From the rollercoasters, canyon swings, and caverns of the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, to the steaming hot springs of Iron Mountain Hot Springs, a day of R&R awaits. Recreation on top of the mountain, and coming down for a rest. Here we go!
OUR DAY AT A GLANCE:
Jump to a section!
- To the Caves & Coasters
- Thrills at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
- Relaxing at Iron Mountain Hot Springs
- Road to the Rockies – Estes Park
- Recommendations and Takeaways
To the Caves & Coasters
An exciting morning it was, after snow and peaks, it was time to chill on rollercoasters and in hot springs. I slept pretty well that night, waking to a bright morning I was ready for a day of fun. Pack up our bags and then load up the car, I was used to the drill. The drive to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park took a little while, as our hotel was around 40 minutes away. Since we started this trip, I have been used to looking out the window to see the beautiful sights of various landforms.
As we arrived, my sister and I were super excited to see the Glenwood Cavern sign and gondolas going up Iron Mountain. The free parking/visitor parking was behind the main entrance, close to Iron Mountain Hot Springs, which reminds me! For our R&R day today, we got a double package: A TRIP TO BOTH GLENWOOD CAVERNS ADVENTURE PARK AND THE IRON MOUNTAIN HOT SPRINGS!
Here’s the rundown of our plan for the day: spend time at Glenwood Caverns until around 2:30, and then head down to Iron Mountain Hot Springs for our 3-hour soak in the 19 various hot spring pools they had, as well as swimming in the family swimming pool! Afterward, hit the roads again for a 4-hour drive to Estes Park, CO, for our trip to the Rockies.
After parking, there was a short walk from the parking lot to a sidewalk, we strolled over a bridge leading us to the small steps into the park. Walking into the park, we were greeted into the building, where there were two stations to book or claim your park tickets. Since we booked online, we just had to show a printout of our receipt, and after verifying the barcodes, the clerk presented us with wristbands! From there on, it was hopping on to a free gondola ride up the mountain to the only park in America built on a mountainside. Hearing a lot about this place, we were really excited about our mountain thrill experience.
Thrills at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Multiple gondolas ran counter-clockwise up to and down from Iron Mountain. As they came to the loading area, they still moved, so it was a little funky to step into, but once off, it was just a fun experience along with a beautiful view of hills and mountains. 5 minutes later, we were greeted to enter the adventure park. And what an experience that was. Entering a colorful plaza, bustling with families having fun, heading to adventure after adventure. We had park maps on where to go and what to do, and here’s what we did (events are sequenced in columns. First to last, and then moving to the next column):
Wild West Express
After wanting to ride the zipline but seeing a huge line, it was time for a little warm-up ride while my mom saved our spots. Really intended for really young kids along with their parents. First cart: chill time. 3, 2, 1 GO! Five laps of a quick and easy ride knocked out.
Halvor Flowstone
A huge statue of the protector of the caves, meet Halvor! See his story here: Halvor Flowstone
Glenwood Canyon Flyer
Up Iron Mountain Trail on a mountain ledge lies the Canyon Flyer. Taking you on a soaring flight while sitting down, you can feel the air in your face and the wind around you, along with amazing views!
Zip Ride
Returning to my mom as it was our turn, it was 2 per ride. After my mom and sister, my dad & I were reeled back along a large line, racing down above trees and mountains. Woo hoo!
Mine Wheel
As my dad held our spot in the endless Alpine Coaster line, we took off on a slow, relaxing ride up the mine wheel (ferris wheel) for stunning views of the top!
Glenwood Canyon Flyer (Again?)
One more time! This time with our mom, we ran up the trail to fly with our hands out and smiles across our faces. The turqoise view of the Colorado River, winding roads, and huge red, tree-filled rocks upon the beautiful glow of the sun.
Alpine Coaster
The proud park presents: USA Today and Park World Magazine named the Alpine Coaster one of the 10 Best Roller Coaster Rides of Your Life. Winding through track at the speed you control, this roller coaster takes you through the Alpine Forest, giving you thrills and views!
Cliffhanger Roller Coaster
I don’t know what was up with my adrenaline, but another roller coaster, action packed this time! My sister and I got into the amazingly fun ride with short stops, twists and turns. Ended already? Once more! This time with our parents!
4D Theater
A place to chill out & watch a variety short films with extra 4D features! We watched 4 films. WOW!
Speleobox
A huge wood box. That’s it. Except with a huge maze to navigate inside and come out from the exit. What a course! I almost got stuck… DO NOT GO INSIDE IF YOU ARE OVER 5’6″.
