STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – For thrill seekers, adventurous families, kids, kids-at-heart and everything in between, Steamboat Springs is the place to be. 

Kick off your day with a bird’s-eye view of Steamboat from the basket of a hot air balloon. Wild West Balloon Adventures and Pegasus Balloon Tours have flights for couples, seniors and groups, with perks including continental breakfast, Champagne toasts and flight certificates. 

Or spend the morning playing a round of golf. Steamboat is home to several courses – Catamount Ranch & Club, Haymaker Golf Course and Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club – each with epic mountain views to bask in between swings. 

If tennis or pickleball are your game of choice, visit Steamboat Tennis and Pickleball at the Steamboat Tennis Center. The facility has six outdoor clay courts, four outdoor hard courts and six indoor hardcourts so you can volley to your heart’s content. Howelsen Hill also has outdoor courts. 

Give the kiddos free reign of the afternoon schedule. Start with a round of chaotic fun in the bumper cars at Howelsen Ice Arena. Then, head to Amaze’n Steamboat, which has an 18-hole miniature golf course, a maze, gemstone panning, squirt guns and laser tag, among other kid-friendly options. Finish burning off the excess energy with a trip to one of Steamboat’s many parks; Little Toots Park and Whistler Park both have playgrounds. 

Once the kids are tuckered out, it’s time to cool off in the waters surrounding Steamboat. Tubing the Yampa River is a popular option on sunny summer days, but you can also canoe, kayak, paddleboard or boat south of town at Stagecoach Reservoir or north of town at Steamboat Lake or Pearl Lake. 

Tubers float down the Yampa River. Commercial operators provide shuttle service to a dedicated stretch of water. Photo by Noah Wetzel.

Test your wall-scaling abilities at the LCA Climbing Center, which offers free rentals and varying difficulty options for indoor climbers, or scale the newly built climbing wall at the Old Town Hot Springs. 

As the sun dips low and the day winds down, get set for a night of strikes, splits and gutter balls at Snow Bowl, the bowling alley on the west end of Steamboat. Snow Bowl offers something for everyone: BBQ food, a patio, a full bar and, of course, 12 lanes of bowling fun. 

Another evening option for puzzle-solving families is The Crooked Key. Enter an escape room and work as a team to solve puzzles, gather clues and decipher codes before the time runs out. 

Whatever the time of day, find your own flavor of fun in Steamboat Springs.