Eldorado Springs

The town and the park are not the same thing

Almost every confused question about Eldorado Springs comes from mixing up two places that share a name. Eldorado Springs is a small unincorporated community in Boulder County: 559 people at the 2020 census, a couple of square miles of houses, a bottling operation, and a famous old swimming pool, strung along South Boulder Creek at about 5,683 feet. Eldorado Canyon State Park is a 1,392-acre state park run by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and its gate sits past the west end of town, at the very end of the highway.

That distinction decides almost everything practical. The pool is a private business in the town, with its own season, hours, and tickets. The canyon walls, the trails, and the climbing are inside the park, with a separate entrance fee and, on busy days, a separate timed entry reservation. Getting one doesn't get you the other.

Where Eldorado Springs is, and how to drive there

From Boulder, head south on Colorado 93 (the continuation of Broadway), then turn west on Colorado 170, also signed as Eldorado Springs Drive. From that junction it's 2.7 miles to the highway's western terminus at the state park. Most people call the whole trip roughly 8 miles and about 20 minutes from central Boulder, though published figures vary a bit depending on where you start counting.

Coming from Denver, CPW routes you up I-25 to US 36 toward Boulder, off at the Louisville-Superior exit, then south and west onto Colorado 170, which loops around the Superior Marketplace and runs 7.4 miles to the canyon. One warning worth repeating from CPW: don't type "Eldorado Canyon State Park" into a mapping app, because it can route you to the Crescent Meadows trailhead on the far side of the park. Enter the address 9 Kneale Road, Eldorado Springs, CO 80025 instead.

About that dirt road

Colorado 170 is paved right up until it isn't. As the highway reaches the built-up part of Eldorado Springs, the pavement ends and the last stretch through town and up to the park entrance is dirt, with the posted speed limit dropping to 10 mph. It's fine for any passenger car in normal conditions. What it isn't is a highway. It runs between people's front doors, it's narrow, and it kicks up dust on every car that hurries. Ten miles an hour is the actual limit, not a suggestion.

Parking: the thing that surprises people

Colorado Parks and Wildlife puts it in capital letters on its own park page: there is NO public parking in the town of Eldorado Springs. That single sentence rules out the plan most visitors arrive with, which is to leave the car somewhere in town, skip the entrance fee, and stroll into the canyon.

What you're seeing along the road is private residential parking for a few hundred residents on a street barely wide enough for two cars. So there are really only three ways to arrive:

• Park inside the state park. Pay the entrance fee, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and summer holidays between May 1 and October 1, book a free timed entry reservation first. Our Eldorado Canyon reservations and entry guide walks through exactly how that works.
• Ride the free Eldo Shuttle. No reservation needed, and it drops you in the middle of town.
• Bike in. Arriving by bicycle or on foot never needs a reservation, though you still owe the $4 individual daily pass at the park gate.

Paying pool guests are the one exception: the resort has its own lot for them, first come, first served. It fills on hot weekends.

The Eldorado Springs Pool

The pool is the reason the town exists in the form it does. A resort opened here on July 4, 1905, the Eldorado Hotel followed in 1908, and for decades this canyon mouth was a genuine destination resort. Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower spent part of their 1916 honeymoon in a cabin here. The hotel is long gone, but the pool is still in the same spot, still fed by the spring.

It is not a hot spring, and that trips up a lot of visitors. The water is true artesian spring water, rising under its own pressure rather than being pumped, but it comes out cold. The operator heats the pool and says it generally holds between 79 and 82 degrees, adjusting as the weather swings. Think large historic outdoor swimming pool, not soaking tub.

