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Taste Testing Manitou Springs’ Mineral Waters

Doubletree Colorado Springs Cheyenne mountains

Our trip to Colorado Springs last month was filled with surprises but we never expected to go hunting for and sampling water at mineral springs fountains. Located a few minutes from the city, Manitou Springs was a mountain town at the base of Pike’s Peak, America’s famous mountain. After a visit to the Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings Museum, we visited the historic town in search for the 11 “naturally carbonated” mineral springs fountains and taste the waters.

The Native American Indians who once lived here considered this area sacred and believed the water running from the many mineral springs had healing and spiritual benefits. The waters came from the underground streams from the Colorado Rocky Mountains which collected minerals along its journey. Manitou Springs was developed in the late 1880’s as a resort town to entice visitors to drink and bathe in these medicinal waters.

Manitou Springs

Some of the original springs have been restored the public to drink for free. Walking around town, there were small signs. Some of them were in the most obscure places, they could have easily been missed.

Some didn’t look like fountains and could have easily been mistaken for works of art considering Manitou Springs is a thriving artist community. Each sign had the chemical make-up of each spring which probably meant a whole lot more to other people than it did for us.

Manitou springs signs

Wheeler Spring Manitou Springs

We visited 9 of the natural springs where many were named for the town’s early settlers. The first one we found was Wheeler Spring. This was drilled in the 1920s and named in honor of Jerome Wheeler, former president of the Manitou Mineral Bottling Company and gave generous contributions to the town. It is classified as a soda-type spring (a natural carbonated one) erupting 6-8 hours and water accumulated in a catch basin.

Manitou Springs Wheeler Spring tasting

The picture below was how my kids first reacted after their first sip and before they spat it out.  It was heavily carbonated and didn’t taste very good with a sourness to it. I drank one sip too and that was more than enough. I’m not sure how people were able to drink glassfuls of these waters.

ute chief manitou springs

Further out from the downtown streets was the Ute Chief Spring. This was located in what looked like a private residence and wasn’t working. But, that sculpture of an Ute Indian Chief holding the water spout was a bit impressive from the road.

Manitou Iron Springs Geyser

Our next stop was Iron Springs Geyser which was located near the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway. This was the only place where we encountered another family (with teenage kids) looking for the springs and sampling the water. It made us feel a bit better knowing we weren’t the only tourists in town.

This was drilled here in 1910 to increase the supply of iron-rich mineral waters. Located inside a pavilion, doctors prescribed the waters here for iron deficiencies. This one had a strong metallic taste and was too hard to swallow for all of us.

Manitou springs Twin Spring

Twin Spring was drilled in the late 20s and was named because the water flow here originally came from two separate sources running through two pipes. This soda-type spring is rich in calcium, potassium and a trace of lithium. It was located outside an empty office building.

According to the sign, it was one of the town’s favorite drinking water and used for making lemonade. It was too bad we didn’t have any of those powdered drinks to mix with the water because it probably would have made a huge difference in how these waters tasted.

Stratton Spring was drilled in 1936 and named in honor of Winfield Stratton, a millionaire as a result of a gold strike. The bronze sculpture of a girl was perched on top of the water flow.

It was great to see how the town has restored these mineral spring’s outflow by creating art around it. I wish I can say that the water tasted better as we sampled more but they didn’t.

Stratton Spring Manitou Springs
Shoshone Spring

Shoshone Spring  was located in a round sandstone spring house in downtown. This was supposed to have the highest mineral content of all the springs located in the downtown area but wasn’t working during our visit. That would have been another interesting taste test.

Navajo Spring Manitou Springs

Navajo Spring was located at the back of the popular Patsy’s popcorn and candy store – a magnet for kids. This possibly had the oddest location. The soda-type spring, high in carbonate of lime, was a favorite with the Native Americans where they bathed their sick and injured people.  The waters here supplied an old bathhouse nearby and a bottling plant for Manitou Table Water. 

Cheyenne Spring

Cheyenne Spring was developed in the 1890s and was supposed to be “sweet-tasting soda water” that came from the limestone rocks underneath. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to sample this one either.

Manitou 7-Minute Springs

7-Minute Spring was our last stop which was located at a park adjacent to a beautiful gazebo (a replica of one that was once here).

This was drilled here on 1909 which produced a geysering event two feet into the air and caused it to erupt every 7 minutes. A pump was installed here in the 1930s working every seven minutes to provide water flow. The water here was probably the most tolerable out of all the springs.

7-Minute springs

Manitou Springs miramont castle

If you’ve ever tasted carbonated water or soda water, then you get an idea of what these natural mineral springs water tasted but a bit stronger. It’s probably best to mix it with a flavored drink instead of drinking alone. Surprisingly, my kids were so into looking for the fountains.

