Jennie'sCabin_Lay

Nothing conjures up a Rocky Mountain escape like the romantic idea of a little log cabin buried in the aspens. Re-imagining life in a cabin makes everything seem simpler, quieter, truly rustic and decidedly Western. Every cabin needs a porch for afternoon reading, a quilt to hunker under on cool Colorado nights, and, ideally, an absence of connection with the outside world

Steamboat Springs has all kinds of cabins to rent. Fifteen minutes west of downtown, the Bunkhouse at High Tide Ranch is an atmospheric log house a on a real working cattle ranch. North of Steamboat, near the hamlet of Clark, the luxurious lodges and perfectly appointed cabins at The Home Ranch and Vista Verde Guest Ranch take any concerns about rough living out of the rustic ambiance, while Elk River Guest Ranch gives visitors quaint cabins along with a full-tilt dude ranch experience. South of Steamboat, at Trapper’s Lake, in the heart of the Flat Tops Wilderness, Trapper’s Lake Lodge offers the chance to bunk up in a quintessential homestead-style cabin, complete with a fire pit outside your front door.

The jist is, you want your cabin to feel intimate and remote. But if you’re traveling to Steamboat Springs you might not want to be entirely disconnected from the action. After all, there are fun things happening in town, like free summer concerts at Howelsen Hill, yoga at the top of the ski area, tubing down the Yampa River, and happy hours on the decks and sidewalks of nearly every restaurant in town. That’s why a cabin at Strawberry Park Hot Springs might be the perfect solution for escapism.

Log cabins and hot springs, 15 minutes from the heart of downtown. The rustic cabins (and slightly more upscale caboose) come complete with gas lamps and heat, and share a central bathhouse. It’s B.Y.O. bedding, and each cabin has a gas barbecue so you can grill up a decadent feast between dips in the mineral waters (or adventures in town).

Here in the Yampa Valley, not much beats a crisp summer sunrise at Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Wisps of pink clouds whiz across the sky and steam pours off the surface of stone mineral pools along Hot Springs Creek. At sunrise, in the embrace of 104-degree water, you’ll be virtually alone in the pools. The only way to experience early morning hot springs solitude is by spending the night (where you also have after-hours soaking privileges under the moonlight), since gates don’t open to the public until 10 a.m.