Adventure van · from Kent, OH · ≤7 hr/day

Colorado
Hot Springs Run

The plains are a three-day toll each way — so every overnight out is a real park with trails, and every Colorado night is a soak. Glenwood, Strawberry Park, Hot Sulphur, Mount Princeton: all drive-up or a short, easy walk.

~14Days
~3,270Round-trip mi
~$570Fuel @ 23 mpg
6Soak zones
~$1,540Est. all-in
01

The Route

out the plains · central CO · home

Out and back is the same I-80 corridor (no Kansas), but the overnights are state parks with trails, not lots. The Colorado middle is a tight central loop — under 3 driving hours on any soak day — threading the I-70 hot-springs belt with one hop north to Steamboat and one south to Buena Vista.

Transit park (leg-stretch) Hot spring
02

Day by Day

3 out · 7 soaking · 3 home
03

Fuel & Cost

live · tweak any number

Fuel by segment

$
SegmentMilesGallonsFuel
Transit out
Colorado loop
Transit home
Total mi · gal

Plains legs run cheaper (~$3.35); CO mountains ~$4.10. Drop the MPG to see the slog cost climb.

Camp, soaks & food

Item#$ eaSub
State-park camp nights
CO dispersed nights
Paid soak visits (2 ppl)
Food / day
Misc / incidentals—
All-in
04

Soaks & Camp

all drive-up or short walk

The soaks

Indian Hot Springs Idaho Springs
Historic geothermal caves + pool, right off I-70 — your first soak coming in.
Glenwood + Iron Mountain Glenwood
The giant pool and the riverside terraced tubs. Both drive-up.
Penny Hot Springs Carbondale
Free, roadside, on the Crystal River — step out of the van and soak.
Strawberry Park Steamboat
Five stone pools, short walk. Reserve ahead + cash only (no ATM); 7-mi no-cell road.
Old Town Hot Springs Steamboat
In-town pools — the easy second Steamboat option.
Hot Sulphur Springs Grand County
20+ natural pools, walk-in, no reservations, ~$30. 98–112°F.
Radium (optional) Kremmling
Primitive riverside soak — a 1.5-mi walk; ~85°F where it meets the river.
Mount Princeton Buena Vista
Creekside rock pools on Chalk Creek — the iconic accessible one. Cottonwood & Salida's pool nearby.

Transit parks (leg-stretch)

Starved Rock SP IL · out
Illinois River canyons & waterfalls, 13 mi of bluff trail. Best stop on I-80.
Mahoney SP NE · out
On I-80 between Omaha & Lincoln — trails, tower, Platte River.
Golden Gate Canyon SP CO · out
Foothills aspen & granite NW of Golden; 20 min from the first soak.
Lake McConaughy NE · home
White-sand beach — swim the road off. Different ground than the way out.
Lake Macbride / Wildcat Den IA · home
Lake trails, or Wildcat Den's Mississippi bluff trails + historic mill.

CO dispersed (free)

White River NF Glenwood
Coffee Pot Rd and nearby.
Routt NF Steamboat
Buffalo Pass / dispersed near town.
Arkansas River BLM Buena Vista
Hecla Junction and along the Arkansas.
05Reservations & preptap when you're ready to book

Almost all of this is walk-up. Two things to book, one to pack for.

Book ahead

Strawberry Park Hot SpringsSteamboat
(970) 879-0342 · strawberryhotsprings.com
Reservation mandatory (timed window) and cash only — no ATM on site. Hit a Steamboat ATM first. Short walk from parking; 7-mi unimproved road (fine for your rig).
Transit-park campsitesweekends
Starved Rock / Mahoney / Golden Gate / McConaughy
Popular ones (Starved Rock, Mahoney) fill on weekends — reserve those legs if your dates land Fri/Sat; the rest take walk-ups.

Good to know

Soak fees are mostly per-person (~$25–35 each at Glenwood, Hot Sulphur, Indian, Mount Princeton). Penny and Radium are free.
Altitude: you climb from 1,000 ft to 8,000+ fast. Hydrate the first day or two; soak sessions hit harder up high.
Add a night? The transit tax is fixed — a 15th day is a pure soak day (a second Glenwood/Penny lazy day, or Ouray on the way south).