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Steamboat Springs, Colorado Vacation Rental Houses and Condos.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado vacation rentals by owner luxury condo, cabin, and house rentals and Steamboat Springs, known as Ski Town USA, is a city in Routt County, Colorado, United States.  It is the county seat of Routt County. The town is an internationally known winter resort destination, highlighted by the Steamboat Ski Resort, which is on Mount Werner in the Park Range just east of the town. It also contains the much smaller Howelsen Hill ski area. It is located in the upper valley of the Yampa River, along U.S. Highway 40 just west of the Continental Divide at Rabbit Ears Pass.

The Yampa Valley and surrounding area contain several geothermal hot springs. The city is named after the Steamboat Spring, located near the present day library, whose bubbling sounded like a steamboat to early white settlers. There are two public springs in Steamboat that are open to the public. The biggest is at the Steamboat Health and Rec Center, with multiple pools and a slide. A few miles out of town up in the hills is Strawberry Park Hot Springs, with two pools and complete darkness so you can relax under the stars. It is clothing optional after dark.

The Yampa River--a popular place for fishing, rafting, tubing and kayaking--flows through Steamboat Springs.

The area was originally inhabited by the Yampatika Utes, who hunted in the valley during the summer. Trappers began to move into the area in the first decades of the 19th century. Ranchers soon followed, and the area still contains a large ranching community. The Utes were forcibly removed from the area to a reservation in Utah by the U.S. Army starting in 1879.

Skiing was an early key factor in the development of the town, and all over the Rocky Mountains, because it was largely the only way for people to get around in the winter. In 1913, Carl Howelsen, a Norwegian, moved to town and introduced ski jumping, building a jump on Howelsen Hill. He also started the annual Winter Carnival, a celebration still held each winter that includes ski racing and jumping, dog sled and chariot events down Main Street, as well as skiing light shows on both Mount Werner and Howelsen Hill at night.

The Steamboat Ski Resort was largely started by two men, Jim Temple and John Fetcher. Temple headed up the effort to build the area and Fetcher, a local rancher, was the main designer and builder. It opened on what was then called Storm Mountain in 1963.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado vacation rentals by owner house and condo rentals is an excellent way to enjoy an upscale vacation at budget prices, or at least less than you would have to pay for a comparable hotel room. Snowmass, Colorado vacation rentals by owner house and condo rentals are just that - private owners sharing their second homes complete with all the amenities their own families enjoy.

In short, there is no more rewarding vacation experience or better vacation value than Steamboat Springs, Colorado vacation rentals by owner house and condo rentals. It's the smart way to vacation.