The Steamboat Scream

Motorcycle Roads & Rides > Routes > United States > Colorado

Average Rating - This road has been rated by 2 visitors

State: Colorado
Date Submitted: December 31, 1969
Submitted by: Bill Belei
Motorcycle Road Length: 81 Miles

Written Directions

Directions through this route are pretty straight forward as you start in Granby CO, and head west on Rte. 40 towards Kremmling and continue on 40 straight into Steamboat Springs.

Scenery

This route takes you from one of Colorado's largest and most beautiful mountain lakes to town of Steamboat Springs Colorado. You will start out at the South end of Lake Granby. From there you can see the mountains of America's most beautiful national park - Rocky Mountain National Park. Start out in Grandby Colorado on 40 heading West. Along this part of the route you will see some of Colorado's old railways and initially pass through some relatively dry terrain. You will pass through some very small towns of Hot Sulpher Springs and Parshall and then to on to Kremmling. From there the route turns North (still on 40) and the scenery begins to open up with large valleys and awesome looking isolated mountain peaks. As you get closer to Steamboat you will begin ascending into the mountains and the Arapaho Nat'l forest. The scenery really "greens up" with lush forest and some lookout points that you need to pull over and checkout. You'll then crest at Rabbit Ears Pass (see if you can find why it got that name) and begin a slow descent down toward Steamboat springs. Shortly before you exit the mountains you'll see one of the nicer valley views off to the West. The route ends when you pull into Steamboat and can take advantage of a world class ski town's off season activities and attractions. This route has a great variety of different terrain to see. Lakes, dry mesas and mountain peaks, to lush forest and awesome valleys.

Road Quality

Overall the road quality is good in terms of black top conditions. It doesn't have a whole lot of twists and turns to peg your fun meter but it does have some nice rolling inclines and turns that you can twist the throttle on if you so desire.

Roadside Amenities

Not much to do "off the road" until you finally arrive at Steamboat. Once there however, you will find a robust ski-village full of restaurants, shops, and recreational activities. You can save a lot of $$$ by buying ski garb in the off season from the many ski-shops. Also you will be able to take advantage of summer ski area attractions such as renting a mountain bike then jumping on a ski-lift to the top of a mountain and having a blast coming down - all with minimal pedaling. Lastly, what may be the greatest perk is the money you'll save by staying at the multitude of hotels, motels, or condos that are renting rooms at bargain off-season prices.

Additional Info

- View the weather forecast for this area from Yahoo weather .

Nickname (optional) Bill Belei

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Reviewed by Medic Rider on August 18, 2011 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
motorcycle_type: Cruiser
Comment: I did this route many years ago and it was just like the author described it. I liked the fact that it was off the beaten path so I really had the road to myself much of the time. Great ride through a lot of untouched rocky mountain splendor!!!
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Reviewed by Guest on January 16, 2008 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: john
motorcycle_year: 2003
motorcycle_make: BMW
motorcycle_type: Sport-Touring
Comment: For an interesting variation with a lot less traffic, go west on 134 north of Kremmling to Toponas. Then north on 131 to Steamboat through Yampa, Phippsburg and Oak Creek.
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