Dakota Hot Springs sits on a stretch of flat, dry ground along Highway 50 just outside Penrose, Colorado, a small town in Fremont County about midway between Pueblo and Cañon City. It is a geothermal pool property, not a resort in the glossy sense. There is a large outdoor soaking pool, a handful of smaller tubs set at different temperatures, and a clothing-optional policy that applies at posted times rather than all day. If you are picturing the forested, river-carved hot springs towns of central Colorado, recalibrate. This is plains country, flat and open, with the Wet Mountains and the edge of the Arkansas River valley visible in the distance but not pressing in close the way they do farther west.

That geography matters because it shapes who ends up here. Dakota Hot Springs doesn't compete with the cluster of mountain hot springs resorts an hour or two west along the Arkansas River corridor. It functions as a soak stop for people already headed to or from the Royal Gorge and Cañon City, rather than as a destination tied to the string of mountain towns sometimes called the Colorado hot springs loop.

Why Dakota Hot Springs is worth knowing about

Colorado has dozens of developed hot springs, and most of the well-known ones sit in mountain valleys where the water surfaces through fault lines in granite or sedimentary rock at higher elevation. Dakota Hot Springs is unusual for being a plains property. The water here still comes from underground geothermal sources, but the setting is high desert grassland rather than alpine forest. That gives it a different feel entirely: wide sky, long sightlines, and none of the pine-shaded intimacy you get at places tucked into canyon walls. For travelers moving along Highway 50 between Pueblo and Cañon City, it offers a legitimate soak without a detour into the mountains.

Quick facts

• Address: 1 Malibu Boulevard, Highway 50 West, Penrose, CO 81240
• Type: outdoor hot springs pool with smaller soaking tubs
• Setting: open plains west of Pueblo, roughly 10 to 15 minutes from Cañon City
• Policy: clothing-optional at designated, posted times rather than continuously
• Nearest major landmark: the Royal Gorge Bridge and Canyon area, about 25 to 30 minutes further west

Getting there

Dakota Hot Springs sits directly on Highway 50, the main east-west corridor connecting Pueblo to Cañon City and the Royal Gorge region. If you're coming from Pueblo, it's a straightforward drive west, no mountain passes or winding canyon roads involved. From Cañon City, it's a short hop east along the same highway. There's no public transit option that makes sense for this stretch of road, so a car is effectively required. Parking is on-site and informal, consistent with the low-key character of the place.

The layout and experience

The property centers on one large outdoor pool, big enough for genuine swimming or just floating, plus several smaller tubs set at varying temperatures for people who want something hotter or cooler than the main pool offers. Don't expect landscaped grounds, waterfalls, or a spa-resort build-out. The atmosphere is closer to a roadside mineral bath than a wellness destination, and that plainness is part of its character rather than a shortcoming. Locals and road-trippers use it the way you'd use a well-kept municipal pool that happens to be fed by geothermal water instead of a chlorinated tap.

Because the clothing-optional policy only applies during specific posted windows, the feel of the place can shift depending on when you show up. Outside those windows it functions as a standard swimsuit-required soak. If the clothing-optional hours matter to your visit, plan around the posted schedule rather than assuming it applies around the clock.

Main highlights

The large outdoor pool is the main draw, simply because of its size relative to the smaller tubs. It's the kind of pool you can actually swim laps in if you want to, not just perch in. The smaller tubs are useful if you're soaking with a group that wants different temperatures, or if you'd rather sit still in hotter water than the big pool holds. There isn't much else on-site in the way of attract