Other Warm-Weather Activities

ATV Tours -- For a quick, fun, and relatively easy way to see this area's beautiful backcountry, consider a guided trip on an all-terrain vehicle. Steamboat Lake Outfitters, P.O. Box 749, Clark, CO 80428 (tel. 800/342-1889 or 970/879-4404; www.steamboatoutfitters.com), leads rides along old mining roads into the mountains, offering splendid views of the Continental Divide and Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area. Rates for a 2-hour ride are $75 for a one-person ATV or $100 for a two-person machine, and half-day, full-day, and overnight rides are also offered.

Biking & Mountain Biking -- The 5-mile, dual-surface Yampa River Trail connects downtown Steamboat Springs with Steamboat Village, and links area parks and national forest trails. The Mount Werner Trail links the river to the ski area, which has numerous slopes open to mountain bikers in summer. Spring Creek Trail climbs from Yampa River Park into Routt National Forest. Touring enthusiasts can try their road bikes on the 110-mile loop over Rabbit Ears and Gore passes, rated one of the 10 most scenic rides in America by Bicycling magazine. Another option, especially for those of us who don't believe that sweating our way up the side of a mountain is fun, is to take the Silver Bullet Gondola into the mountains and then ride the more than 40 upper mountain trails. Mountain bike rentals are available at the top of the gondola (tel. 970/871-5252), with $55 rates for 3 hours for an adult bike and slightly less for kids' bikes. Diggler Mountain Scooters are also available for rent at the same rates. There is also a required mountain bike ticket (beyond the gondola ticket) that is $8 a day.

Stop at Sore Saddle Cyclery, 1136 S. Yampa St. (tel. 970/879-1675), for information on the best local trails (maps are on display), accessories, repairs, and rentals. Rentals are also available from SportStalker, in Gondola Square at 2305 Mt. Werner Rd. (tel. 970/879-0371). Rentals of basic mountain bikes cost $20 to $25 for a half-day and $25 to $35 for a full day.

Cattle Driving -- The Saddleback Ranch, on C.R. 179 about 14 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs (tel. 970/879-3711; www.saddlebackranch.net), is a working cattle ranch -- not some Hollywood-style dude ranch -- that offers a genuine Old West experience. The ranch has some 1,500 head of cattle on its 7,200 acres, and participants join working cowboys in moving cattle from pasture to pasture and performing other ranching tasks that are still done the old-fashioned way. Horses, tack, slickers, and snacks are provided, and cost for a half-day on the trail is $70 for those 8 and older. Children under 8 are not permitted on the rides. The cattle drives are held from June through mid-September.

Fishing -- The Steamboat Springs area and particularly the Yampa River has some of the best trout fishing in the state. There are nearly 150 lakes and reservoirs and almost 600 miles of streams in Routt County, which surrounds Steamboat Springs. Trout -- rainbow, brown, brook, and cutthroat -- are prolific, and the Yampa River and Stagecoach Reservoir are known for northern pike as well. Especially popular is the 5-mile stretch of the Yampa in downtown Steamboat Springs that is designated a catch-and-release trout stream; the Yampa's northern pike, whitefish, and small mouth black crappy do not fall under the catch-and-release limitations.

Contact Straightline Outdoor Sports, 744 Lincoln Ave. (tel. 800/354-5463 or 970/879-7568; www.straightlinesports.com), for information, licenses, and either rental or purchase of equipment. Straightline also offers guide services (call for details).

Golf -- The golf season here usually runs May through October, or as long as the snow isn't falling. The 18-hole municipal Haymaker Golf Course, at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Colo. 131, east of Steamboat Springs (tel. 970/870-1846; www.haymakergolf.com), is a challenging links-style course with only 110 of its 233 acres used for fairways and greens. It conforms to the open-space philosophy of the Steamboat community, with native grasses, wetlands, and contours mimicking the surrounding valley and mountains. The greens fee during summer is $79 to $89 for 18 holes, and $63 at the beginning and end of the golfing season. Preferred tee times are available with lodging reservations at participating properties through Steamboat Central Reservations (tel. 800/922-2722).

The course at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort, 2200 Village Inn Court (tel. 970/879-2220; www.sheratonsteamboatgolf.com), designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., in 1972, is considered one of the Rockies' finest. The 18-hole, 6,906-yard course offers spectacular scenery and challenging fairways. Greens fees, including carts, are $75 to $100 for Sheraton guests, $95 to $140 for the public. The Steamboat Golf Club, 6 miles west of downtown Steamboat Springs along U.S. 40 (tel. 970/879-4295; www.steamboatgolfclub.com), is a picturesque 9-hole course along the Yampa River, with greens fees of $32 for 9 holes and $47 for 18 holes.

