Average Pool Temperatures
Temperatures may vary due to weather, natural conditions and other factors. Pools may occasionally close for maintenance or temperature control processes.
Overlook Pool | 102° – 106°
Hot Pool | 95° – 103°
Lap Pool | 75° – 82°
Shallow Pool | 82° – 92° (Open Memorial Day thru Labor Day each year)
Activity Pool | 32° – 80° (Open 12-6pm Memorial Day thru Labor Day each year)
*Daily temperatures and closure notices are posted on Facebook and Instagram*
Splash and play in Ouray’s sulfer-free hot springs pool.
After an exhilarating adventure on foot, or climbing up a wall of ice, or a pleasant day of shopping Ouray’s unique businesses, soaking in the hot springs and viewing the snow-covered canyon walls from the water in winter is truly a restorative experience.
No matter how old or young, the Ouray Hot Springs Pool is family-friendly. In the summer, there is a volleyball net for the competitive family reunions or a battle against friends, a rock wall for those climbers that can never get enough, water slides (open 12-6) for the adrenaline junkies, a rolling fun key log, and of course, an adult-only soaking section for those who seek relaxation and serenity.
Our famous sulfur-free hot springs are the perfect part of your Ouray getaway.
Phone: 970-325-7073
Hours
Member Hours 10 am - 11 am
*Must have a VALID 3 or 12-month membership to enter during Members Only times
Open to the Public 11 am - 10 pm
Pricing
Children under 3 | Free
Youth 3-17 | $18
Adults 18-61 | $30
Senior 62-74 | $24
Senior 75+ | $10
Unlimited Slides | $5/day (12-6pm Memorial Day thru Labor Day only)
Swim Lessons
American Red Cross Group Swim Lessons are offered by certified instructors every summer at the Ouray Hot Springs Pool. Register in the appropriate age group and experience level here. If you’re not sure where your child falls in the skill levels, select the lowest level for their age group and instructors will evaluate their skills during the first session and move them to a different class if appropriate. Classes take place for two consecutive weeks Monday thru Thursday at the time specified on the registration form. We look forward to helping your kids Learn To Swim!
*Class times and levels are subject to change based on number of participants registered, instructor availability, and actual skills of participants.
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July 14-24 9:00 am Monday thru Thursday
Baby Otters Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Baby Otters swim classes are for children ages 6 months to 3 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching small children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. In Parent and Child classes you can expect fun activities that teach children to:
Enter and exit the water safely
Feel comfortable in the water
Submerge and explore breath control
Explore floating on the back and front
Change body position in the water
Play safely in the water
Experience wearing a lifejacket
Parents will learn how to hold and support your child in the water to promote comfortability and learning, how to select and fit a life jacket for your child, and valuable water safety information.
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
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July 14-24 9:00 am Monday thru Thursday
Tadpoles 9 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
July 14-24 9:45 am Monday thru Thursday
Tadpoles 9:45 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Tadpoles swim classes are recommended for children ages 3 to 5 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. Children will learn foundational skills to use as a building block for future stroke development including:
Float comfortably on their front and back
Use arms and legs in forward movement
Safely enter and exit the water
Submerge and blow bubbles
Push off the wall and glide
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
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July 14-24 9:00 am Monday thru Thursday
Froglets 9 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
July 14-24 9:45 am Monday thru Thursday
Froglets 9:45 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Froglets swim classes are recommended for children ages 3 to 5 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. Children will learn advancement and refinement of foundational skills to use as a building block for future stroke development including:
Float comfortably on their front and back without assistance
Use arms and legs in forward movement with little assistance
Safely enter and exit the water
Submerge and blow bubbles
Push off the wall and glide with no assistance
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
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July 14-24 Monday thru Thursday at 9:00 am
Frogs 9 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
July 14-24 Monday thru Thursday at 9:45 am
Frogs 9:45 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Frogs swim classes are recommended for children ages 3 to 5 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. Children will continue to develop their skill by:
Working on coordinating arms and legs with breathing
Swimming on stomach with little assistance
Safely enter and exit the water
Submerge and retrieve items from bottom of pool with no assistance
Push off the wall and glide rolling over with no assistance
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
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July 14-24 9am Monday thru Thursday
Pollywogs 9 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Pollywogs swim classes are recommended for children ages 5 to 12 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. Children will learn foundational skills to use as a building block for future stroke development including:
Float comfortably on their front and back
Use arms and legs in forward movement
Safely enter and exit the water
Submerge and blow bubbles and retrieve items from bottom of pool
Push off the wall and glide with a one pull
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
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June 16-26 9 am Monday thru Thursday
Turtles 9 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Turtles swim classes are recommended for children ages 6 to 12 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. Children move towards stroke development by performing skills for greater lengths of time and with greater competency. Skills covered include:
Swimming on their front and/or back for at least 5 body lengths.
