Hot Springs in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico | El Paso Day Trip

Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico | El Paso Day Trip

Getting There

This episode is about an awesome little day trip: hot springs in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, about 120 miles and less than two hours from El Paso.

A Little History

Truth or Consequences is a small town of only about 6,000 people, right on the Rio Grande. It has a weird name. It sounds like the town renamed itself in the 1950s after a radio show, and it used to be called Hot Springs, New Mexico. It's part of the Hot Springs Artesian Basin, a geological formation and thermal water aquifer located in the floodplain of the Rio Grande, and the temperature of these hot springs ranges from about 98 degrees to about 114 degrees.

The town really wasn't settled much until about 1912, when construction started on Elephant Butte Dam, which we checked out ourselves. It was beautiful, an unexpected amount of water. Even though the reservoir is low right now, it was still beautiful, with a lot of water.

The Town Itself

The town itself is a pretty sleepy small town of about 6,000 people, with a demographic that tends to be older and artsy. There are some great gluten-free restaurants. We found two: Passion Pie and Destiny's Kitchen, though Destiny's Kitchen wasn't open while we were there. It's a smaller, artsy kind of place, and the residents are pretty loose with their store hours, so a lot of the stores were closed, especially since we were there in the middle of the week. There were also an incredible number of junk stores, or maybe antique stores, and we wondered who shopped at all of them, but they were all closed too, so we didn't get to explore those.

We didn't spend a ton of time in town since we were mostly there to show you the hot springs where we stayed, but we did check out a couple of places. There's a little brewery in town with a name that plays on T or C, the shortened nickname for Truth or Consequences, and it was busy every night we were there. We also went to an old-school restaurant called Los Arcos, with great seafood and steak, a really local, neat spot with green, lush plants everywhere.

Riverbend Hot Springs

The main character of our trip was Riverbend Hot Springs. There are other hot springs you can stay at, but we chose this one because it's right on the river, and the river actually has plenty of water in Truth or Consequences. It was fabulous to stay right there with the water running, especially since here in El Paso the Rio Grande doesn't have water right now, and being up there where it does was super cool.

A little background on Riverbend: it was built in the 1940s as a riverside bait shack, selling live minnows for fishing. In 1990, a new family took it over and dug a well right where the minnow tank had been, and sure enough, they tapped into some 109 degree water. From there it's kind of history. They ran it as a hostel through about 2010, then transitioned it into more of its current state.

Where We Stayed

If you're planning a trip, they do have RV parking and plenty of additional parking if you're pulling a trailer, and we saw a couple of people doing that. It's a small resort on the river, very beautifully appointed outdoors, and the rooms are nice and all renovated, though it is small. There are probably only about 20 rooms and cottages available for rent, maybe even fewer, ranging from a small room they call the artist room up to a three-bedroom cabin. There are a lot of options, but it's very busy, so make your reservations ahead of time.

Our lodging was in one of the little cabins, right in the middle of everything, so it was easy to just go straight to the hot springs whenever we needed. The grounds are amazing: fountains everywhere, beautifully landscaped with lush flowering vines, grapevines growing all over, and honeysuckle that made the whole place smell amazing. They've done a fabulous job with the grounds, with real attention to detail and drip irrigation to keep everything watered and lush. Where we stayed, we had a nice outdoor patio with beautifully cushioned chairs, and we ate outside at the table for every meal we didn't go out for. They even had a grill available right outside our door. It's a very luxurious feel to the grounds.

Soaking in the Hot Springs

We really enjoyed being right there on the Rio Grande. But if you go to the hot springs, what you're mostly there to do is get into the water, which is said to have healing powers. For us, the temperature took a little adjusting to. It would probably be awesome in fall, winter, or spring when it's cooler or even cold outside, since then you really get to enjoy that hot water. During the day, though, it was getting up into the 80s, so with 80 degree weather and 105 degree water, it was a lot. We mostly went into the hot springs early in the morning and again in the evening.

We spent a lot of time in the hot springs, and the most tranquil time in the whole space is early in the morning as the sun rises. The play of light over the grounds, the river, and the hot springs is amazing. The public pools have varying temperatures, from up to about 107 degrees down to maybe 100 degrees for the coolest pool. During the day it was a little too warm for comfort.

The private pools were amazing too. Leah is originally from Minnesota, and being right on the river, the private pools are partitioned off with a beautiful structure built out of cedar, so you get the smell of the cedar mixed with the humidity off the pools, plus an earthy smell of the ground right along with the water. It was a heavenly experience, a chance to reminisce on smells you don't really get here in El Paso. There are two different styles of private pools: the older ones, made out of brick and stone like the public pools, and some newer ones with more of a plaster interior. All of them have waterfalls, and the plaster ones have some more comfortable sculpted seating built in, but we found all of them very comfortable.

It was about $160 a night for us to stay there, and the private pools are extra, about $25 to $35, though the "hour" is actually 50 minutes. It's a very affordable way to use all of the grounds, and robes are provided.

Planning Your Own Trip

It's only two hours away, and either on your way up or on your way back, you'll pass through Hatch, New Mexico, home to Sparky's, known for its green chili burgers and other great food. It's a fun little stop. All in all, it was a great trip, and being only two hours away, we'll be doing it again, probably on a pretty regular basis, just maybe not in the dead of summer. If you're in El Paso, or passing through New Mexico, and this sounds like your cup of tea, it's definitely worth checking out.