2026 season, hours, and prices

• Season: the pool opened Saturday, May 23, 2026 and runs daily through Labor Day. After Labor Day the two official pages disagree, so call ahead: the resort's pool page says Sundays only through September, while Eldorado Artesian Springs lists Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., through the end of September.
• Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., though the operator warns hours can vary and posts occasional early closures.
• Admission: $25 for adults and teens aged 13 and up, $15 for children aged 3 to 12 and seniors aged 60 and over.
• Season passes: $500 for adults, $300 for children and seniors.
• Shuttle discount: $5 off per ticket if you arrive on the Eldo Shuttle and show proof of the ride. Same-day only, and it has to be applied to a ticket bought at the gate.

What to know before you swim

• Everyone 18 and over signs a waiver, and a consenting adult signs for anyone younger.
• If you bring children 12 or under, you have to stay at the pool with them. Children under 7 need an adult in the water within arm's reach, and children 12 and under pass a short swim test before using the deep end.
• Lifeguards are on duty, and complimentary life jackets are available at the front desk.
• The baby pool is 1 foot 2 inches deep, the shallow end starts at 3 feet 6 inches, and the deep end goes to 10 feet. There's a diving board.
• You can bring your own food and drinks in a cooler, and staff check it on the way in. Prohibited: alcohol, glass, pets, grills, personal tents or shade structures, smoking or vaping of anything, and weapons. There's a snack bar and beer garden on site if you want to buy rather than carry.

One honest caveat. This pool has had rough patches: its operator wrote about being "delighted to have a full year of operations for the first time in years" after a restoration, and Boulder County's shuttle page has carried an "if the pool opens" note against the resort stop in past seasons. It's open now, but check the season before you build a day around it.

Eldorado Canyon State Park, at the end of the road

Past the last houses, the dirt road ends at the park entrance station. The park covers 1,392 acres with 17.1 miles of trails, 11 picnic sites, more than 80 species of birds, and the sandstone walls that made this canyon internationally famous: more than 500 technical climbing routes on formations named the Bastille, the Wind Tower, and Whale's Tail. It's open daily from sunrise to sunset, and the visitor center runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Thursdays.

Entry costs a daily vehicle pass of $10 to $15, or $4 per person arriving on foot, by bike, on horseback, or by shuttle. On Saturdays, Sundays, and summer holidays from May 1 through October 1 you also need a free timed entry reservation to drive in, booked in advance at CPWshop.com. The full breakdown lives in our reservations and entry guide, and everything about the canyon itself is in the Eldorado Canyon State Park guide.

The Fowler Trail and the walk-in option

The Fowler Trail is the one most first-time visitors should know about. CPW lists it at 0.90 miles one way, unpaved, hiking only, dog friendly, and ADA accessible, which makes it the rare Front Range trail that a wheelchair user, a stroller, or a set of tired knees can actually use while looking straight up at climbers on the Bastille. The Eldo Shuttle is ADA accessible too, which means the whole trip, Boulder to accessible trail, works without a car.

The other CPW trails, for comparison: the Streamside Trail is 0.5 miles one way with its first 300 feet ADA accessible, Rattlesnake Gulch runs 3.6 miles and allows mountain bikes, Crescent Meadows is 2.5 miles one way, and the Eldorado Canyon Trail goes 3.5 miles one way toward Walker Ranch. All are dog friendly on leash. If you came for the climbing rather than the walking, start with our Boulder rock climbing guide.

The free Eldo Shuttle from Boulder

Because there's nowhere to park in town, the shuttle is the answer to most car-free plans. Boulder County runs it with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the City of Boulder, operated by Via Mobility Services, on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. In 2026 the season runs May 23 through Sept. 13, every 20 minutes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sept. 7, then every 30 minutes on the closing weekend. It runs on Memorial Day, observed Independence Day (July 3), and Labor Day, but not on Juneteenth. The first trip leaves Broadway and Baseline at 8 a.m.; the last one leaves the park visitor center at 6 p.m.