Historic Fairy Caves
A 40 min tour that leads you on a quarter-mile-long underground stroll through narrow, winding passages, to natural water features and includes a stop at Exclamation Point—a viewing balcony with magnificent panoramas. Click here for more!
Kings Row Cave
Enter via an airlock tunnel and emerge into an enormous cave room so big it is named The Barn. A little 120 stair climbing workout taking you to the most beautiful cave you have ever seen.
Into the gondola! 
THE PLAZA 
The Colorful Plaza 
Where should we go? Halvor Flowstone! 
Who’s ready to zipride! 
The Forbidden Speleo Box 
Arson? 
View from the Mountain 
Into the caves we go… 
A Preserved Bat that used to live in the caves… 
Cave TOUR! 
Cave Light Display 
Kings Row Cave 
Stalagmites and Stalactites 
Family Picture! 
THE CAVE CHEETO (yes, that is what it’s called) 
Down the mountain, Goodbye Glenwood! 
Down Iron Mountain – Views from the Gondola 
Glenwood Springs, CO
Oh no! We were an hour late for our soak! Heading back down the gondola, I was content, and the last look over the beautiful mountain landscape added on top of it, leaving me with a sense of completion in our trip to Glenwood Caverns and a treasure trove of memories. Now, onto that soak!
Relaxing at Iron Mountain Hot Springs
Walking back on the path we came from, it was time to go to the other side of the parking lot for whatever was left (2 hours) of our 3-hour soak. Once we found a parking, it was a walk to the inside. The staff at the front desk welcomed us in and guided us on what pools we could go to. We got specially color-coded badges for our 3-hour time period. For example, we had the green badge, and when time was up, the front desk would announce green badges to come out of the pools and head to the lockers.
Speaking of lockers, the hot springs had a nice inside, along with high-tech lockers. Your wristband would have a chip that you’d scan on a sensor in a locker to unlock it, and then scan again to lock it. The microchip inside surprisingly worked! Nobody else could unlock a locker that wasn’t scanned with their chip. Pretty cool, huh?
Once we were in our swimsuits, we walked out of the bathhouse into the plaza. A cabin called the Summit Station handed out towels, and each guest was given 2 complimentary towels. We were in the under 21 / family / main section. A gate across took you to a private section for 21+ couples called WORLDsprings, which was a whole separate pass. 19 pools in total awaited us, but my sister decided that she would take all of us to jump into the family swimming pool.
After fun wading and splashing around, my parents & I decided to check out the main attractions: the hot spring pools! My sister wanted to stay at the pool, so my mom left her there to splash around.
By the way, each pool is named after a type of stone or mineral, but that mineral is not necessarily found in the pools. Iron Mountain Hot Springs water contains 14 dissolved minerals: iron, calcium, chloride, sodium, sulfate, boron, magnesium, manganese, lithium, fluoride, phosphate, and potassium, with the first five minerals listed being the most abundant. The pool temperatures range from 98 to 105 degrees, allowing you to explore a variety of temperatures and find your favorite hot spring pool. (ALL DEGREES ARE IN FAHRENHEIT)
We went to 11 of the 19 pools and also went to the Sopris Cafe, here are reviews about each place at what we did there!
Lapis
A 99 degree pool with massaging pebbles on the bottom. A pretty fun soak!
Jade
A 102 degree pool shaped like an 8 allows you to spread out, with beautiful varieties of blooming flowers and large ferns all around to add elegance to your soak under the shaded pergola.
Amber
A 102 degree pool under a large pergola, surrounded by vibrant green ferns, giving you a secluded soak experience in a decorated area.
Topaz
A 104 degree pool on the side of the Colorado River, offering beautiful views along with the warm soak.
Emerald
A 102 degree pool with turquoise water near the Colorado River. Decorated with flowers around, a beautiful soaking experience in a large hot springs.
Sapphire
A 99 degree pool that is quite larger than most of the others. Chill out here under the pergola with flower baskets hanging down over your head. The decorations aronud are pretty.
Garnet
A 105 degree pool along the river with a waterfall ledge to relax and admire the majestic views of the Colorado River.
Quartz
A 104 degree pool decorated with stone and flowers around. The clock behind will help you keep time! Relax and enjoy your hot springs experience.
Jasper
A 98 degree pool under a pergola for a warm hot springs pool with shade to have a perfect soak, along with close views of the Colorado River.
Jetted Spa
Above the family pool, parents can relax with a jetted spa massage, overlooking their children in the Family Pool.
Family Pool
A fun zone for everyone. Cold water with various depths and massaging water fountains for any age group to enjoy swimming in.
