive back along the south rim and stop at a few overlooks. We look at our planned route to Glenwood Springs and decide, because of time, to take the “main route which includes I-70” instead of all back scenic roads. Looks like we’ll need to return another time to do more of the hikes and to drive the scenic routes.
We first heard of the town of Glenwood Springs on that same 2009 road trip when we stopped there for lunch. As we drove over the interstate into town, we noticed a massive outdoor pool with steam rolling off it. We learned this is the largest hot springs pool in the world and we knew we would have to come back here one day to soak in it. The town itself once hosted Teddy Roosevelt for an entire summer. Doc Holliday spent his final months in the town and is buried here. The serial killer Ted Bundy was housed in the Glenwood Springs jail – and escaped undetected for 17 hours. Now it is time for Harrison and Nancy Smith to stay in Glenwood Springs and to soak in that large hot springs pool.
Best Western Antlers
While there are two very nice historic hotels in town, cost and location sometimes factor into our choice to stay at a Best Western – in this town, the Best Western Antlers. We are Best Western rewards members and they have a fall promotional deal we are taking advantage of a few times on this trip. We don’t plan to spend much time at all in our room that also solidifies our decision to stay here. Best Western has 18 classes of hotels and this one falls into their “midscale” category. They have stepped up their game with upscale and luxury levels like “Best Western Plus”, “Best Western Premier” and “Best Western Signature” to name a few. Our room has a partial mountain view and is within close distance to not only multiple restaurants, but to the famous Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Pool (the main reason for our visit). When we pull in we realize we need to find a car wash since the “Brown Beast” is caked in salt from the “million dollar highway adventure”.
Evening in Glenwood Springs
Dinner is a priority and again, we want to catch some of the World Series playoffs. Most of the restaurants are on the other side of the interstate and the Colorado Rover but this town has recently built a great pedestrian bridge that it takes us a few minutes to locate. As we cross the bridge, we peer at the people enjoying the 3 city block long hot spring pool we will enjoy tomorrow.
If you ever stay here, stay at the hotels on the side of the river where the hot springs are. They are less expensive and its just a quick walk across the bridge to the downtown.
KC’s Wing House and Sports Bar
Almost right at the end of the bridge is KC’s Wing House & Sports Bar that has some open bar seats and 2 TVs over the bar. We meet our bartender Brennan who graciously puts the game on we browse through a menu that focuses on Jamaican food. Harrison gest a Jamaican Burger & Fries and I get a Cheesesteak & Onion Rings. When the game is over, we retire to our room, too tired to explore the town at night.
Day 2 – A Day In Glenwood Springs
The hotel has a great hot breakfast. We observe a family with five children as it turns out, we will run into time and again over the course of the day.
Glenwood Hot Springs Pool
The largest hot springs pool in the world is located in Glenwood Springs at the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort. The large pool (over 400 feet – about 3 city blocks in length) is kept at a comfortable 90°- 93° and the smaller therapy pool averages about 104°. They say that soaking in highly concentrated mineral rich water is healthy. By increasing your internal body temperature you kill harmful germs, eliminate toxins and increase blood flow.
We first talk with 2 couples vacationing together (one from the area and the other from California). Next we meet the Casillas family that we saw at breakfast – a delightful family. The youngest child (age 5) falls asleep in his mother’s arms while the two oldest children (16 and 14) go off to the splash pool area. The middle two children play together while we talk with the parents. We spend a little time in the hotter pool then come back to the main pool. After two hours, we decide to get some lunch and explore the town. The temperature outside is about 40° but after soaking in the warm water, you barely feel the chill when you get out. We change back into our clothes and get our hands stamped so we can return later in the day.
Lunch at Doc Holliday’s Saloon
It is time for lunch and an afternoon of exploring the town itself. We cross the pedestrian bridge and head to Doc Holliday’s Saloon.
Our research indicates this is exactly the type of place we love. It isn’t hard to find with the 20 foot neon pistol pointing the way. It is an old west style (restored) bar & restaurant with a 3 arch walnut backed bar, a 24 foot bar that is one continuous piece of wood, tin ceilings, has the original hardwood floors, tons of historic photos and even a pot belly stove. It isn’t very crowded and we grab 2 bar seats and our bartenders Jacey and Sophie greet us and get us each a beer. We have lots of opportunity to chat with both of them. Here we mostly tell them about our adventures but in exchange we do get info on other restaurants (with TVs to catch those playoffs later). We must mention one appetizer that caught our eye – love the clever name: Wings, Rings & Dangly Things (chicken wings, onion rings and rocky mountain oysters). We don’t order it – instead, we each order a sandwich. A delightful experience between the friendly staff, the food and the atmosphere.
Next we do some souvenir shopping and guess what family we run into while walking the downtown area?
Glenwood Hot Springs Pool – Take 2
We head back to the hot springs pool around 4:00pm and it is as relaxing as we remember. It is just about as uncrowded as it was earlier this morning. We chat with a few people, spend a little time in the smaller & hotter pool, but most of our time in the larger pool. We run into the Casillas family again. We learn that tomorrow they are going to take the Gondola ride up to the caverns and the small amusement park for the day. We had read about that, but have opted to save it for another time (especially since we just did the Carlsbad Caverns a few days ago). We enjoy watching the sun go down, but hunger soon takes over and we head back out.
Appetizers at Native Son, Dinner at Springs Downtown Bar & Grill
There are several restaurants we never get to – including the Glenwood Canyon Brewpub. That is where we had lunch back in 2009. It is still in business which says a lot, but we just aren’t in the mood for craft beer tonight.
Our first dinner stop is at Native Son – and this is the first time we’ve had a less than optimal experience. We do get bar seats, but it is at least 15 minutes before one of the four bartenders acknowledges us. The bartenders are all male and are all wearing black leather pants and no sleeve black shirts. We finally get a beer, but they only have craft beer (and what did we just say about not being in the mood for craft beer tonight?). We settle on a fairly decent, slightly sour Peach Wheat. When we ask if they can put the baseball game on the TV, our bartender tells us “that ain’t gonna happen”. We do order their steak skewers appetizer – and it is very delicious (comes with both a home-made salsa and a spicy chili oil). Service continues to be slow and this isn’t the experience we’re looking for.
Native Son Bar
We decide to check out the Springs Downtown Bar & Grill which is the “sister” bar/restaurant to Doc Holliday’s and is right next door to it. The minute we enter the building, we know we’ve found a place to spend the rest of our evening out. There is an old one arch oak back bar and some TVs for catching the end of the game. There is only a maybe 15% share of menu items with Doc Holliday’s and we end up splitting a sandwich.
And at breakfast the next morning – we once again run into the Casillas family.
Casillas family
Our Verdict
Glenwood Springs is a wonderful stop-over place and we want to return some day.
Next Up
We are off to Rock Springs, WY and the Flaming Gorge area for 7 days- a place we made a note to see the next time we passed this way (and now we are).
Here is a link to our previous stop in Durango, CO
You may have done this in the past. 2 adventures in Glenwood Springs…the cave vapors was interesting. Those vapors are supposed to be therapeutic. Caves are a little creepy. We also checked out Doc Holliday’s grave.
We have not done them in Glenwood. We did them in Ouray on a prior trip and I totally get what you mean!