Steamboat Springs, Walden/North Park | COME TO LIFE Rodeo Series , preceded by barbecue and live country music. Or, since Steamboat is a Certified Colorado Creative District, stroll through galleries or pick up the First Friday Artwalk . Get a taste of Rocky Mountain hospitality at one of the area’s dude ranches — like the luxe Vista Verde Guest Ranch or the morerustic Elk River — where you can fill your days with cattle drives, flyfishing, horseback riding, cowboy cuisine and more. Elusive and enchanting birds like the greater sagegrouse, boreal owls and fox sparrows frequent the Colorado Birding Trail , Walden Lake and Cowdrey Lake State Wildlife Area . Make more feathered friends at Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge . Other popular sights include Teller City and Coalmont ghost towns, wildlife refuges, rodeos, OHV trails in North Sand Hills ’ sand dunes and the Cache la Poudre – North Park scenic byway . Around 65 percent of North Park is public land, so you’ll find uncrowded lakes, rivers, mountains, prairies and the other towns of Rand , Gould and Cowdrey . Step back in time at Walden’s North Park Pioneer Museum , housed in an 1883 cabin packed to the rafters with Old West relics. STEAMBOAT SKI RESORT Days 3 & 4 Northeast of Steamboat is an area called North Park , known as the Moose Capital of Colorado, where sightings are common. The Moose Visitor Center at State Forest State Park is an excellent first stop, or pop into the Moose Creek Cafe or River Rock Cafe on Main Street in Walden for tips. WINTER FUN STEAMBOAT’S FAMED CHAMPAGNE POWDER® IS LIGHT, DRY AND SMOOTH, which makes for great skiing and riding, as well as snowmobiling, snowshoeing and crosscountry skiing in Steamboat and the public lands that surround it. New lifts, terrain, restaurants, lodging, a ski beach and ice rink at the resort will make it the state’s second largest. Sidetrips To Steamboat’s west, stop into the quiet ranching town of Hayden , popular with hunters and anglers as an easy homebase. Hayden is near the Medicine Bow and Routt national forests, Mount Zirkel and Sarvis Creek wilderness areas. Backpacking, hiking and biking opps are nearly everywhere in these protected spaces, and rafters and campers enjoy a handful of state parks. Get to know cowboys and cowgirls, homesteaders and coal miners at Hayden Heritage Center in the historic 1918 Moffat Railroad Depot. South of Steamboat, stop in the tiny town of Yampa for a bite at the historic Antlers Cafe & Bar. From there, you can hop on the Flat Tops scenic byway for amazing scenery, hunting, fishing and horseback riding, as well as snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. FISH CREEK FALLS STAGECOACH STATE PARK Stay & Play Options Clark (page 180), Cowdrey , Gould , Hayden , Oak Creek , Rand , Steamboat Springs (page 187), Walden , Yampa COLORADO . COM 125
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2022: Page 125
