Faywood Hot Springs

On January 27, 2020, we moved from Benson, Arizona to Faywood Hot Springs, New Mexico.  We spotted this rustic little spot next door to City of Rocks State Park when we visited the park a couple of years ago, and we thought it would be fun to visit and take a soak.

The "resort" has cabins and campsites -- some for RV's and some for cars or tents.  It is gated, admitting day or overnight guests from 10am to 10pm.  Here, Kathy checks to see if we can get in when we arrive:

The hot springs have been visited since the time of the Mimbres culture. It was a successful resort in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1952, the establishment was demolished and became a ghost town. The land was purchased in 1993 and developed into a hot springs resort again.

The current visitor center was the previous Faywood Hot Springs Hotel, which could serve up to 125 guests, was one-storied, with a three-sided courtyard and an almost 900 feet long veranda. It had a large dining room, parlors, a writing room, barber shop, gun room, and a billiard room. Spring water was cooled and piped into the hotel rooms and bath houses.

The site is very rustic.  A shaded walkway leads from the reception center to the public pools, which include clothing-optional and clothing-required sections:

After checking in, we settled into our campsite for the night.  The first morning, we were up with the sun and walked around the property, which shields its clothing-optional sections with a rustic wooden fence:

A whimsical Kokopelli sculpture graces one of the gardens.  Kathy was inspired to lend her spirit to the moment!

Our campsite was graced with all the amenities, including modern bathrooms and trash removal:

As we returned to our RV, we spotted this cheeky roadrunner perched in the tree next to our site:

On the top of the hill next to the campground is a star-gazing area with a Stonehenge-type ring of tall stones --

-- and it boasts a hand-made swivelling love-seat that permits its occupants to lean back and gaze at the stars without craning their necks:

 

The campground boasts a large populations of fowl, including some exotic chickens and a flock of peacocks who parade around the campground as if they owned it:

 

We had a chance to soak three times during our stay here.  One of them was with our friends Dick and Gaila (more on that in a subsequent blog entry).  But the most "invigorating" was our sunrise soak in 29F weather on the morning we had to move on from the campground.  We took the time for this bundled-up selfie before dipping into the warm mineral waters --

-- and gave ourselves the pleasure of a long morning soak before returning to the RV for breakfast and to pack up for our move on from Faywood:

One of our next stops will be at Big Bend National Park, which has its own natural hot springs, so we expect to share another one of these warm experiences with you in the near future.  Stay tuned!