Steamboat Springs in the Winter is a magical time and place. Deep snow covers everything. Colorado Blue Spruce heavy with piles of snow, looking like snow ghosts against streetlights. Christmas lights inspiring happiness and seasonal joy. All really good stuff.
And driving really isn’t that terrible. Using caution goes a long way. Common defensive driving tactics are skills to bring when in Steamboat Springs.
Roads in Steamboat are covered by snow all season. When visiting, this is easy to see when crossing Rabbit Ears Pass. The snow starts, then it doesn’t stop. Signs of snowmobiles and cross country skiers are everywhere. Once in to Steamboat, everyone is going an easy speed and are not in a hurry. Getting to your destination safely is common. Very few automobile accidents occur in Steamboat.
Snow removal here is awesome to watch. Snow removal teams know what they are doing, and move a lot of snow. This season has been a good snow year. The city removed 1000 dump truck loads of snow from downtown in December. Huge plows, road graders, front end loaders of all sizes, and teams of guys with shovels and snowblowers work early and late. Roads and walkways are usually clear by 6:00 in the morning.
There are scary and humorous moments that come up. Often someone from out-of-town, commonly from Texas, California, or other warm state, is too cautious. This is really good for pedestrians, but being near a driver very unsure of how to drive on snow can be a problem. Turns are too slow, you or the car behind you is too fast comingup on a warm state visitor, and more. Fender benders happen, but not very often at all.
Much of the road activity here in Steamboat is related to the city bus system and the resort’s bus systems. The city bus is free and takes anyone to near their destination all day. It has a number of lines that service Gondola and Ski Time Squares. The resort has a number of shuttles that help persons get to their condos and hotels. These services are helpful to limit the number of cars on the roads as well as being very convenient for residents to get skiing without having to find a parking space.
If you’re from out of town, don’t stress the driving. Being careful and in control are easy to do when driving in the Steamboat Springs area. As well, the amount of public transportation makes it easy to get around to the places you want to be. You can always find driving conditions through this Colorado website.