Experience the best of Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs lies at about 2,000 metres in the Yampa Valley of north-western Colorado, with the Yampa River running through the old downtown. It began as a ranching and farming town, and cowboys still ride in local rodeos, but it is best known for skiing: the ski mountain above it is famed for its light, dry snow, and Howelsen Hill, a town-run ski area, has trained generations of ski jumpers and cross-country racers.

Natural hot springs rise in and around the town, in pools beside the river and in the forest. Fish Creek Falls, a waterfall of about eighty metres, lies just outside town, and the Yampa is a favourite for floating in inner tubes through downtown in summer. Rabbit Ears Pass, the forests of Routt National Forest and the Flat Tops Wilderness lie within reach.

Ranch cooking, with steaks, bison and elk, anchors the menus, and craft brewing and a distillery add local drinks. A winter carnival of long standing fills the town with ski jumps and parades, summer days are warm with cool nights, and snow arrives early.