The big pool is 150 feet by 60 feet, and 10 feet deep. But it’s built for kids—the shallow end lasts for 75 feet with only a 1-foot drop-off. The spring is about 98°F and the pool water is about 92°F. The aquatic wonderland is also a kids’ oasis on family vacations to Great Sand Dunes National Park, the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The road through the San Luis Valley to Splashland is full of unique roadside attractions, including the Colorado Gators Reptile Park and the UFO Watchtower. With or without extraterrestrials, there’s a lot to see at the old Catholic missions in the tiny, historic San Luis Valley towns. Splashland was Lloyd Jones’s idea in the 1950s. The Alamosa rancher decided he’d heard about too many children who drowned in irrigation ditches and the Rio Grande River. He wanted a place where they could learn to swim and play safely. He happened to own a piece of land with a warm artesian spring, and that’s where he built the pool in 1955. Lloyd ran the pool for decades, continued ranching, but decided that he’d done his part and turned it over to a nonprofit. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out and the pool closed for 2 years. LeRoy and Scott, who grew up swimming at the pool, as did their kids, took over and restored Splashland to its former glory. There’s no other public swimming pool in Alamosa. “We’re doing it for the kids in the community. It is a place for kids to go,” says Scott. “It was part of our childhoods and we wanted to pass it along,” says Matthew. “People say they remember how it used to be and thank us for improving it.” There are visions of a new building, kiddie pool, more slide tubes, and a year-round operation. The building contractor owners have the skills to make it possible.
Southwest Colorado
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