Mad Creek Trailhead — Attraction in Steamboat Springs

This is our favorite trail in Steamboat, and a perfect 5.5 miles (not the 8-10 listed on some apps) We did it on Sunday at 10 am in the Height of fall color season, and saw maybe 20 people.

The trail starts out with an incline for approximately 1 mile, but it is not difficult. Once you reach the barn, about 2 miles in, you’ve found a good place to stop, have lunch, and enjoy the wide-open scenery. There’s a loop down to the bridge and back up around the back of the field that adds about 1.5 miles of the total trip, and it’s totally worth it.

We saw a few off-leash dogs, which our dog does not appreciate. But the owners appeared to be friendly and leashed their dogs as soon as they saw us. If you fly a drone, it’s a lovely space to get great shots. Photos below are at the top by the barn, Creek and...

Wonderful little 1.5 mile hike up to Mad Creek Barn, an original homestead that is really well preserved by the state of Colorado. Once arrived, you will have great access to the entire barn and the foundation of the farmhouse. The hike starts out moderate for about a third of a mile and then it descends into easy. You need to look down the side of the trail cliffside as this was once a wagon wide road cut in with dynamite so that people could get up to the farm, and today the barn. Peering over the side of the trail you can see all of the rock work and bridges that they made to turn this cliffside cutting into a wagon sized trail to get to the farm. Some of it must have been difficult...

Only giving this four stars because there was a rock slide 1.2 miles up across the trail. Could have been from yesterday’s rain? A few people we met had come from the other direction and had to climb over to get down. We didn’t have to as we went clockwise on the trail. We opted to turn around for safety’s sake and because there was a HUGE rattlesnake right on the edge of the path by the rockfall. I would Keep dogs leashed up there for safety due to snakes. Several others mentioned rattlesnakes as well. Be aware of your surroundings....