Last Winter's Lyons Sauna Plan Stalled. This Year's Uses the LaVern Swimming Hole.

"LMJ is not a workable site for this particular use." Town of Lyons staff wrote that sentence in December 2025 about LaVern M. Johnson Park, while the Board was weighing a winter sauna concession. Ten months later, the Board's Monday, Oct. 5 consent agenda includes Resolution 2026-60. It would approve a service agreement with Endless Adventures CO, LLC, doing business as Ember & Ice, to run a portable sauna in that same park from about Oct. 15, 2026 through March 15, 2027. The park didn't change in those ten months. The kind of sauna did, and the new one gets its cold plunge from the swimming hole.

What Ruled LaVern Out Last December

The first attempt was built around plumbing. Staff called Bohn Park "the only feasible site due to reliable access to water, sewer, and electrical utilities," because the portable system under discussion needed all three. LaVern's spots with utility hookups were already rented as RV sites year-round. Staff also said the park lacked room for a setup of roughly 2,000 square feet without crowding other park users.

Here's how that winter played out:

1. Dec. 1, 2025. The Board was open to the idea and agreed by consensus to have staff work toward a request for proposals. LaVern came up as an option but wasn't chosen.
2. Dec. 15, 2025. The Board settled on Bohn Park, with hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and a season ending April 20, 2026.
3. Dec. 19 to Dec. 30, 2025. The RFP was open on BidNet, with a proposed contract term of Jan. 6 to April 20, 2026.
4. Jan. 5, 2026. The Board meeting where staff had planned to bring a recommendation came and went, and its agenda listed no sauna contract or vendor.

The public record doesn't say why no award followed, and I found no record of a sauna running in a Lyons park last winter. In June 2026 the Economic Vitality Commission put a "Sauna update" on its agenda, but the posted notes stop at that heading.

A Sauna That Doesn't Need A Hookup

The new Invitation for Bid went up on BidNet on Sept. 11, 2026 and closed Sept. 30. This time it let vendors propose either LaVern or Bohn instead of naming Bohn as the only site. Ember & Ice picked LaVern and offered a different kind of operation. Its units are wood-fired and "require no Town water, sewer, or greywater connection." The whole setup, including saunas, trailers, a changing tent, and walking space, stays under a 1,200-square-foot cap. The Town's Oct. 1 cover memo says the operation won't require the Town to add any utility infrastructure.

The proposal calls for one to three saunas depending on demand. One example is an 8-foot cedar barrel that seats six to eight people and is heated by a Harvia M3 wood stove. The units would sit on the gravel area near the pump house and the summer swimming hole, in a spot Town staff will choose. They'd be towed in on Town access roads, with no driving on the grass.

That spot matters because of what was rebuilt there. After the 2013 flood, the park was reconstructed at an estimated cost of more than $5 million. The rebuild restored the jumping rock and swimming hole and kept the chimney from a WPA shelter built in the late 1930s. Without utility lines, the park's best asset for a sauna is the water already sitting beside the gravel.

The Creek Decides Each Day

The plan has no plunge tank. The proposal describes its cold plunge this way:

"Our specialty is wood-fired heat paired with a natural body of water. At LaVern that means the existing swimming hole / creek edge, used only when staff judge conditions safe. This is not an unsupervised swim amenity and not a second recreation program."

Staff would check ice, flow, and the entry point before opening the water each day. Only guests checked in for a sauna session could plunge, and only during staffed hours. If there's ice, flood debris, poor footing, or any doubt, the plunge closes and the sauna keeps running. Diving, glass at the waterline, and unaccompanied minors in the water aren't allowed. If the Town or Boulder County Public Health bans water contact, the operation becomes heat-only. Manufactured tubs would come in only if the Town later approves a self-contained barrel.

So the cold half of the experience depends on the St. Vrain each day. I couldn't find a reliable record of typical winter flows at the park. The North Saint Vrain Creek gauge page warns that its readings may not be available in winter months. Any given afternoon this winter could be a sauna-and-plunge day or a sauna-only day, and nobody will know until staff look at the water.

Hours That Run Past Winter Dusk

Here's how the two plans compare:

The new hours are shorter but still run past dark. Last December, staff described standard Town park hours as dawn to dusk, which is about 5 to 5:30 p.m. in winter. The proposal says the Town has allowed 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for this concession, and the posted hours fall inside that window. On a January weeknight, the sauna would likely be the only thing open at LaVern after dark.

How a visit would work:

• Sessions are booked in one-hour blocks, and you can stay longer if the sauna isn't full.
• Drop-ins are welcome, and no membership is required. Credit packs and monthly memberships are offered as discounts.
• One trained attendant is on site whenever it's open, with a second on busy weekend or event days.
• Minors can use the sauna only with a parent or legal guardian present and a signed waiver.
• No alcohol, smoking, vaping, or amplified music.
• High wind, unsafe ice, a stove problem, or a staff shortage closes it, and the change is posted the same day.

The proposal also lists scheduled classes, including Wim Hof Method breathwork, yoga, and tea ceremony. It says instructors "will not reserve the swimming hole to the exclusion of other park users," and that a class won't close the sauna to drop-ins.

Who Is Behind It

The proposal names co-founder Trent Poulsen as "born and raised in Lyons." Devon Suggs and Dylon Suggs run the company, which was founded in 2024. Their longest-running site was a creekside wood-fired sauna beside Boulder Creek at the Foot of the Mountain Motel in Boulder, open for 21 months. They also ran a winter sauna at The Block Hotel in Silverthorne with access to the Blue River.

Ember & Ice's website currently lists its Boulder location as temporarily closed and its Lyons location as private rental only. A public site at LaVern would change that. Ember & Ice wasn't the only company interested, either. The Town memo says three sauna vendors had separately contacted the Economic Vitality Commission, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and Town staff before the bid went out. Today the closest similar setup is Puffin Sauna Club at Yellow Barn Farm, 9417 N Foothills Hwy north of Boulder, which offers a wood-fired sauna and cold plunge in sixty-minute sessions.

What Still Has To Happen

Nothing is approved yet. Resolution 2026-60 is consent agenda item VIII.5 at the Board's 7 p.m. meeting on Oct. 5. After that:

• The units still need Town building review, fire marshal review, and Boulder County Public Health review before opening to the public. The proposal says inspection work with Lyons building staff has already started.
• Ember & Ice would pay the Town $1,000 a month. If the Town decides restrooms need extra cleaning, that's another $400 to $500 a month. The Town memo counts the monthly rent as Parks Fund revenue, and at the cleaning midpoint the proposal puts the season total at $7,250.
• Everything has to be gone by the end of the day March 15, 2027, leaving the gravel pad clean.

The Ember & Ice website lists booking options, but I couldn't confirm a current public price or a bookable Lyons schedule. Check embernice.com or the company's Instagram, @ember_n_ice, once the Board votes.

The rest of LaVern's winter routine stays the same. Weekend parking costs $2 an hour from Oct. 1 through April 30, the same as weekdays all year, and a resident's first annual pass is free. Skate rentals at the ice rink are $3 for residents when the rink is open. In December, Lyons Elementary School's gym hosts the Holiday Artisan Market on Dec. 5 and 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the parade Saturday at 6 p.m.

If you'd like to talk through how something like a winter park concession shapes a property near LaVern or downtown Lyons, New Roots Real Estate is glad to walk you through it. Alissa follows these Board agendas closely and can tell you what's been approved and what's still pending. Schedule a Consultation whenever it suits you.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.