Start swimming in deeper water
Treading water
Rotary breathing
Breaststroke fundamentals
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
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July 14-24 9am Monday thru Thursday
Goldfish 9 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Goldfish swim classes are recommended for children ages 6 to 12 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. Children begin to refine their strokes while building endurance in the lap pool. Skills covered include:
Refinement of front stroke, backstroke and breaststroke.
Butterfly fundamentals
Open turns
Refine Rotary breathing
Intro to dives and flip turns
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
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July 14-24 9am Monday thru Thursday
Otters 9 am Registration Form - CLICK HERE
Otters swim classes are recommended for children ages 6 to 12 years. Our instructors create lessons with the goal of teaching children basic swimming and water safety skills that are developmentally appropriate. Children focus entirely on refining their strokes, building endurance and fitness swimming. Skills covered include:
Refinement of front stroke, backstroke and breaststroke.
Refine Butterfly fundamentals
Refine Rotary breathing
Refine dives and flip turns
For questions about swim lessons levels, please contact the Aquatics Coordinator at 970-325-7061
Pool and Fitness Center Memberships
Private and Semi Private Swim Lessons
Private swim lessons are one on one lessons with a trained swim instructor for 30 minutes. Four sessions are included and can be scheduled directly with the instructor. Semi-Private swim lessons take place in small groups of 2-3 students with a trained swim instructor for 30 minutes. Four sessions are included and can be scheduled directly with the instructor.
If your having trouble setting up your online account or have questions please send a request for assistance to customerservice@cityofouray.com
Patrons wishing to purchase memberships may apply using the online application link. If you are a current member and would like to renew your membership, please use the “Forgot Password” option before setting up a new account. Check your email after submitting the forgot password form for instructions. If you are a City of Ouray volunteer, a Ouray School Student, a local First Responder, or other member who qualifies for a discounted membership, please contact the pool at 970-325-7073 or visit in person. A manual or paper application may be submitted at the pool on an exception basis and may take up to one week to process.
*Super Senior memberships are available in the 12 Month Pool and Fitness Center option only.
No rotten egg smell.
Sulfer-Free = Stink Free!
Ouray County’s hot springs are free of the strong sulfur (“rotten egg”) smell that you encounter at many other hot springs. This has to do with our water’s mineral content and our local geology. Ouray is located along a large geological lift at the head of the Uncompahgre Valley and the pressure and heat from this activity resulted in a series of clean and odorless hot springs. The same geologic forces that made the town rich in minerals and ore also produced some of the largest and most pleasant hot springs in the United States. For more information on the history of the Ouray Hot Springs Pool and other hot springs history in the Uncompahgre River Valley, be sure to visit the Ouray County Historical Society & Museum.
Where does our water come from?.
The main source of the pools water comes from the Box Canyon where 100 GPM of 150 degree mineral water is gravity fed over a mile to the current day location of the pool. This line was the sole source for hot water at the pool from the 1920’s until the 1980’s when supplemental mineral water from exploratory drilling was discovered and added to the pool water supply. This supplemental water, from a well referred to as OX-2, provided an additional 190 GPM of 117 degree water making winter operation possible for the first time.
Today, 250-300 GPM of hot mineral water is continuously entering and exiting the pool in what we refer to as a flow through design. This flow through design allows us to provide fresh, clear, odorless mineral water 24 hours a day seven days a week for your enjoyment!.
