Mountains
Routt County
14 Porch Notes tied to Routt County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Home and property (1)
Water and land (3)
Water and land
A rural Routt County home usually means a well and a septic system
Many homes outside Steamboat Springs and the towns rely on a private well for drinking water and an on-site septic system, each with its own permit and limits.
Read note ->Water and land
The Yampa River runs a trout fishery and a tubing run straight through downtown Steamboat
The Yampa is a designated trout fishery and a wildly popular tube float in the middle of Steamboat Springs, with summer flow-and-temperature closures built into the river's rhythm.
Read note ->Water and land
Two North Routt State Parks Under Hahns Peak
Two Colorado state parks sit side by side north of Steamboat Springs, one built for open water and one kept quiet for fishing.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (5)
Outdoors and wildfire
Fish Creek Falls: a nearly 300-foot drop minutes from downtown Steamboat
A nearly 300-foot waterfall sits a few miles east of downtown Steamboat Springs, with a short wheelchair-accessible overlook and a longer trail down toward the base.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Mount Zirkel Wilderness is the high, roadless country east of Steamboat
The Mount Zirkel Wilderness in the Park Range is designated wilderness, which means no motors, bikes, or wheeled carts and a set of rules different from regular national forest.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
North Routt is moose country, and moose deserve a wide berth
The willow bottoms and forests of north Routt County around the Elk River and Steamboat Lake are good places to see moose, which are large and can be dangerous up close.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
On the national forest around Steamboat, dispersed camping has rules
Much of the high country around Routt County is national forest, where free dispersed camping is allowed in places but is not the same as camping anywhere you like.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Sarvis Creek Wilderness is a quiet, green, low-elevation corner of Colorado wild
The Sarvis Creek Wilderness southeast of Steamboat is heavily wooded with no alpine tundra, offering peaceful forest hiking and good elk country; plan around beetle-killed trees that can fall without warning.
Read note ->Cars and driving (1)
History and culture (4)
History and culture
Coal and the railroad shaped the towns of the Yampa Valley
Routt County's towns grew up around ranching, coal, and the arrival of the railroad, which helped shift the county's center to the Yampa Valley and Steamboat Springs.
Read note ->History and culture
How Steamboat Springs got its name
Steamboat Springs is named for a mineral spring whose chugging sound reminded early travelers of a steamboat engine, a sound later quieted by the railroad.
Read note ->History and culture
Howelsen Hill and the Winter Carnival, Steamboat's ski roots
Steamboat Springs' deep ski heritage traces to Carl Howelsen, who helped start the Winter Carnival and the ski hill that still carries his name.
Read note ->History and culture
Steamboat's Summer Rodeo: The Cowboy Half of Ski Town USA
On summer Friday and Saturday nights, Steamboat trades skis for spurs at a downtown arena whose rodeo roots run back to 1898.
Read note ->