Water below the surface is run through cavernous drainage systems called karst aquifers.

The springs were considered sacred grounds where Native Americans drank and soaked in the mineral water to replenish and heal themselves.

Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne and other plains tribes came to the area, spent winters there, and "share[d] in the gifts of the waters without worry of conflict."

[5][7][8][9] Explorer Stephen Harriman Long made note of the water's healing properties in 1820.

[8] His expedition's botanist and geologist, Edwin James, noted the healing benefits of the water; He was also the first European man believed to have climbed Pikes Peak.

[10] Recognizing the extent to which Native Americans considered the site to be sacred, Ruxton wrote: "...the basin of the spring (at Manitou) was filled with beads and wampum, and pieces of red cloth and knives, while the surrounding trees were hung with strips of deer skin, cloth and moccosons (sic).

"[11] Forty-eight years later, a plan for a health resort was developed by Dr. William Abraham Bell and William Jackson Palmer, a general during the Civil War:[5][8] "They had a vision of dreamy summer villas nestled in the mountains, with grand hotels and landscaped parks clustered around the springs."

Railroad transportation brought people into the area, first called Fountain Colony and La Font.

[5][8] Medical practitioners, such as Dr. Edwin Solly, promoted the health benefits of the "pure air" and sunny Rocky Mountain climate as the "world's best suited therapeutic environment" for the treatment of tuberculosis.

[15] He also believed in the benefits of mineral spring water which drew tourists and the infirm, particularly people with tuberculosis, to the area.

One of the enclosures, in red sandstone and under a "conical roofed structure", is the Cheyenne Spring House.

There is now no sign of the Spring in the Manitou Outpost store building where the guide's photo displayed it.

[18] Native Americans and early settlers came to the Navajo Spring along the Ute Trail to take the water believed to have healing powers.

The spring font, designed by Chris Dysart, is located behind the Patsy's popcorn kiosk on Manitou Avenue.

[6][18] Located on Ruxton Avenue, Twin Spring combines waters from two different depths and flow from one font.