Steamboat Springs!

By: Kate balay

Recreation Activities Visit “Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs” Go skiing and snowboarding at “Mount

Werner” Go fishing and visit the waterfall at “Fish Creek

Falls” Participate in White Water Rafting trips *

Watersports and tubing are also very fun and popular activities to do in Steamboat Springs*

do in Steamboat Springs* Strawberry Park White Water Rafting io on theon the on the Yampa River

biosphere,geosphere,hydrosphere,and atmosphere

People go White Water Rafting down the Yampa River, then the force of the water creates abrasion underneath the river, causing rocks to weather into sediment. Then the sediment collects on the banks, which erodes the land causing the river to get wider. While people are doing all of that hard work, the thin air can make them nauseous because of Steamboat Springs elevation.

deer (biosphere) rocks (geosphere) river (hyrdosphere) thin air which the deer are breathing (atmosphere)

Living,Working,&Buildings/Roads

Tourists will visit for the outdoor recreational activities such as skiing, hiking, rafting, and hot air ballooning.

Ranchers live there because of the wide open ranges. Engineers live there to build new buildings and work at the

ski resorts. There are numerous coal mines located near Steamboat

Springs. Athletes live and visit there for all of the outdoor

experiences including skiing, snowboarding, and bicycling. US Route 40 connects Steamboat with Utah and is popular

with truck drivers. The population of Steamboat Springs has grown 71% in 20

years leading to many new buildings, hotels, restaurants, condos, and houses.

The population of Steamboat Springs in 2010 was 12,319 people.

Landform Features The elevation of downtown Steamboat Springs is 6,695

feet. The elevation at the summit of Mount Werner is 10,568 feet

The types of rock found in Steamboat Springs are Precambrian metamorphic rocks, schist, gneiss, amphibolite, quartz and feldspar. Volcanic rock is also found along Rabbit Ears Peak.

The Yampa River Valley is made up of erodible sedimentary formations. These formations are Mesa Verde sandstones and Mancos shales.

Various engineering companies are using vegetated slopes to control erosion on riverbanks, shorelines, and highway embankments.

Near Steamboat Springs there is the Mount Zirkel Wilderness area. Located there, are glacial lakes and paraglacial landforms. There is evidence of past and current glaciation. When glaciers melt they leave behind crushed rock and sand which creates depositional landforms, such as the Mount Zirkel Wilderness area.

Landform Features Cont.

The Yampa River which is 250 miles long flows through Steamboat Springs. It is the second largest watershed in Colorado. This is a popular river with rafters and tubers.

Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs is formed from hot springs that flow from the hillside into the creeks and pools below. There are 150 mineral hot springs in the Steamboat Springs area.

A special formation in Steamboat Springs is Fish Creek Falls. Fish Creek Falls is a 283 foot waterfall created by snowmelt running off a cliff and into a creek below.

A future land change that might be seen in the Steamboat Springs area is a proposal to pump water from the Yampa River under the Continental Divide to the cities of the Front Range. This would cause the river to be lower in the late summer. The Yampa is one of the only rivers in the West that has only a few small dams.

Topography of steamboat springs

Visiting Steamboat SpringsMy family and I ALWAYS

go to Steamboat Springs every Labor Day, since I was 4 years old. My family gets invited there because, my dad flies and does cool tricks with his RC helicopters, for the “Wild West Air Fest” which is an air show. I know a lot about tourist attractions and fun things to do at Steamboat Springs, like horse-back-riding and going down the Alpine Slide!