Gondola Rides -- Summer visitors don't have to work hard to get up into the mountains above Steamboat -- simply hop on the Silver Bullet Gondola (tel. 877/237-2628 or 970/879-0740; www.steamboat.com), which operates weekends in mid-June and mid-September, and daily from late June through early September. Prices for all-day passes are as follows: adults $18, seniors 65 and older $14, children 6 to 12 $8 (or $20 for one adult and one child 6-12), teens 13 to 17 $13 (or $25 for one adult and one teen 13-17), free for children 5 and younger. From the top of the gondola, hiking and mountain-biking trails can be accessed.

Hiking, Backpacking & Mountaineering -- There are numerous trails in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area, immediately north of Steamboat, and the Flat Tops Wilderness Area, 48 miles southwest. An especially scenic 4-hour hike in the Flat Tops area takes you from Stillwater Reservoir to the Devil's Causeway, with unforgettable views. Contact the U.S. Forest Service for information. There are also hiking trails at Steamboat Ski Area, which are easily reached on the Silver Bullet Gondola.

Horseback Riding -- Located behind the rodeo grounds in town (follow Fifth St. south from Lincoln Ave.) is Sombrero Ranches (tel. 970/879-2306; www.sombrero.com), which offers 1- and 2-hour rides, breakfast rides, and special supervised rides for young children. Prices are $30 for an hour, $40 to $45 for the 2-hour and breakfast rides, and $10 for a half-hour lead-horse ride for kids.

Steamboat Lake Outfitters leads guided horseback tours at Steamboat Lake State Park, ranging from 1- and 2-hour rides ($35 and $55 per person, respectively) to half- and full-day rides, with lunch, for $105 and $195 per person, respectively. This company also offers breakfast and dinner rides plus pack trips and horseback fishing trips into nearby wilderness areas (call for details), and rents rooms and cabins.

Dinner rides are offered during the summer by Saddleback Ranch, with a choice of New York strip steak, pork tenderloin, salmon, or barbecued chicken, plus all the extras. There's a 35-minute ride to the dinner site (transportation by hay wagon is also available), and the cost is $65 for adults and $45 for kids 6 to 16.

Hot Springs -- More than 150 mineral springs are located in and around the Steamboat Springs area. Several are located in city parks. Their healing and restorative qualities were recognized for centuries by Utes, and James Crawford, the area's first white settler, regularly bathed in Heart Spring and helped build the first log bathhouse over it in 1884.

Today, Heart Spring is part of the Steamboat Springs Health & Recreation complex, 136 Lincoln Ave. (tel. 970/879-1828; www.sshra.org), in downtown Steamboat Springs. In addition to the man-made pools into which the spring's waters flow, there's a lap pool, water slide, spa, whirlpool, fitness center, tennis courts, and massage therapy. Pool admission is $8.50 for adults, $5 for youths 13 to 17, and $3.50 for children under 13 and seniors 62 and over. Suit and towel rentals are available. The complex is open year-round, Monday through Friday from 5:30am to 10pm, Saturday 7am to 9pm, and Sunday 8am to 9pm. The slide is open from noon to 6pm in summer and from 4 to 8pm in winter, and, in addition to the pool admission, costs $3 for five rides or $5 for 10 rides.

The Strawberry Park Hot Springs, 44200 C.R. 36 (tel. 970/879-0342; www.strawberryhotsprings.com), are 7 miles north of downtown (from Seventh St., follow the signs) up a rugged, rocky road navigable by regular cars in summer, but requiring four-wheel-drive in winter, and it's strongly recommended to ride the shuttle. (In summer, you can drive to the Hot Springs trailhead off of C.R. 129 and hike three miles to the park.) The trip may be difficult, but it's a wonderful experience to spend a moonlit evening in a sandy-bottomed, rock-lined soaking pool, kept between 101° and 106°F (38°C-41°C), with snow piled high around you. The hot springs are open Sunday through Thursday from 10am to 10:30pm (no entry after 9:30pm except to shuttles); Friday and Saturday 10am to midnight (no entry after 10:30pm except to shuttles). Admission costs $10 adults, $5 youths 13 to 17, and $3 children 3 to 12. After dark, children under 18 are not permitted and clothing is optional. Massages are available, and rustic cabins ($55 a night) and tent sites ($50 a night) can be rented year-round, as well as a nifty caboose-turned-kitchenette ($105 a night). Overnighters get the pool all to themselves after-hours. There's a picnic area but no restaurant. Pets are not permitted.

Rodeo -- The Steamboat Springs PRCA Summer ProRodeo Series (tel. 970/879-0880; www.steamboatrodeo.com) takes place each year from mid-June through late August at the Romick Rodeo Arena in Howelsen Park, at the corner of Fifth Street and Howelsen Parkway. Professional rodeo cowboys and cowgirls (or should that be cowpersons?) compete in bull riding, bareback and saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, team roping, and barrel racing. In the Calf Scramble, children are invited to try to pluck a ribbon from the tail of a calf. The rodeo takes place Friday and Saturday nights starting at 7:30pm. Admission costs $13 for adults, $7 for youths 7 to 15, and is free for children 6 and younger.