The Great Pagosa Hot Springs is one of the largest and deepest geothermal springs in the world. It's a popular tourist attraction today, but it also has a long history of use by local Native American tribes and by the settlers who began moving into this scenic mountain valley in the late 1800s.\ 
The Ute Indians were one of the American Indian tribes that once claimed ownership of the Great Pagosa Hot Springs. They called the springs "Pah Gosah" — a term which has been variously translated in recent years as meaning "boiling water" or "healing water."
According to a prominent Ute elder, however, the word "Pah" means "Water," and the word "Gosah" could be translated — it you want to be delicate — as "Has a strong smell."
The "strong smell" of the Great Pagosa Hot Springs derives from its remarkably high mineral content — including sulphates and sulphated residues (4800 ppm) sodium oxide (1200 ppm) and various other minerals which many believe give the water a healthful, therapeutic value.
The various Native American tribes of the Four Corners region— the Utes, Apaches and Navajo Indians— staged numerous wars and skirmishes over the ownership of the Hot Springs, so highly did they regard the importance of its healing powers. It appears, however, that no Indian tribe ever settled in the immediate vicinity of the springs; perhaps the odd smell kept them at bay, but it is more likely that they regarded the Springs as a sacred area, and therefore suitable for visitation only — not residency.
The white settlers who began arriving in the late 1800s, whoever, had no qualms about erecting their homes within easy walking distance of the "healing" mineral waters.
The ownership of the Hot Springs has changed numerous times since the town of Pagosa Springs has been settled. At one point, the property immediately surrounding the Springs was staked out by the U.S. government, which had vague plans for constructing a convalescence hospital for Civil war veterans, with the Springs as its focal point. The plans were shelved for some reason, and the ownership passed into private hands.
Various bath houses have come and gone along its banks, and numerous entrepreneurs have sought to profit from selling its benefits to the public. During the 1970s and 80s a popular — and free-to-the-public — pool was developed using runoff from the Great Pagosa Hot Springs. That "clothing-optional" pool, dubbed "The Hippie Dip," is not longer in existence.
Across the river from the "spa" area, the downtown business area developed along Pagosa and San Juan Streets, and numerous private wells were drilled, providing mineral water baths and hot water for geothermal heat. Unfortunately, the high mineral content exhibits a tendency to clog and corrode water pipes, and over time nearly all the hot water wells in the business district have been capped. The Town of Pagosa Springs, however, developed a heat exchanger system that feeds plain water, heated by contact with the Town's geothermal well, to many downtown businesses, providing relatively low-cost heat during the winter months.
Today, two established motels make use of Pagosa's "healing water." The Springs Resort, with 18 naturally-heated, intimately-sized outdoor pools of different temperatures, draws its mineral water directly from the fabled Great Pagosa Hot Springs.
Just across the street, the Spa at Pagosa Springs has a year-round outdoor swimming pool, as well as men's and women's indoor hot baths. The water at the Spa comes from a private well, fed from the same aquifer as the Great Pagosa Hot Springs, and exhibits a similar mineral content (and characteristic odor!)
The Great Pagosa Hot Springs itself – at 145 degrees Fahrenheit – is much too warm for safe human use, but it's a popular visitor attraction nevertheless. It's located just a short walk from the Pagosa Springs Post Office, across Hot Springs Boulevard and behind the Springs Resort. Follow the short paved road between the Bank of the San Juans and the Springs Resort—or just look for the rising steam!
The Town of Pagosa Springs has erected informational signage explaining the brief history of the Springs.