Sopris Cafe
By the family pool, offering drinks, food specials, snacks, and smoothies, the Sopris Cafe had something for everyone to eat and enjoy. We got the BIG Pretzel with Queso.
Thinking that our time was up, we waited for the call out of the pool, still splashing around. It had been more than an hour and a half of waiting for the call. Surprisingly, they never called Green Wristbands, so I guess we didn’t stay overtime! We had tons of fun playing around in the family pool and soaking in the hot spring pools. A really enjoyable time in the elegantly decorated area to beautify and add on to your experience.
We stopped at the Rejuvenation Station- basically a cold shower- before heading in to take a shower and change. It really wakes you up as the icy water showers you! The showers inside are equipped with anything you might need and have nice shampoos and other hair products. Once we were ready, it was time for dinner. We got a pretzel at the Sopris Cafe and ate dinner we packed for the day too. After dinner, it was time for a 4-hour long drive to the most awaited destination on our trip, THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
Road to the Rockies – Estes Park
Stopping for gas, and then setting out for our long journey up to northern Colorado, we certainly got a feel of the Rocky Mountains approaching as large mountains and mesas were a common sight along the way. We encountered another tunnel and more and more sights of mountains.
Arriving at the Rocky Mountain Hotel and Conference Center around 11 PM, we checked in. The clerk gave us options for our room, and we asked for the best views. Receiving a front-facing room that looked over Lake Estes with a balcony, I was really happy with our room. We’d be staying here for 2 nights and we’d be exploring the Rocky Mountain National Park. I had a lot of plans on where to hike, but I needed to sleep for that first. Wanting to go to Bear Lake really early for sunrise, I slept fast around midnight, however leaving around 3-4 AM would mean 3 hours of sleep. Oh well, we’ll see what happens. Stay tuned and check out the next day to see what we do at RMNP!
Recommendations and Takeaways
If you want an R&R day filled with fun and relaxation, here are my recommendations for a visit to the city of Glenwood Springs, CO, at attractions such as Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and Iron Mountain Hot Springs.
- To the Caves & Coasters:
- Hotel Stay – We stayed at the Grand Vista Hotel, Parachute, CO. I’d say it’s a nice place to stay if you are okay with spending extra. It offers cable TV, but breakfast is paid, and there is a $10-$14 parking fee that you must pay.
- Eat a filling breakfast before you leave from your home/hotel
- Depart early so that you can reach your destination earlier.
- If you are heading for the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, grab a jacket for the cave tours. It might be chilly down there!
- Enjoy the view!
- Thrills at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park:
- There are a lot of plans you can get for your ticket. We got the Full Funday Double Access, which means we have access to all rides and cave tours in the package (basically everything in the park except for seasonal exclusions), as well as a soak at Iron Mountain Hot Springs. Check out the plans and which one is for you here: TICKETS!
- The park is always busy, so be patient in lines. A strategy we used was that one person would hold spots in a line while the rest explored the park until it was the family’s turn to get into the ride.
- If you are hungry, there are plenty of shops and eateries to find the food you want.
- There are lots of rides for everyone to enjoy, so pick out what you’d like, and know that some rides are really intense
- Make sure to go to the caves. The guides there are insanely hilarious and knowledgable offering fun and fascinating cave tours. Our guides were Luke and Travis (at least that’s what I think their names were).
- A cool feature is that you can leave the park and come back the same day as long as you have your wristbands on.
- Relaxing at Iron Mountain Hot Springs:
- Store all belongings in your lockers, and get towels last, that way you won’t have to carry around a bunch of stuff.
- If you want a 21+ couples experience, get the white WORLDSPRINGS ticket/wristband. If you want to stay in the main zone but want to drink alcohol, get the brown LEGACY ACCESS ticket/wristband. If you just want to stay in the main zone with no add-ons, get the NO ALCOHOL ticket/wristband.
- Spend time at the hot springs, but know that you have 3 hours and can check out many other pools too. Find your favorite and soak it there!
- Hungry? The Sopris Cafe has you covered. With really nice and considerate staff and a hearty menu, you’ll have a lot to choose from. Thirsty? There are hydration stations with cool cone-shaped paper cups along the way!
- Road to Next Location
- Depart early to arrive early and on time. We stayed a little late and therefore arrived late. Make sure to fill up on gas as needed and enjoy the views outside your window!
That was it for our trip to the city of Glenwood Springs for R&R at the adventure park and hot springs pools! I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post and are inspired by our experiences and plan to make a visit to Glenwood Springs, CO in the future!
As always, share your feedback, and comment on this post on what you think about Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and Iron Mountain Springs. Leave a like on this post if you think I did a good job, and subscribe to my blog for more!
The Kartik-Sphere 