True West

To get to Dunton Hot Springs, you arrive from the small, mountainous town of Durango, Colorado, then drive west along the San Juan National Forest for a few hours. When you reach the even smaller town of of Dolores, follow the West Dolores River down a winding country dirt road for 45 minutes to reach the microscopic town of Dunton. And if you get there around sunset, you may see a thin coil of smoke from a campfire. The clean but weathered twelve wooden cabins- and a tee pee- reveal Dunton’s humble history as a- now defunct- mining camp that was home to just under 50 people when it was established in 1885. Over a hundred years later, some, but not all things have changed. Since the property was purchased and renovated by the German billionaire Christoph Henkel in 1994, its interiors have been transformed with details like a game room crowned with unsigned William Eggleston prints, lavish period antiques, steam showers appointed with REN amenities and a gourmet open kitchen in the communal saloon.

The hotel will arrange for guests to take advantage of the nearby 1,600  acres of forest with private guided hikes, rock climbing, horseback riding or heli-skiing. Five course meals bring everyone to the saloon’s communal table, where you will find dishes like local king trumpet mushrooms with tender pieces of beef filet and morsels of the lamb Colorado is known for. Under the star-studded sky, lanterns light the way to the property’s enclosed hot-spring pool, outfitted with plush robes and a wide selection of body products, and soundtracked by the patter of a nearby waterfall. The true luxury Dunton provides is something much rarer: quiet and isolation, surrounded by nature’s best. www.duntonhotsprings.com