Bicycle Friendly Community

Steamboat Springs, CO | Silver Level

Community Highlights: This well-known ski town is also growing in fame as a bike town. Steamboat Springs dedication to becoming an even greater place for cyclists is demonstrated in the adoption of the Action Plan for Bicycle Friendly Communities which ensures that, "all city policies, plans, codes, and programs are updated and implemented to take advantage of every opportunity to create a more bicycle-friendly community." The community boasts a 4 percent bicycling mode share, an ever growing network of on-road and off-road bicycling facilities - including 266 miles of natural-surface trails - and encouragement efforts such as the Town Challenge Mountain Bike Race Series, Bike to Work Week promotions, and community support for Ride the Rockies and the Bicycle Tour of Colorado.

Best Result of Designation: The Steamboat Springs designation has generated public awareness. The local political bodies responded to their constituents' enthusiasm for the Bicycle Friendly initiative by ramping-up their support for bicycling. This increased support was both financial, in the form of budget allocations, and political, in the form of Community Development Code provisions for bicycle facilities.