Strawberry Park Hot Springs

Today was another ski day, but I didn't bring my camera with me so no new pictures. Tonight was the (?first?) trip to Strawberry Park Hot Springs.

Getting there was half the adventure. When they say that the last two miles are unpaved, they aren't fucking kidding. If there's snow, if it's rained, if the weather has at all been bad, don't try to drive yourself. Take the (relatively expensive) shuttle.

It was the closest thing to off-roading that I've ever been on. There were fucking tree roots poking up through the dirt road. There were huge "pot holes" in the mud. Most the turns were tight and close to drop offs.

And once we managed to navigate the hazardous road, we weren't even sure we were at the right spot. We started after dark and I could count their light bulbs on one hand. A somewhat shady guy behind the ticket counter forcefully reminded us of the only two rules before taking our $10: no glass and no alcohol.

Still in the dark, we navigated our way down the dirt path, over the wooden bridge, and to the little deck area where we stripped to our swimming trunks.

It was all worth it. The water was satisfyingly hot in the upper pool with little pockets of extremely hot spring water. The lower pool was just a little cooler, nice after soaking in the upper pool. But the best, in my humble opinion, was the river.

I couldn't resist steps down into the river, and words are not enough to express how cold the water was. We're talking about a river fed by melted snow. COLD. But that didn't stop me from wading a couple yards across to check out the picnic area on the other side.

There's only one thing left to mention, and it explains why we went after dark: clothing is optional after 8. And it only took me 10 minutes to take advantage of that freedom. By the end most of my companions had spent some time without their bathing suits. We were called refreshing.

So that's Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Whether you keep your clothes on or not, it's definitely worth visiting while you're in Steamboat.

Comments

Too bad you did not take pictures of your trip. Hehe. I always like going to hot springs, especially during the holidays when I can enjoy them even more. Anyway, I liked how you wrote your post. It's very descriptive. :)