They kept their eyes peeled on the streets and spotted a few of them. This self-paced tour also gave us a chance to explore the city and see its beautiful buildings and Victorian homes including this Miramont castle.

Yes, it’s a touristy thing to do but a fun family activity and a wonderful way to see this quaint and historic town. The kids enjoyed looking for the fountains even though they spent more time spitting out the water than drinking them. We’re hoping the small amount we drank of mineral water gave us a bit of a health benefit.

Tips for Visiting Manitou Springs Mineral Water Fountains

  • Stop by the Visitor’s Center (354 Manitou Avenue) to get a map and sampling cups.
  • Use your GPS if you have one to start plotting the nearest intersections and streets of the springs to save time.
  • Let the kids lead the way if you have more time and it can become a fun treasure hunt type of activity.
  • Bring powdered drink mixes to see if it will taste better and please let us know if it made a difference.
  • It took us over an hour to find most of the springs including a brief stroll through the downtown area.
  • Walking tours are held here in the summer called Springsabouts.

*Have you tasted the waters of Manitou Springs or visited similar sites like these?

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MANITOU Springs Fountains

36 thoughts on “Taste Testing Manitou Springs’ Mineral Waters”

    1. The first thing I do when in Manitou is go to the Wheeler Spring and fill up my jug. I cannot get enough of this mineral water. The Wheeler Spring is one of the better tasting. The Twin Spring on Ruxton is also very good along with the Ute Indian when running.

  1. cute! We have something similar in our town, the Fountain of Youth. The water doesn’t taste that great but I always try to think that I’ll get health benefits from it! Crossing fingers!!

  2. What an interesting way to see the sights of the city. Manitou Springs never even showed up on my radar when I loved in Colorado but in hindsight I wish I’d given it a day. Now if only it was wine and not water out of those springs.

  3. Debbie Beardsley @ European Travelista

    I like the inventive ways they display their springs! I tasted some spring water in Weisbaden last summer and it was awful. I don’t know how they drank the stuff.

  4. It looks like such a charming little town! I wasn’t expecting there to be fountains built for the springs – we knew where to find fresh water springs in the woods where I grew up and they tended to be just little bubbling brooks so that is what I had pictured. Our springs were all cool, clear and refreshing with no taste at all so I can’t imagine drinking water which had a distinct taste to it from a spring. And I had no idea that spring water could be naturally carbonated!!

  5. I’ve been to Pike’s Peak a couple of times in my life, but never got to explore Manitou Springs. Looks like it’s well worth a stop. Very interesting about the history of the Native Americans and the springs & the development of the town.

  6. We go to the Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs area about once a year. It’s an easy five hour drive from Santa Fe. We had a delicious dinner at the Cliff House last summer. We also rode the cog railway, which was an amazing journey to the the top of Pike’s Peak.

  7. I love all the water in Manitou. I go there once a week to get my weekly supply. It’s the only water I drink. I especially like the Twin Spring

  8. Was in Manitou Springs just this past weekend. I tried two of the springs Cheyenne & Stratton. Both tasted different, both tingled on my tongue. Not sure there was a taste simply because I didn’t like the feeling on my tongue. However, we ate lunch at the ROUNDABOUT café (totally awesome) and the water was so good. I asked the girl what kind of water it was, she looked at me strangely and said, “Awe it’s just water from the tap” “why is something wrong with it”? No I said, it taste better then some of the water I buy in bottles back home. I left with two waters to go and went on my way. But this is not the water that comes out of either of the springs so I want to know where that water source is. I’ll buy it! lol

  9. What a great site and lots of memories for me. My grandparents had a summer home in Manitou and during our summer visits from Kansas we would walk to the springs with a jug (glass) to being back spring water to Grandmother so she could make special drinks with it. That was in 1928 and I am still sampling, at my age could be it is a longevity drink?
    T

  10. I was just there and unfortunately the town was way too crowded, too much traffic, and a lot of pot-heads there. I witnessed a kid trying to tell stuff to a guy (like me) just walking down the street. Sad that this once charming town has turned into this.

  11. I’m from Florida where we can swim in the springs and they’re all really cold (72 degrees). Are there any cold springs you can swim in there? I looked online but could only see hot springs and swimming areas.

  12. Visiting from Boston as a little girl, I first sampled the water at Navajo Spring in 1956; my mother had first sampled it as a little girl in 1915. Although I have never lived in Colorado, circumstances have returned me to Manitou several times over the years… the last time being in 2008. For whatever reason I have been fascinated by this place for my entire life… and it was in writing about my childhood experiences in Manitou and in eastern Colorado (about 300 pages) that I ran across your article, Mary. I was so pleased to be able to augment my knowledge of Manitou via your very interesting (and fun) piece. And thank you for including as many photos as you did; I found them very evocative.

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