The work of François Arago on the geothermal gradient helped Humboldt to develop the idea that the springs obtained their heat from very deep groundwater circulation.

[3] Las Trincheras is also noted for a battle which took place in October 1813 during the Venezuelan War of Independence.

The Spanish commander Juan Domingo de Monteverde was wounded in the battle which was won by the Independentist forces.

The development of the springs as a resort (balneario in Spanish) was given a boost by the arrival of the Puerto Cabello and Valencia Railway in the 1880s.

A station was opened at Las Trincheras,[4] but the railway closed in the 1950s as road transport became more important in Venezuela.