Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs

One Of The Oldest Natural Health Spas In The United States, Operating Since 1868; A Rare Site Where Four Distinct Mineral Waters Iron, Soda, Lithia And Arsenic Surface Within A Few Hundred Feet Of Each Other · Ojo Caliente, New Mexico

People have been using these springs for a very long time - the Tewa built above them and the Spanish recorded them in the 1500s - and a commercial bathhouse has stood here since 1868, which makes it one of the oldest natural health spas in the country. What is unusual is not the age but the chemistry: four distinct mineral waters surface within a few hundred feet of one another, iron, soda, lithia and arsenic, which is a combination that does not occur together anywhere else in the United States. Each has its own pool and its own claimed effect, and the arsenic one is the historically prized one despite the name. The site sits in a small valley under a cliff of soft sandstone, with cottonwoods, a mud pool where you coat yourself and dry off in the sun, and a cluster of adobe buildings. It runs as a proper resort now, with rooms, a restaurant and a treatment spa, but the day pass is what most people come for.

50 Los Banos Drive, Ojo Caliente, Ojo Caliente, New Mexico, 87549, United States

The pools are open daily from mid-morning until late evening, with the last entry a couple of hours before closing and quiet hours enforced in the evening across most of the pool area. Day passes are time-limited on busy days and are sold in slots that sell out at weekends and over holidays. Overnight guests have extended access. The spa treatment rooms keep their own hours and book out well ahead.

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