It picks up along Broadway in Boulder (Regent Drive, Baseline, 27th Way, Rayleigh, Dartmouth), at Table Mesa and 39th, at the US 36 and Table Mesa station, and at the McCaslin park-and-ride in Superior. On the way in it serves the Marshall Mesa access at CO 170 and CO 93, the Doudy Draw trailhead (with a crossing to South Mesa), the Eldorado Springs Resort and Pool near the pedestrian bridge, and finally the state park visitor center and entrance station.

Riding as far as Marshall Mesa, Doudy Draw, South Mesa, or the resort costs nothing at all. Continuing into the state park requires a valid Colorado state parks pass, a day pass bought online, or $4 in exact cash per adult. A Keep Colorado Wild Pass covers the holder plus up to three other adults riding along, so bring the vehicle registration or a photo of it. More car-free options are in our trailheads without a car guide.

Visiting well: it's somebody's street

This is the part a lot of guides skip. Eldorado Springs has a few hundred residents living on a dirt road that a few hundred thousand visitors a year drive down. There's no downtown to absorb the crowd, no visitor parking, no big commercial strip. The whole town is basically houses, the pool, and the road.

So: keep to 10 mph on the dirt, which cuts the dust as much as the danger. Don't park on residential streets or private drives, ever. Don't picnic, change clothes, or rack up gear in front of somebody's house. Take your trash with you, since there's no public infrastructure here to catch it. And if the parking situation feels impossible, that's the point: ride the shuttle instead. It exists because of exactly this problem.

When to go

Late May through Labor Day is the only window with both the pool open and the shuttle running, so it's the season for a full day here. It's also the busiest, and weekend driving means a timed entry reservation.

Spring and fall are quieter and often better for hiking and climbing: mild temperatures, thinner crowds, and no reservation needed once October arrives. That last point comes with a real catch. From October 1 to May 1 there's no reservation system to hold a space for you, and CPW says the park often reaches vehicle capacity on weekends and holidays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when entry may be denied. A bluebird Saturday in March at 11 a.m. is genuinely likelier to end at a closed gate than a July Saturday with a booking. In the off-season, come early.

Nearby trips and guides

• Eldorado Canyon State Park: the canyon itself, its trails, and what to do once you're through the gate.
• Eldorado Canyon reservations and entry: which days need a timed entry booking, what entry costs, and which passes count.
• Rock climbing in Boulder: where Eldo's 500-plus trad routes fit among the area's crags.
• Doudy Draw: the open-space trailhead a few minutes east on CO 170, and a free Eldo Shuttle stop.
• Marshall Mesa: the other free shuttle stop, at the CO 170 and CO 93 junction.
• Nederland: Boulder's other gateway town, up Boulder Canyon instead of down CO 93.
• Best swimming near Boulder: where the pool sits among the area's other options.

Eldorado Springs FAQ

Sources

Every fee, date, distance, and rule on this page comes from these sources. Pool seasons and park fees change, so confirm before you drive out.

• Colorado Parks & Wildlife: Eldorado Canyon State Park (park hours, entrance fees, GPS directions, the dirt road, the no-public-parking statement, acreage, off-season capacity)
• CPW: Eldorado Canyon Activities & Trails (Fowler, Streamside, Rattlesnake Gulch, Crescent Meadows, and Eldorado Canyon trail lengths and accessibility)
• Eldorado Springs Resort: Historic Pool (2026 season opening, hours, admission and season pass prices, water temperature, pool depths, waivers, prohibited items, cooler policy, shuttle discount)
• Eldorado Artesian Springs: Eldorado Springs Swimming Pool (hours and pricing, post-Labor-Day schedule, snack bar, restoration note)
• Boulder County: Eldo Shuttle (2026 season dates, frequency, holidays, first and last trips, stop list, state parks pass requirement)
• Wikipedia: Eldorado Springs, Colorado (2020 census population, GNIS elevation and coordinates, resort history, Eisenhower honeymoon)
• Wikipedia: Colorado State Highway 170 (CDOT route length, the 2.7-mile segment from CO 93, the dirt section and 10 mph speed limit)