Take a Labor Day Swim in Roosevelt’s Healing Warm Springs

The historic Warm Spring pools will fill on Labor Day Weekend
Photo by Charles Pannell

Have you ever wanted to soak in the same hot springs that reportedly eased president Roosevelt’s polio pain and stiffness? Well now’s your chance as the historic Warm Spring pools will be open for swim sessions on Labor Day weekend. Normally kept empty for preservation, the pools will be filled with naturally warm spring water for this special event.

The 1.5-hour swim sessions will begin at 10 a.m. and are limited to 80 participants per session. Be forewarned though, these swim sessions are extremely popular and fill up fast, so advance reservations are highly recommended. Tickets are available on a first come basis, and all reservations must be secured with a credit card. Tickets are priced at $20 for adults and $12.50 for children under 17. Children under six are not admitted. For more information call (706) 655-5870.

Wheelchair access is good at the pools, with level access to the pool building from the nearby accessible parking area. There’s also a cement ramp down into the main pool, so slow walkers can easily access the healing waters.

The historic pools are located just a few blocks from Roosevelt’s Little White House — where the president stayed and conducted business while he was in Warm Springs. The main building is accessible to manual wheelchairs, but because of a weight restriction on the walkway, power wheelchairs and scooters are prohibited. Still, there is a loaner manual wheelchair available for self-guided tours of the house.

Warm Springs is located in Southern Georgia, approximately 70 miles south of Atlanta. For more information about Warm Springs, visit www.warmspringsga.com. And for more information about wheelchair access to the Little White House, as well as details about a nearby wheelchair-accessible log cabin to overnight in, read the Summer 2011 issue of Emerging Horizons.