Steamboat Springs, CO
Site:
Site #1
Steamboat Springs KOA
Site: 24
Wifi: Verizon - 5.4 down, 3.8 up / ATT - 11.5 down, 4.6 up
Cost: $49/night
Noise: Minimal, but Ron was snoring so maybe more.
The Steamboat Springs KOA is on the outskirts of the aforementioned city, right along a gorgeous river. As with every KOA we have stayed at, the hosts were friendly and helpful, and the site was just fine. At a 5 minute ride to downtown, everything you needed was really available to you (they even had a bus that went downtown!) while you still felt a little in the wilderness. The only downside (aside from the atrociously slow wifi) was that the bath houses were tiny. For a giant campground, they only had one facility. There were maybe 5 each of showers and bathroom stalls per gender. We never ran into an issue of overcrowding or not being able to use the facilities when we wanted, but that could easily be an issue if they were at full capacity.
Rating: I’d go back!
Site #2
Meadows Campground
Site: 8
Wifi: Verizon - 6.47 down, 1.76 up / ATT - NONE
Cost: $10/night
Noise: Wilderness Serenade
Originally we were set to boondock at Forest Road 302, but the road was so rutted we couldnt safely get our motorcycle to the end of the road to scout it out. Meadows Campground, at the top of one of the mountains outside of Steamboat, was nearly empty on a Weds. We were able to take prime picking of spots, and after running speed tests around the whole place, we picked Site 8, which also happened to be one of the few pull throughs. Almost none of the other spots had any real upload speeds, and while the speed we are getting is enough to do emails, there isn't much more bandwidth. There are a few pit toilets (well maintained) but no water or electric. There is a dumpster at the beginning of the campground so all of your garbage needs are taken care of. About 30 minutes to Steamboat, it was a beautiful place to camp up (though next year we would go sooner as it gets to below freezing at night).
Rating: A bit stronger wifi and we would stay longer.
City
Steamboat Springs, CO
Steamboat Springs is an upscale tourist destination. Known for its skiing and hiking, everyone you pass by looks outdoorsy and fit. Shop owners are friendly, dogs are welcome almost everywhere, and new meets old with the downtown and shopping locations. It all feels a little disjointed, where you have beautiful old buildings for a few blocks and then a giant Walmart and McDonalds. It still had that small town feel with a few more amenities than normal. However, even though this town is made for adventurous people, you can tell from the NO BACKPACKS sign that not everyone is welcome
Rating: 2 weeks tops
Restaurants:
Beau Jo’s - When walking around downtown we saw a sign for Colorado Pizza. We have heard of Chicago and New York and even California Pizza, but never Colorado. Turns out when we asked the locals they hadn’t heard of Colorado Pizza either! Beau Jo’s is a chain of pizza restaurants in Colorado famous for their pizza by the pound. What makes their pizza distinctive is their massive crust, which has honey drizzled on it, that is like a breadstick version of cheesy crust pizza. Luckily, the rest of the pizza was just as good! The sauce wasn’t too sweet, and there was the perfect amount of cheese. It felt like you were eating two different meals because of the little amount of pizza vs crust, but what you ate was delicious. I’d stay away from the sad salad bar, though!
Rating - Not famous, but still really tasty
Back Door Grill - When we asked the KOA hosts where we should eat, two of them actually started salivating when talking about Back Door Grill. Known for its “outrageous” burgers, Back Door Grill has won almost every burger award in Colorado. And its awards are well founded. I started with deep fried pickles (whole spears!) and Ron had the portabella fries. He almost ordered a second set of portabella fries instead of a burger because he thought they were so delicious. My burger was the Holy Spicoli, with a whole corndog and fried egg in the middle. Ron ate essentially a burger with avocado, but was very satisfied with it as well.
Rating - Even the basics are top notch!
