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Glenwood Springs, a vibrant home rule municipality serving as Garfield County, Colorado’s county seat, is tucked away at the junction of the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers. With 9,963 people as of the 2020 United States Census, this little but noteworthy city is a hub in the region. Glenwood Springs is a central hub between the Roaring Fork Valley and a collection of smaller towns scattered along the Colorado River; its strategic location helps to explain both its historical and modern significance.
The city’s natural hot springs, which have attracted guests for ages, define it. For those who seek them out, these thermal marvels have been absolutely vital in forming Glenwood Springs’ economy and identity since they provide both leisure and alleged healing qualities. These springs have millennia of history that entwine with the rich cultural legacy of the indigenous people living in the region.
Various Native American tribes called the ground now Glenwood Springs home thousands of years before European arrival. According to the oral histories of the Kapuuta and Mouache bands, the region is within the traditional Nuuchiu tuvupu, or “The People’s Land,” of the Subuagan and Parianuche bands. According to Fred Conetah’s historical records, the Yampa or White River bands also made use of this area—which today falls under the Ute people’s ancestral territory. These nomadic hunter-gatherers included the natural hot springs into their seasonal travels and customs since they understood their worth.
Though it had no official claim to the territory, the mid-19th century brought major changes to the area as the United States government started mapping it. A turning point in the history of the area occurred in 1868 when a treaty negotiated by the Tabeguache Ute Chief Ouray maintained the hunting areas near Glenwood Springs today. The relationship between the indigenous people and the arriving immigrants would be permanently changed by this accord.
Glenwood Springs started to develop as a center of business as the 19th century went on mostly due to its strategic location and the building of a railroad stop. Notable people visited the city along with its expansion; President Theodore Roosevelt decided to spend a summer vacation at the venerable Hotel Colorado. This presidential trip surely enhanced the town’s reputation and appeal.
More notorious figures also resided in the city, including Doc Holliday, the gunslinger most known for participating in the O.K. Corral massacre. Lying in the original Pioneer Cemetery above Bennett Avenue, Holliday spent his last months in Glenwood Springs. Fascinatingly, another Old West outlaw, Kid Curry, rested in the same cemetery, adding to the vibrant historical fabric of the town.
The brushstroke of Glenwood Springs stayed with us into the 20th century when it became the scene of a bold prison escape. On December 30, 1977, the serial killer Ted Bundy escaped from the Garfield County Jail late at night. His escape went unnoticed for an amazing 17 hours, a fact that surely rocked the community and law enforcement both.
Glenwood Springs has long been leading edge technologically in the area, beyond its historical importance. Having the original lighting installed in 1897 within the Fairy Caves in Iron Mountain, it is among the first locations in the United States to have electric lights. This creative energy persisted in the building of a dam in Glenwood Canyon to supply Shoshone power plant water. Beginning on May 16, 1909, the plant still has the largest and oldest water rights to the Colorado River, sometimes referred to as the “Shoshone Call.” Although by modern standards the generated electricity is minimal, these water rights have been quite helpful in safeguarding Colorado River resources.
Glenwood Springs has a geography as striking as its past. Narrow mountain valleys cradle the city, surrounded by steeply contoured landscape with many caverns. This special topography is geologically important as well as aesthetically arresting. Apart from the well-known hot springs, the geothermal activity of the area is clearly seen in structures like the Dotsero maar. Though such ideas remain essentially hypothetical, this geological richness has led to sporadic suggestions to use the geothermal energy for different purposes.
Though beautiful, the location of the city presents certain difficulties. Over its history, Glenwood Springs has seen multiple mudslides—a natural occurrence the town has sought to minimize with different public works projects. Notwithstanding these sporadic hazards, the town has become known as a walker’s paradise. Celebrated by PBS and Walking Magazine, Glenwood Springs has been added to the Walking Town Hall of Fame. Beginning in the 1980s in response to mounting congestion and traffic concerns, this pedestrian-friendly environment is partially the result of deliberate planning efforts and partially a happy accident of geography.
The history of Glenwood Springs is much shaped by water rights and management. Early city development with forward-looking civic planning allows Glenwood Springs to own some senior water rights to Colorado River tributaries. Thanks in part to this foresight, Glenwood Springs has a sufficient water supply for its population unlike many American West communities. Still, the city has developed conservation strategies motivated more by environmental concerns than by shortage.
Glenwood Springs boasts a varied economic scene as much as its physical geography. While mineral deposits exist in the surrounding areas, and petroleum resources are abundant in western Garfield County, the town itself lies outside the Colorado Mineral Belt. Glenwood Springs has been spared the boom-and-bust cycles sometimes linked with resource extraction in Colorado mountain communities thanks to this quirk of geography. Rather, the city gains from the tax money these businesses create without having to deal with direct environmental effects.
This lucky location has helped Glenwood Springs have generally good land conditions, water, and air quality. The city is not quite free from environmental problems, though. Valley inversions and heavy traffic to nearby Aspen can lead to air quality issues during particularly cold winter spells.
Economically, Glenwood Springs has carved out a unique niche for itself. In 2015, Bloomberg Business named it the seventh wealthiest small town in America, a distinction largely attributed to the influence of nearby Aspen. The two communities share a micropolitan statistical area, with many businesses serving the entire valley. This economic ecosystem has fostered a strong entrepreneurial spirit, with many small businesses starting in the area to cater to the local preference for bespoke services and products.
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