A History of Hot Water
Soaking in Ouray is a Centuries-Old Tradition
Photo courtesy of the Ouray County Historical Society
The Ouray old Hot Springs Pool
Photo courtesy of the Ouray County Historical Society
Ouray’s many hot springs have been a natural draw for the bone-weary for centuries. The town’s hot springs have bubbled up along the Uncompahgre River and from underground fissures for thousands of years and range in temperature from 80 to 150 degrees. Ouray is located along a large geological lift at the head of the Uncompahgre Valley and the pressure and heat from this activity resulted in a series of clean and odorless hot springs. The same geologic forces that made the town rich in minerals and ore also produced some of the largest and most pleasant hot springs in the United States.
The Ute Indians who settled the Uncompahgre Valley considered the mineral springs sacred and healing, and other tribes traveled for days to visit the springs. In the 1870’s, prospectors and miners moved into the San Juan Mountains and founded the City of Ouray in 1876. In 1881, after a series of failed treaties, the federal government removed the Ute tribe to a reservation in eastern Utah. With that move, the Utes lost their native lands, including the ceremonial hot springs that they called “Miracle Waters.”
Ouray’s first indoor swimming pool and bath house was located on the west side of town near today’s Wiesbaden Hot Springs Spa and Lodgings. W.J. Buchanan, called Buck by the townspeople because he always wore buckskin pants, purchased his land from the city in 1877 for $12.70. His wife, “Mother Buchanan,” offered miners a hot bath to wash away the soreness of weeks of hard physical labor. The cost of the bath depended on the length of the soak. Ladies held “plunge parties” in her outdoor pool, which measured about 20 by 30 feet in size.
In 1920, several of Ouray’s local leaders banded together with the intention of erecting a large, outdoor pool. Citizens bought memberships, and businesses contributed funds and materials to the venture. After six years of planning and delays, the pool opened on July 4, 1927. One of the largest crowds in Ouray’s history attended the opening.
After 88 years of operation and countless visitors, the pool facility was beginning to show its age. In the autumn of 2012, the City of Ouray organized a citizen’s committee that was tasked with reviewing, prioritizing and recommending essential improvements to the Ouray Hot Springs Pool and Fitness Center Facility. In August of 2015, the Ouray City Council adopted and approved the final master plan design for the Ouray Hot Springs Pool. The demolition and renovation of the pool facility began in October 2016 and was completed in 2017. This new pool facility will continue to create lasting memories for future generations to come.
Between the Utes Indian's discovery of these restorative hot springs to Ouray's development from a rough and tumble mining camp, our town is packed with heritage that intertwines with our current favorite activities and attractions.
Private Groups
RECEIVE A 25% DISCOUNT ON DAILY ADMISSION PRICES FOR GROUPS OF 20 OR MORE. MUST PROVIDE TWO-WEEK NOTIFICATION; ONE GROUP PAYMENT; ORGANIZER IN FOR FREE; VALID YEAR-ROUND.
DISCOUNTS
Ice Park Membership
PRESENT A CURRENT OURAY ICE PARK MEMBERSHIP CARD AND RECEIVE 20% OFF ON DAILY ADMISSION PRICES WHILE THE ICE PARK IS OPEN! VALID FOR THE HOT SPRINGS POOL OR FITNESS CENTER.
School Groups
RECEIVE A 25% DISCOUNT ON DAILY ADMISSION PRICES FOR ANY SIZE GROUP. MUST PROVIDE TWO-WEEK NOTIFICATION; ONE GROUP PAYMENT; ORGANIZER IN FOR FREE; VALID YEAR-ROUND.
Military Discount
20% DISCOUNT ON DAILY ADMISSIONS (NO PASSES) FOR QUALIFYING ACTIVE MILITARY, RETIRED MILITARY, VETERANS, AND DEPENDENTS. MUST SHOW A VALID ID.
POOL CLOSURE POLICY
THIS POLICY COVERS UNFORESEEN POOL CLOSURES SUCH AS LIGHTNING, EMERGENCIES, FECAL INCIDENTS, AND SEVERE WEATHER:
• Hold on to your receipt!
• NO REFUNDS will be given for pool closures
• If you have been at the facility for more than two hours, ask the cashier for a stamp and return to the pool that same day
• If you have been at the facility for less than two hours, show the cashier your receipt and ask for a “pool closure pass”. This pass does not expire and can be redeemed at any time the pool is open. We do not reimburse for lost/stolen passes.