Hot Sulphur Springs, CO

Hot Sulphur Springs is the Grand County seat, tucked along the Colorado River near Byers Canyon at 7,680 feet. The town grew around geothermal springs that Native peoples used as a winter camp and healing place. William Newton Byers documented the springs in 1840 and founded the town after taking ownership in 1864. The 2020 census counted 687 residents. U.S. Route 40 runs through town as Byers Avenue, connecting Hot Sulphur Springs with Granby and Kremmling. The town's elevation gives the springs a mountain setting.

ATTRLoco Steve / CC BY 3.0

The Pioneer Village Museum occupies the former 1924 Hot Sulphur School and gathers buildings from Grand County's early years: a courthouse, jail, blacksmith shop, ranch house, one-room school, railroad snowplow, and Winter Park Ski Train caboose. The Colorado River slips past the edge of town, while the springs and Pioneer Park keep the original reason for the settlement visible. Hot Sulphur Springs is a mountain county seat with an unusually direct link between thermal water, rail history, and winter recreation.