Wagon Wheel Gap Hot Springs (4UR Ranch)

What to expect

Wagon Wheel Gap Hot Springs is not a public soak. The springs sit on the 4UR Ranch, a private, all-inclusive guest ranch in the Goose Creek valley near Creede, and you can only use them as part of a week-long ranch stay. If you were hoping to stop for a dip on the drive up the Rio Grande, this is not the place. We list it because it is one of the oldest hot spring resorts in Colorado, and because the springs are still in use.

The ranch covers more than 3,000 acres on the eastern edge of the Creede Caldera, about 8 miles southeast of Creede and about 1.5 miles south of the tiny settlement of Wagon Wheel Gap. Goose Creek, a tributary of the upper Rio Grande, runs through it, and the ranch has about six miles of private fishing water.

The springs today feed what the ranch calls its Little Medicine Spa. It includes a natural hot springs pool indoors, a geothermally heated outdoor pool, a sauna, a fitness room, a massage area, a yoga canopy and an outdoor fire pit. The building was designed to echo the early 1900s resort architecture in its lines and materials. The ranch does not publish water temperatures.

History

The ranch tells the story this way. Ute bands camped by these springs long before settlers arrived, and they called them “the little medicine,” with the much larger springs at Pagosa being “the big medicine.” After treaties in the 1870s moved the Ute away, homesteaders arrived, and a bathhouse was built over the springs by the 1870s. A Denver newspaper described a hotel and covered bathing tanks here in 1882.

General William Jackson Palmer, founder of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, later owned the property and hired architect Thomas MacLaren to turn it into a luxury health resort. It opened with a large bathhouse, three Adirondack-style cabins, a new hotel and a livery stable. The ranch’s own pages date Palmer’s ownership to 1904 on one page and 1906 on another, and outside sources give other dates, so treat the exact year loosely.

As antibiotics spread in the 1940s, fewer people came for the baths. The bathhouse was abandoned and the property turned into a guest ranch. The 4UR brand was registered in 1946, built from the two W letters in “Wagon Wheel,” which together make four U shapes. After a dispute over the Wagon Wheel name, the ranch took the brand as its name. The Leavell family bought it in 1972 and is now in its third generation of ownership.

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 26, 2019, as the Wagon Wheel Gap Hot Springs Resort. The listing covers 31 acres and 26 buildings, 14 of them contributing to its historic character.

Prices and booking

The 4UR runs in fixed six-night stays, Sunday to Saturday, with check-in after 3 pm and check-out before 10 am. Rates are per person per week. The ranch has posted 2027 prices:

• Peak season (June 13 to August 21, 2027): $6,250 single, $4,825 per person double, $4,325 for children 5 to 12, $1,300 for children 2 to 4.
• Standard season (August 22 to September 25, 2027): $6,075 single, $4,700 per person double, $4,250 for children 5 to 12, $1,300 for children 2 to 4.
• Adults-only Labor Day week (September 5 to 11, 2027): $6,800 per couple.

Included: lodging, meals, private fly fishing, horsemanship, guided hiking, the children’s program, trap and sporting clays, yoga, and the swimming pool and natural hot springs. Not included: alcohol, fishing guides, massages and theatre tickets. Expect 7.25% tax, a 20% service charge, and a 4% fee for card payments. Cancel at least 90 days out to get half the deposit back. Later cancellations lose the deposit and owe the balance.

Book through [email protected] or 719-658-2202.

Rules and etiquette

• Guests only. There is no public access to the springs or pools, and no day passes. Do not drive in hoping to soak.
• Private land. The ranch grounds are private. Goose Creek Road continues south past the ranch toward the old Wagon Wheel Gap fluorspar mine, but that does not give access to the pools.
• Families welcome. Children from age 2 have their own rates and a kids’ program. The adults-only week is the exception.
• Swimsuits. This is a family ranch pool, so pack a suit.

Getting there

The ranch is at 1 Goose Creek Road. Wagon Wheel Gap is on Colorado 149 between South Fork and Creede.

• From South Fork: Drive northwest on Colorado 149 along the Rio Grande toward Creede. At Wagon Wheel Gap, turn south onto Goose Creek Road, a dirt road that runs about a mile to the ranch.
• From Creede: Head southeast on Colorado 149 for roughly 8 miles to the Goose Creek Road turnoff.
• From Lake City: Colorado 149 crosses Spring Creek Pass and Slumgullion Pass before dropping to Creede, which makes a long, scenic approach from the north.

Goose Creek Road is a dirt road, so take it slowly after rain. Ask the ranch for arrival directions when you book.

When to go

You do not get much choice. The ranch only operates from mid-June to late September. Peak season covers the warm summer weeks, when the kids’ program is busiest. Late August and September bring cooler nights, lower standard-season rates and the adults-only Labor Day week. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in July and August in the San Juans, so plan fishing and riding for the morning and the pool for the afternoon.

Where to stay nearby

If a week at the ranch is out of reach, base yourself in Creede, a small former silver-mining town about 8 miles northwest with inns, cabins and the Creede Repertory Theatre. South Fork, further east on Colorado 149 and US 160, has motels, RV parks and Forest Service campgrounds along the Rio Grande in the Rio Grande National Forest. For a public soak in the region, the springs in Pagosa Springs, the “big medicine” of the Ute story, are over Wolf Creek Pass to the southwest. The Mother Spring at Pagosa and Overlook Hot Springs Spa both take day visitors.

Safety notes

• Altitude: the ranch is high in the San Juan Mountains. Take it easy in the hot pool and the sauna the first day or two, and drink plenty of water.
• Lightning: summer storms build fast. Get out of the outdoor pool when you hear thunder.
• River and creek: the Rio Grande and Goose Creek run fast and cold in early summer. Wade with care.
• Wildlife: deer, elk and bears live in the valley. Follow the ranch’s guidance on food and trash.

Nearby stops worth adding

Creede has the Underground Mining Museum and the Creede Repertory Theatre, which runs a summer season. The Bachelor Loop is a gravel drive past old mines above town. Wagon Wheel Gap itself, where the Rio Grande squeezes between cliffs, is a short stop on Colorado 149 with good river views.