Visiting Pinkerton Hot Springs – Durango, Colorado

Named after an early settler to the area, Pinkerton Hot Springs is a quick stop on the Million Dollar Highway just north of Durango, Colorado. The colorful and eye-catching “cone” formation makes for an interesting photo op on a Colorado road trip.

Pinkerton Hot Springs Location

Pinkerton Hot Springs is located roughly 20 minutes north of Durango, Colorado on US Highway 550. You’ll want to put it in your GPS and keep an eye out for a large, colorful cone-looking formation along the side of the road. There is a small pullout here for parking. If you’re not careful, you may drive right by it – we did!

Pinkerton Hot Springs is located on the northbound side of the road, so if you’re traveling in that direction, you’ll have the easiest access to the parking lot.

History of the Pinkerton Hot Springs

Today, Pinkerton Hot Springs just looks like a quick roadside attraction stop, with a small pull-out along the Million Dollar Highway, but back in the day, there was actually a resort here.

James Pinkerton discovered this hot spring in the 1800s and wanted to develop this gem into a travel destination. He built a resort here in 1875, with bath houses and swimming pools using the hot spring mineral waters. It was quite popular for its time, as many people believed the hot spring waters had magical healing powers. Unfortunately, the resort burned down and today, a school sits on the resort’s grounds. All that’s left today is the hot spring and a plaque explaining its interesting history.

Additionally, at one point, the spring’s thermal waters on the west side of the highway would end up spilling over the road, causing lots of surface problems, so the Colorado Department of Transportation built a drainage system in 2001 to divert the water to the east side highway. They piled large rocks in a ‘cairn’ formation (this is the colorful rock formation you see today), and today, the pipe spills the water down the rocks. So essentially, this was man-made, however, over the years, mineral deposits have formed around the original rock stack, making the structure larger than it was originally. The water turned the rocks into the colorful formation you see today.

Visiting Pinkerton Hot Springs

This small roadside hot springs won’t take you long to view – maybe 10 minutes? You’ll find a information plaque explaining the area’s history right by the small parking lot. You can walk around the formation and stick your feet in the water (it’s lukewarm, not boiling hot, so it’s safe), but the entire area around the formation is slippery and muddy, so you’ll want to be careful. There is signage here reminding you not to climb up the hot springs.

Can you soak in Pinkerton Hot Springs?

Actually, yes! And no, I don’t mean in this nasty ol’ bathtub:

If you keep walking just south of the spring, you’ll find a few small pools with clean water for soaking. Look at the photo below for the people sitting on camp chairs on the far left – that’s where a soaking spring is.

Personally, I wouldn’t soak here as there are people coming and going constantly. They’re taking photos, kids are running around, etc. – in other words, it’s definitely not the most relaxing spot for a soak, so I would pass. But you can do it if you desire.

Pinkerton Hot Springs – Final Thoughts

Pros:

• Quick stop along the Million Dollar Highway
• Interesting history about the place
• There is a spot for soaking here if you want to

Cons

• This is essentially man-made. It may look natural – and with all the mineral deposits over the years, parts of it are natural (it reminds me of the hot spring terrace formations in Yellowstone National Park), but at its core, it’s not.
• Not a relaxing spot for soaking – lots of tourists coming and going!