OK. We had a good ol' time there. What a magical place.

6 of us went together. We took a shuttle from the ski area, which took about 15 minutes. The drive was pretty easy given all the snow recently. But the shuttle takes some of the stress away and $32 includes a towel, flashlight/glowstick, plastic bag, bottle water. If you drive yourself and get stuck... it costs $500 to get help. I recommend the shuttle in winter.

Now, we also made the mistake of going after dark our first time. The naked thing was fine with me and we definitely went nekkid too. The mistake was not ever seeing the place in daylight. It is SUPER DARK at night. Even with a decent amount of moonlight, we could not see a damn thing! That's great if you are a little shy... the nudity is almost not an issue because you cannot see anything. Being unfamiliar with the place then walking around naked in freezing cold weather made it very interesting, not to mention totally dangerous. There are irregular steps and random stone pathways with snow, water and mud going all over... treacherous! There are even random ledges, benches and boulders underwater to get tripped up on. Really ... you could slip, bust your head and be laying face down in the water and no one would know.

I recommend wearing Crocs or something similar, we all ended up with stubbed toes and scrapes all over trying to feel our way around. Not to mention the ground is cold as hell with snow and water everywhere. Plan to arrive before sunset so you can learn the layout and still be able to enjoy clothing-optional social. Plus, I can imagine sunset would be an incredible time to be there! This is not some fancy pants spa either... so plan on bringing all the amenities you'll need in a waterproof bag.

They also say no alcohol, but there is no way to enforce that and the staffer who showed us around said it was cool as long as you keep it on the down-low and do not use glass. We pre-mixed cocktails and put them in little one liter bottles, then poured into small plastic cups. Don't plan on getting drunk tho, as that would be really annoying to others. Pack everything out, of course. More importantly, bring lots of bottled water - or plan on buying some there.

Otherwise, this place was incredible. The water was fresh and there was a wide range of temperature pools to sit in. My favorite was up the hill above the larger pools. It had a hot water stream going into it, so the closer you went to the stream, the hotter it got. We met a few interesting people who were all nice and friendly. I will certainly go back every time I go to Steamboat.

This was just a short drive from the "main" street in Steamboat, it was well worth it. They have nice changing facilities on site and plenty of pools to choose from, depending on your temperature requests! Sunset is an especially nice time to go, we visited in the summer but want to make a return trip this February. Enjoy!

Wow. I had never been to hot springs before but this blew my mind beyond all expectations. The road is not that bad, but I live in CO so may be biased - we took a 94 Honda Accord Ex up it, driving really slow towards the end, and made it just fine. This was in October, I am sure in the winter it is more treacherous. I went with a girlfriend on a girl's weekend and just could not believe the beauty. first of all, take your own towel, water, and comfy shoes/clothes to wander between pools in, as the pools are separated by a stone path and it can get quite chilly - and this is not a luxury facility where you can get anything you need at your every whim. The springs are very family-friendly and I saw many families with small children there. there are many pools with different water temperatures, and a cold river to plunge into when you get too warm. There is massage, but only one therapist was there while we were there and he was "in session" the whole time, so I would recommend making reservations. the bathouses - I'm not sure if they are under renovation or what, but the doors on the rooms didn't lock and they were made of plywood. if you can avoid having to change at the facilities I would recommend it, as there are only a few stalls. there are restrooms in bathouse area - I am not sure if people just didn't see the signs, or what. if you go after dark or in the evening, be aware that it is swimsuit-optional, and you have to take your own flashlight to make your way around the paths. be careful not to shine your flashlight into any of the pools if you do this, as people will likely get irritated as it is a very nonjudgmental, all-types-of-bodies environment. I found the staff to be very friendly and people in the springs to be very chill and laid-back. there is beautiful scenery in every direction, which creates a very soothing, spiritual atmosphere. a must-see in steamboat.

The last two miles of the drive up the mountain were tough, but we were well rewarded with a dip in the hot springs. We went early (after sunset, it's clothing optional). Sitting in the mountains, watching the pine trees while soaking in natural springs was incredible and highly recommended.