Love Colorado? Love to ski or hike? Add Steamboat Springs to your list!
Steamboat Springs’ airport is Yampa Valley Regional Airport, and it’s located roughly two hours’ drive or about 100 miles north of Vail.
My family usually stays in Beaver Creek, where my dad had a condo for many years, and we made the drive up to Steamboat in the past just to check it out for the day.
The scenery is absolutely beautiful, and it has the feel of a “real” western town unlike the more manufactured resort areas of Vail and Beaver Creek. It’s a bit more like Aspen, which is also a real mountain town.
Things to Do in Steamboat Springs
We enjoyed a hike around Fish Creek Falls just out of town and the drive there is fantastic!
You can take a paved 1/4 mile walk to enjoy a view of the falls or enjoy a more moderate hike closer to the falls.
Steamboat Springs is a popular skiing town with six peaks and nearly 170 trails. Its snow is renowned as some of the best skiing snow in the world and has been dubbed “Champagne Powder snow.”
Other winter activities include a mountain coaster, snowmobiling, horseback riding, sleigh rides, snow biking, snow tubing and dog sledding.
TIP: You can check your skis, poles and snowboard FREE on Southwest Airlines as one of the 2 free checked bags they allow per person. A pair of skis or 1 snowboard, a set of poles and a pair of ski/snowboard boots in a container acceptable to Southwest, counts as 1 checked bag even if you tag them separately!
And, of course, it’s named Steamboat “Springs” because of its hot springs. If you want to take a healing soak, check out Old Town Hot Springs in town or Strawberry Hot Springs up on the mountain.
What’s not to like?
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