Steamboat CO Real Estate

Today, there are no real steamboats in the town of Steamboat, Colorado unless you count the allegorical one, which is a playground by that name in West Lincoln Park. The area offers excellent skiing opportunities and has been an important venue for world-class skiing competitions, including the 1989 and 1990 Alpine Skiing World Cup. This city also offers two hot springs that are open to the public, the largest one located at Old Hot Springs. Many visitors are drawn to the area both during the winter months as well as after the snow melts.

The Yampa River, which flows through the heart of town is a popular spot for most water sports, including whitewater rafting, fishing, tubing and kayaking. The cultural center for northwest Colorado for eighty-five years since the Perry Mansfield Camp was established in Strawberry Park. The historic camp has been the force behind many cultural activities and organizations such as: the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, The Community Players and Strings in the Mountains.

Steamboat, Colorado is the ideal place to retire or begin a family. The current population is about 12,200. According to Steamboat CO real estate data, the average listing price for a home in the area for the week ending July 21, 2010, was more than $895,000, a figure which represents an increase of 0.7% when compared to the week before. Steamboat Colorado real estate figures indicate that housing in the area is very diversified, ranging from large historic ranches to multi-million-dollar homes and rental properties.

Also known as Steamboat Springs, the Boat or Ski Town USA; the main attractions to Steamboat, Colorado have been the geothermal hot springs from which the city derives its name. Early French fur trappers believed the bubbling spring resembled a steamboat; a sound that was forever silenced in 1908 with the coming of the railroad to the area.

The Yampa Valley was for hundreds of years the summer hunting grounds of the Ute Indians who respected and understood the powers of the medicinal mineral springs, which are scattered throughout the town and outlying areas. Early miners came to the springs as well, often traveling 30 miles from the gold mines at Hahn’s Peak to bathe in the healing waters.

Until the 1920s, the largest single industry in the area was cattle ranching. In 1912, strawberries became a major crop, and they were marketed at an area known as Strawberry Park, just north of downtown. Today both cattle and sheep ranching remain major industries in addition to hay production and coal mining. Steamboat CO has evolved from a self-sufficient frontier village in the wilderness to a resort town offering all the amenities of the good life. The city attracts visitors and residents of all ages, and to all who call this area home, there are many educational and cultural opportunities as well as the magical draw of the eternal medicinal springs and a rich history that becomes more and more alive with each passing day.