4 Best Sights in Steamboat Springs and Northwest Colorado, Colorado

Straddling the Colorado–Utah border, Dinosaur National Monument is a must for any dinosaur enthusiast. A two-story hill teeming with fossils—many still in the complete skeletal shapes of the dinosaurs—greets visitors at one of the few places in the world where you can touch a dinosaur bone still embedded in the earth. The Colorado side of the park offers some of the best hiking in the West, along the Harpers Corner and Echo Park Drive routes and the ominous-sounding Canyon of Lodore (where the Green River rapids buffet rafts). The drive is accessible only in summer—even then, four-wheel drive is preferable—and some of the most breathtaking overlooks are well off the beaten path.

Roaring robotic stegosaurs and meat-shredding animatronic allosaurs prowl Dinosaur Journey, a fun, informative attraction just off I–70 a few minutes from the western entrance to Colorado National Monument. Unlike many museums, this one encourages kids to touch everything—friendly paleontologists may even allow kids to hold a chunk of fossilized dino dung. In addition to the amazing lifelike replicas, there are more than 20 interactive displays. Children can stand in an earthquake simulator; dig up "fossils" in a mock quarry (the pit is made of crushed walnut shells); or make dino prints in dirt, along with reptile and bird tracks for comparison. The museum also sponsors daily digs nearby, where many of the fossils were found. Local volunteers are at work cleaning and preparing fossils for study.

There are more than 150 mineral springs of varying temperatures in the Steamboat Springs area, including this one, in the middle of town. Old Town Hot Springs gets its waters from the all-natural Heart Spring. The modern facility has a lap pool, relaxation pool, climbing wall, and health club. Two waterslides are open noon to 6 pm in summer and 4 to 8 pm in winter; they require an additional $7 fee. The inflatable playground called The Wibit is open Friday to Sunday from noon to 6 pm between June and September, and also requires an additional $7 fee.

The town site was originally the headquarters of a cattle spread, the Bar-I Ranch. Pioneer Town, a cluster of 23 authentic buildings that re-create turn-of-the-20th-century life, includes a country chapel, the Lizard Head Saloon, original silos from the Bar-I Ranch, and a working blacksmith shop.