Steamboat Springs is adjacent to the Routt National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The area has many good trails for hiking, backpacking, and mountain biking excursions. You can choose a trail that's easy or one that will challenge your abilities. These trails range from Spring Creek Trail, an 8-mile roundtrip within the Steamboat City limits that is paved for bicycle traffic and rated easy, through moderate to difficult trails such as the 13-mile Coulton Creek Loop and Nipple Peak Loop, a 30-mile roundtrip, rated most difficult.
The Routt National Forest has six campgrounds in the Steamboat Springs area: Dumont Lake, Hahns Peak Lake, Hinman, Meadows, Seedhouse, and Walton Creek. The number of campsites ranges from 12 at Hinman to 30 at Meadows. None of the campgrounds has an RV waste dump.
If you love a party, Steamboat has lots of offerings for you. The town hosts a Winter Carnival in February; the Annual Steamboat Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10K race and the Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup in June; an annual Cowboys' Roundup Days and 4th of July Celebration over the holiday; the Hot Air Balloon Rodeo and Art in the Park event in July; the Steamboat All Arts Festival in August; and Wild West Air Fest (an air show) and Labor Day Weekend Celebration in September.
The legendary mountains and "champagne powder" snow at Steamboat Springs attract skiers from all around the world. Many Olympic hopefuls train for competition at Steamboat. Naturally, alpine skiing and snowboarding are popular pastimes, but in the winter, visitors can also take part in dog sledding, snow tubing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and snowshoeing.
