Wellness tourism is a growing trend that invites you to disconnect from the daily rhythm and reconnect with what’s most essential: a healthy body and mind, longevity, and anti-aging. This type of tourism allows you to journey towards physical and emotional balance through experiences designed to promote calm and healing.

I am on an eternal search for wellness. And in some ways, it feels like I’m running on a treadmill with a carrot hanging in front of me. But wellness means different things to different people at different stages of their lives. For some, it’s about increasing their chances of longevity. For others, they need sleep restoration in order to go about their day with ease and clarity. For others, it might be fitting into a certain size or reaching a certain goal weight. 

Everyone seems to be talking about wellness travel. In fact, the theme of the October 2024 issue of Travel + Leisure magazine is Wellness. “Isn’t wellness a bit of a funny word?” asks Editor Jacqui Giff. “Good health means different things to different people. Feeling great is mission critical.”

Stress is an underlying cause behind many diseases in our country. In Italy, health insurance will pay for up to 12 days at a mineral spring spa. Many people feel pain affected by nutritional states in the body, which can also be combated with the cycle of hot and cold mineral spring soaking.

The Springs Resort Awaits for Wellness 

When you walk up to The Springs Resort, you will pass the Mother Spring, which is the world’s deepest mineral hot spring, over 1,000 feet deep, which is more than three Statues of Liberty. This visual feature, a reminder to guests of the wellness to come, remains at least 130° temperature. It’s also a visual reminder that The Springs is a place of recovery and relaxation and these hot mineral springs have provided that for centuries. 

At The Springs Resort, even the sidewalks are heated with this geothermal hot spring. Every day at 4 p.m., guests are invited to gather at the Mother Spring for a gratitude ceremony, which only enhances the opportunity of this wellness sabbatical.

This is one place that you can participate in the bathing culture revival, enhancing your well-being through a social resort experience.

The Springs owner, Texan David Dronet came to The Springs Resort as a kid, later purchasing the resort to continue offering other guests the opportunity to have an experience with the water. The San Juan River creeps slowly by, not wanting to disturb the peace emitting from the resort.

In this high desert climate, with an increased altitude, The Springs Resort is the optimum place to enhance longevity and inspire anti-aging techniques. 

Water for Wellness

The practice of using natural mineral water to promote healing is called balneology, which is the therapeutic use of thermal mineral water through bathing, drinking or steam inhalation. Europeans have long used mineral water soaking as both a preventative and ongoing treatment of chronic diseases. 

“Contrast bathing combines hot and cold water soaking to stimulate the body’s systems and functions,” says Dr. Marcus Coplin, Medical Director at the Springs Resort. “This hydrotherapy features many benefits, such as enhancing your body’s natural detoxification process, increasing your mental resilience, stimulating circulation and vitalizing your skin.”

One such contrast bathing technique is participating in the warrior cold plunge (standing in the 55-degree river for 1-2 minutes) for pain relief, anti-inflammatory, hormone balancing and immune system stimulation.

In the hotter pools, the water from the Mother Spring starts at 130 degrees and is cooled off by slowing it down and has natural features from many minerals. Among the 25 pools, the water is rotated every 2 hours in the flagstone encased pools, where guests have 24-hour access.

Leveling Up Longevity

A visit to The Springs Resort would not be complete without treating yourself to a spa treatment. Why not try out something you’ve never experienced before such as a magnesium muscle melt, 60 minutes of body brushing, followed by a light massage of magnesium lotion into your skin (most of us are magnesium deficient), and ending with a light massage of shea butter.

Included with your stay at The Springs are daily wellness activities that you likely won’t find anywhere else. Guests are welcome to sign up for a forest bathing hike, aqua sound bathing, aqua yoga, and even a hot air balloon ride.

In your room, you will find your very own complimentary sleep tray, including a deep sleep guide, cell phone sleeping bag to check in that addictive iPhone, lavender lotion stick, earplugs, and other tools for a restful night sleep.

Try the mineral clay, which is essentially a mud mask, down by the river. Paste it on your skin and let it bake onto your body for 10 minutes in the sun and then you’ll rinse it off in the warm spring. This is great for many things, including joint pain.

Bigger and Better

The Springs expansion is due to open in the spring of 2025, which includes 13 different types of rooms, and an additional 25 soaking pools, a fresh new spa and a farm to table restaurant. The 79 current rooms will still exist along with 78 new rooms that include six suites with a full kitchen.

The pool area will include: Contrast Falls, where they will use half river water and half geothermal water; The Hideaway (or Grotto) that includes fiber optic lights in the ceiling looking like stars; a reflexology walk; and an adults-only area encompassing 12 pools. An important artistic feature in the expansion is that guests will hear water everywhere.

Pagosa’s Palette: Dining Around Town

• The café on property opens at 7 a.m. for coffee and offers guests the choice of either a nutritious breakfast, like the Paleo Bowl, or something sweet like a crêpe.
• Lunch or dinner on property is at Barefoot Grill. Try the chicken gyro with a side of sweet potato fries. 
• Meander is a delicious farm to table restaurant in town with fascinating appetizers; however, since they change their menu daily (based on what’s in season), you’ll have to choose your own adventure!
• Riff Raff Brewing sits on the water and even features a Homesick Texan Steak Sandwich (brisket). This Texan recommends pairing that with their Skallywag English Style Pale Ale. 
• Alley House Grille, owned by former Texans, is a delightful restaurant featuring delicious appetizers and entrées with a fabulous wine list.
• Kip’s Grill is a local favorite featuring Mexican tacos and bowls. I love their slogan: Pleasin’ the People!

Travel Tips

• Don’t forget your pool towel when you go down to soak. You can grab one from the bathhouse if it is open.
• If you enjoy aqua yoga, take that home and try yoga in a hot tub. If you enjoyed the cold plunge, start a habit of a daily tonic with a cold shower.
• No need to pack any formal clothing; actually not many clothes are needed. Most people spend the day in a swimsuit and a robe. Just bring some casual and comfortable attire. Even dinner in town is very casual.
• Embrace what they call Robe Culture. All the cool kids are doing it!
• Forest bathing is all about utilizing your five senses on a hike, essentially a slow methodical hike in silence. You listen to shoes crunching, the birds singing, smell the tree bark, and see the bushy tailed squirrels scampering by.

Hear more about Pagosa Springs in our recent San Antonio Living and Daytime TV segments! 

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Cover photo courtesy The Springs Resort

Marika Flatt, Outstanding Austin Communicator 2021, is the Travel Editor of Texas Lifestyle Magazine. She began her travel writing career in 2002, and can be seen as a contributor on TV shows across Texas, such as Great Day Houston, San Antonio Living, Spectrum News, Good Morning Texas, KVUE, Daytime (FOX), and Studio 512! Follow Marika’s travels here.