Historic Hot Spring

The park's oldest tourist attraction. You are still able to soak in the hot spring by following a 1 mile hiking loop.

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Historic Hot Spring Details

The Historic Hot Springs area is most famous for its early 20th century history, however, the rock art left behind on the limestone cliffs reminds us of how ancient this place is. "Historic" Hot Spring is also a remnant of the earliest tourism in the park. J.O. Langford was a sickly man who wanted to move west with his family, so when he heard about the hot spring and its seemingly magical powers of healing, he knew he had to own it. He filed for the land under the Homestead Act, and two weeks later, the land was his. Langford made a full recovery after completing a full 21-day regimen of soaking and drinking the hot spring's water. Once recovered, he opened the spring to the public for either 10 cents per day, or $2 for the full 21-day treatment. The spring became the park's first tourist attraction and even though the bathhouse no longer stands, you can still soak in the 105 degree water that comes up through the foundation of the old bathhouse. The hot spring is not accessible by car, but you can get to it by way of the road from Panther Junction to Rio Grande Village and then a short 1 mile round trip hike. Check out the [rules](https://www.nps.gov/bibe/planyourvisit/soakinthesprings.htm) for the hot spring before heading over for a soak.

Difficulty

Low

Distance

1 mile

Estimated time

N/A

Region

N/A