If you want an option to spend a nice holiday in Colorado, Glenwood Springs is one of the best places to visit and escape for a while.
Located in the heart of Colorado’s rocky mountain, Glenwood Springs offers visitors various activities and places to explore during their vacation.
Roaring Fork Valley is a geographical region that includes Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs. Spending time in Roaring Fork Valley gives you a balanced time for both outdoor and indoor activities.
Vacation in Roaring Fork Valley makes you admire the iconic natural treasure that Glenwood Springs, Colorado, possesses, like Hanging Lake, and relaxing in the warmth of hot springs is all serene.
Exploration options available in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, are incredible. Let’s explore a few possible activities and places to try and visit below.
Top 7 Things to Do in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
1. Mountain Biking: Adventure Is Waiting
Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is a huge attraction for bikers who do mountain biking and off-round biking.
It is becoming a sensational spot for biking because it offers every type of adventure trail that a biker needs.
This adventure starts with a 3-mile climb up Red Canyon Road and another 3 miles of moderately steep but easy-to-tackle double track/ATV road.
This mountain biking effort and the scenic view high on Glenwood Canyon’s rim can make any bike rider’s dream adventure come true.
This trail in Colorado is considered one of the best rides in town by mountain biking enthusiasts.
Known as the roller coaster ride by many locals, this trail lands on cyclists in the heart of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
1.2 Rio Grande Trail
The trail continues for 42 miles from Herron Park in Aspen Northwest, leading to two Glenwood Springs river parks. Rio Grande Trail makes Gold Medal Water easily accessible.
The best part of this long trail is that you can walk, hike, run, bike, or take a horseback ride. A long leisure walk along the Roaring Fork is serene, with mesmerizing views.
There are various other trails like Defiance Trail, Forest Hollow Trail, Red Mountain Trail, and many others.
2. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park has received the Local Choice Awards in various categories like best attraction, best family entertainment, the best place for a kid’s birthday, and best tourist spot.
A local newspaper company conducts this award, which is a big deal for the locals. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park won this award in 2019.
This amusement park completed 20 years in 2019, and in this period, it has added many rides to its collection.
Glenwood Springs, Colorado, should be visited to add the fun of this park to your experience.
The park is home to gondola award-winning thrill rides and has family-friendly restaurants and shopping places. There’s a special arrangement of different entertainment programs throughout the year.
Glenwood Caverns offer visitors spectacular views inside Iron Mountain, historic fairy caves, and king-row tours.
They offer a Funday Pass, including cave tours, unlimited turns on rides, and attractions. After one hour after the park opens, the first cave tour begins.
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is home to different kinds of adventures in one place. If you ever visit Glenwood Springs, visiting Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is mandatory.
3. Linwood Cemetery
In Glenwood Springs, Linwood Cemetery is a prominent place as it is the last resting place of Doc Holiday and Kid Curry. They were two of the West’s most infamous gunslingers.
The authorities have turned this site into a tourist attraction. The town and historical society built markers for them, and their cemetery was a somewhat steep half-mile hike up.
Now, taking the bodies with departed souls to that point must have been a task of the real ordeal.
Doc Holiday was trained as a dentist, but he is remembered as a gambler and for his role with the Earp Brothers in the OK Corral shootout in Tombstone, Arizona.
He was suffering from tuberculosis when he came to Glenwood Springs. He was here for soothing mineral water and hot springs, but it did him little good as he lost his life within six months.
Kid Curry’s name was Harvey Logan; he died while escaping from a train after a robbery.
He has been in the field of crime since his teen years. He was part of “The Wild Bunch” gang along with Robert Parker and Harry Longabaugh.
4. Hot Springs: Therapy for Health
Glenwood Springs has various hot springs famous for their entertainment and calming nature, where you can shrug off the tiredness of the slopes.
The best hot springs here are:
4.1 Iron Mountain Hot Springs
Iron Mountain hot springs are an hour from neighboring Vail and Aspen ski resorts.
There are 16 naturally shaped hot springs. The big pools made for families are maintained at 94 degrees, while the small pools’ temperature is 98 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit.
They do not allow children below five years in the small pool.
Iron Mountains Hot Springs has 14 healing minerals, which are said to be the hot springs’ assets. These minerals help visitors forget about ski bumps and icy tumbles featured on the way on the slopes.
4.2 Glenwood Hot Springs Resort
This resort is miraculous and a legacy of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The resort is home to a lodge, athletic club, grill, and shopping.
You can find the resort amidst the Aspen and Vail. It has the world’s largest Hot Spring Pool and is named Yampah by Ute Indians.
Yampah means big medicine, and the reason behind the name is due to its therapeutic qualities.
This pool helps to calm your muscles after outdoor activities. The big pool temperature is within the range of 90 to 93 degrees F, and in the smaller pool, it is at 104 degrees F.
When you calm down in these pools, it increases your body temperature, eliminating toxins. A natural boost is acquired as the body absorbs essential minerals.
Sopris Splash Zone in Glenwood Hot Spring Resort has recently built Hanging Lake Waterfall and other rides made for entertainment.
5. Roaring Fork River and Fishing: Family-Friendly Fun
Roaring Fork River is best known for its fishing. Locals advise that if you truly want to experience the Roaring Fork River’s beauty, you must try shore fishing or floating downstream.
The local people believe that any day spent fishing the Roaring Fork River is good. Part of the Roaring Fork River is known as Gold Medal Water.
6. Glenwood Vaudeville Revue: Full Entertainment Zone
It is a dinner theatre in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. According to Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, they define themselves as a two-hour family-fun entertainment zone.
This place is abode to various entertaining shows like stand-up comedy, concerts, theatre, and many more.
The show here makes you calm and laugh your guts out, and the worries loosen their grip on your mind. A notable thing about this place is that it is best for any generation, whether young or old.
The two hours of this fun interval from the outside world have comedy shows, songs, and food from many Glenwood Springs restaurants.
7. Whitewater Rafting: An Ode of Joy
Whitewater rafting offers a spectacular view of a high country outside the Glenwood Springs immediate area.
This rafting takes you to the world of great water rippling experience, and you witness beautiful whitewater waves. You can go rafting many rivers, like the Arkansas River, Colorado River, Clear Creek, Dolores River, and others.
You will get to rent out safety equipment and other things available with adventure packages given by rafting organizing companies.
Closing Thoughts
Our office days are quite hectic, and the daily rush of life makes us all tired, not only physically but also mentally.
There are a few options, like spending the weekend in a movie hall or dining in a restaurant, but if you need a long vacation, Glenwood Springs is an amazing option.
The souvenirs and memories in the form of photographs and videos you carry from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, for your friends and family will make them all crave the kind of vacation you had.
If a vacation is approaching, grab this, book your ticket, and explore this beautiful adventure of Glenwood Springs Colorado.
Last Updated on by Pragya Chakrapani
