We found a Shangra-La style retreat at Strawberry Hot Springs Park.  The drive from downtown Steamboat was only about twenty minutes, but the views as we headed further up into the mountains took our breath away.  Said to be one of the most spectacular mineral springs in the world, Strawberry Hot Springs is nestled alongside the Hot Springs Creek and surrounded on all sides by forest.



The view walking down to the pools.

They had several areas partitioned off in this shelter where you could change your clothes.

The pools got progressively cooler the farther down the rocks you climbed.  Because it was pretty warm outside, we preferred the pools around ninety degrees.

The flower gardens were bursting with color against the rock landscape.

One of our swimmer girls!

Taking a short hot springs "time-out".

Hayden was thrilled with all the sparkly rocks she found at the bottom of the pools.

Catching a ride.

One of the sources of the mineral springs.

                          What a great fun and relaxing way to spend the day.

 

 After the hot springs, we stopped at a local gelato shop for a cool treat.  Rian picked lemon gelato, Jessie picked pomegranite, and Hayden chose a mix of strawberry, vanilla and blueberry cheesecake.  Yum!

We finished the last evening of our trip unwinding in the local Little Toots Park- what a perfect name!

As the sun went down, we wandered around the grounds and reflected on what a good week it had been.