Escape to Glenwood Springs, Colorado

My husband and I have been escaping to Glenwood Springs, Colorado for many, many years. In the past, we’ve taken Amtrak from Denver’s Union Station to Glenwood Springs, and I highly recommend this mode of travel to the area.

Several weekends ago, we’d been invited to Glenwood Springs to experience the 125^th Anniversary of Glenwood Hot Springs Pool and the 10^th Anniversary party of Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. Interestingly, it was also our 11^th wedding anniversary, so there was a lot to celebrate.

We arrived in Glenwood on Friday afternoon, and I was reminded how close this town is by car versus train – just 2 hours and 40 minutes from Denver. We checked into the Hotel Denver, and promptly headed out to explore the town.

Shop Glenwood

Exploring for us means finding the local bookstores. We browsed the Book Train, a lovely store with the biggest magazine selection I’ve seen anywhere. I bought a Travel & Leisure and we moseyed over to the Book Grove.

Book Grove is the nicest and cleanest used bookstore I have ever encountered, and I’ve been in a lot of used bookstores. The owner was friendly and knowledgeable and she and my husband, Ryan, who collects rare books, were soon conversing about the trade.

If you stay at the Denver Hotel, the Glenwood Canyon Brewery is located next door. We ate dinner there and tried the Big Medicine Ale, a beer specially made to commemorate the 125^th Anniversary of the hot springs. The best thing about this tasty beer is that it’s made from all Colorado ingredients, so it’s definitely Mayor approved.

Mayor’s Note: I called the brew pub on June 4th, and Big Medicine Ale is still available on tap and in growlers.

Soak in Glenwood

On day two we hung out all day at the hot spring pool and enjoyed the anniversary celebrations, including a swimsuit fashion show and beach ball drop. We secured our chairs early and lounged all day. In typical Colorado weather fashion, we experienced everything from sun beating down on our heads to hail coming down in bucket loads.

You can bring a picnic into the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool, but if you decide to eat there, the hamburgers cooked on the poolside grill are yummy and not overpriced.

Mayor’s Note: Hotel Denver provides totes with big fluffy towels and water bottles for guests to take with them to the hot springs.

That evening we celebrated our anniversary at Juicy Lucy’s Steakhouse. Everyone in town had endorsed this place, and the food didn’t disappoint. However, sitting at a table in the busy bar area isn’t the ideal atmosphere for a romantic steak dinner. I recommend requesting a table in the main restaurant for better ambiance.

Adventure in Glenwood

On day two, we ate at Daily Bread, our go-to breakfast place in Glenwood. They have long waits on the weekends, so get there early to secure a table or wait – it will be worth it.

After breakfast we caught the tram to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. We’ve rented bikes in Glenwood and done some hiking in the area, but this was our first visit to the Glenwood Caverns, and we had no idea what to expect.

The park is a little gem atop Iron Mountain. It is 10-years-old this summer, but still feels brand new. A family could easily spend the day here, riding the amusement park rides, seeing a 4D movie, playing laser tag, and much more.

We had the morning to explore the park and do the cave tours. You do not need a day park pass to visit the caves. You can purchase cave tour tickets, if your goal is to visit the caves only. I would recommend taking both cave tours to experience the differences.

Here’s a link to my full-length article about the caving experience as it appears in the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor’s Off the Beaten Path section.

Glenwood Springs is a special place. It can be a great romantic escape or the perfect family escape. You can even escape with Fido in tow if you stay at Hotel Denver because they are dog-friendly.

For more information visiting Glenwood Springs go to VisitGlenwood.com. To see more photos of this trip go to HeidiTown’s Facebook page.

This trip was sponsored in part by Visit Glenwood Springs.