Steamboat Springs is in northern Colorado near the Wyoming border and is a winter ski resort destination. It has produced an incredible number of Olympic athletes. There are natural hot springs in the area. Early trappers thought the hot springs made a chugging sound similar to a steamboat, hence the name. From Saratoga, Wyoming it was only about a 1.5 hour drive to Steamboat Springs.
KOA Steamboat Springs
We reserved a private end site, that had 50-amp electric, good water pressure, sewer and sporadic fast enough internet to stream. Our site was a premium asphalt, but new, so there was no grass, just weeds and dirt. We were supposed to back up to a creek, but that was dried up and there was just brush and trees. Even though we had an end site, the owner stored his fifth wheel next to our site. The KOA was typical in that it was very noisy, lots of campfire smoke, kids playing in the streets until 10pm and too many trucks and cars crammed into each site, but that may have been because of the holiday weekend.
Most of the staff were friendly and gave Jake treats whenever they saw him. The area is beautiful, but I am not sure we would stay here again.
We were here during Labor Day weekend. Downtown Steamboat Springs has an incredible number of shops to explore, with end of season 40% sales at almost every store.
Exploration had to be done by 1pm since daytime temperatures were about 95F and parking quickly disappeared by mid morning. Many shops and restaurants did not have air conditioning since the normal average high this time of the year is only in the 70s.
Fish Creek Falls, Steamboat Springs
A couple of nice hikes in the Fish Creek Falls area, especially since the trails were dog friendly. The falls were set back far away from the end of both hiking trails, so it was difficult to get a good photo of them since we only brought a wide-angle lens.
Storm Peak Brewing
Their beers were very good, but the atmosphere was terrible. No air conditioning or fans, despite the heat. They let dogs inside the brewery and there were a couple of minor dog fights and frequent barking and loud techno music. They didn’t serve food, but there was “How Ya Doin Pizza” next door, which did have amazing pizza.
