Whenever I tell people about Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, I start off by saying, it’s an old bathhouse town.

According to Wikipedia,  “The first bath in the area was built at ‘John Cross Ranch’ over Geronimo Springs in the late 1800s.” According to a Sierra County website,

Downtown Truth or Consequences sits atop a large natural aquifer that produces somewhat salty, odorless water ranging in temperature from 100-115 degrees Fahrenheit…

The Chiricahua (Warm Springs) Apaches named these springs “Place to Pray” and considered them a sacred place for healing…

During the late 1800s, while neighboring areas…were experiencing the Gold and Silver Rush, the hot springs were visited by more and more people and the area became known as “Palomas Hot Springs.”

The same website says that the hot thermal water currently found in the bathhouses in T or C

flows out of a rift along the Rio Grande that appeared more than 50 million years ago.The rift uplifted Truth or Consequences’ landmark hill, and faults along the rift allow deep groundwater to flow freely to the surface without losing heat or minerals — producing pristine waters with temperatures ranging from 98 to 115 degrees, with trace elements of 38 different minerals…

The continually flowing waters also have two important and unique features:

— The water has no unpleasant odor.
— The single largest ingredient in the water is chloride, a naturally occurring germ killer that sterilizes the skin and ensures the purity of the water.

According to the Charles Motel and Hot Springs, the following is an analysis of the hot springs water in Truth or Consequences:

Water Analysis

Element ppm Ag Silver 0.001 Al Aluminum 0.050 Ar Arsenic 0.050 Au Gold 0.005 B Boron 0.250 Ba Barium 0.200 Br Bromine 2.600 Ca Calcium 163.000 Cd Cadmium 0.001 Cl Chloride 1360.000 Co Cobalt 0.001 Cr Chromium 0.002 Cs Cesium 0.120 Cu Copper 0.002 F Floride 3.060 Fe Iron 0.020	Element ppm Li Lithium 1.300 Mg Magnesium 15.300 Mn Manganese 0.010 Mo Molybdenum 0.002 Na Sodium 751.000 Ni Nickel 0.002 Pb Lead 0.002 Rb Rubidium 0.700 Sb Antimony 0.050 Se Selium 0.050 Si Silicon 21.000 Sr Strontium 3.820 Hg Mercury 0.050 K Potassium 56.000 U Uranium 0.100 Zn Zinc 0.010

Compound		ppm
HCO3	Bicarbonate	220.000
NH4	Ammonium	0.050
NO3	Nitrate	0.200
PO4	Phosphate	0.200
SiO2	Silicate	45.000
SO4	Sulfate	75.100

Artesian Well Analysis determined by the Los Alamos National Laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico, from samples taken May 31, 1987.

I have soaked in seven of the of the bathhouses open to the public in Truth or Consequences. (The baths at Fire Water Lodge and the Pelican Spa are open only to lodging guests. I have not soaked a the Sierra Grande Lodge & Spa, as it is really fancy and out of my price range.) To read my thoughts about each of the bathhouses where i took the waters, read Part 1 and Part 2 of my experiences at the Truth or Consequences hot springs.