Pagosa Springs, Colorado
In Southwestern Colorado
Trip Day Twenty-nine: Monday, July 10, 2000
The Hot Springs In Pools
Some sources claim that Pagosah is the name given to the springs by the early Native Americans, translated as boiling water, pah (water) and gosa (boiling). Another source gives the etymology as the Ute work meaning healing waters. Both are equally appropriate.
Below: A foot bridge crosses the river to give motel guests access to the main street which is also US - 160.
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Nancy Giordano
Coming from Monte Vista, some distance west of Wolf Creek Pass, Nancy has lived in Pagosa Springs since the 1950s. She says the town has grown a lot since those days.
The Pagosa Hot Springs has long been used by people in this region. See the next page for some of the history of the springs. We know that the Utes, native to this area used the springs back in the 1800s. The spring is now privately owned, and its waters are piped to the pools along the San Juan River bank.
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A Pair of Bee Hives
These mounds of minerals were precipitated by streams piped from the hot spring. On the left, the mound is in the parking lot in downtown Pagosa Springs across the river from the springs. The one on the right is in the pool complex near the motels.
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