It’s spa-time in Steamboat Springs just about now. Yes, it’s ski season too, but I don’t care much for skiing, and I do like a good soak and massage. Ditto for my 19-year-old daughter, Audrey. So, when our family went to Steamboat recently, we skipped the slopes and used our time and money creating a self-catered Colorado spa retreat.

Sure, you can spa it up in any ski town, but Steamboat is special twice over. Once, because the town’s hot springs naturally form the backbone of a rejuvenating retreat, and again because of the singular lodgings at Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp (perry-mansfield.org). This 97-year-old summer camp appears to be unsullied by modern times, yet it’s a mere two miles from downtown Steamboat. Seven of its cabins, complete with wood-burning stoves, are rentable in the off-season. In March and April you’ll experience snowy footpaths, rustic décor, and perfect peace. Of course, you can book a ski condo or motel room in town for your spa retreat, but Perry-Mansfield can’t be duplicated anywhere else.

As for Steamboat’s hot springs, they put the “ahhh” in “spa.” The Old Town Hot Springs (steamboathotsprings.org) has just renovated its swimming and soaking pools. There’s even a climbing wall, so soakers can become climbers and then plunge back into 100 degree water. Admission is just $15, making it the working woman’s spa of choice. Audrey loved this place because it gave us a two-fer: a place to be playful in the larger pools, one of which has a hot water slide, and space to be contemplative in the smaller soaking pools.

Further afield, you can soak at the spiffed up Strawberry Hot Springs
(strawberryhotsprings.com); where getting there is part of the adventure. The road is ostensibly restricted to chains or 4-wheel-drive vehicles in winter and mud season (now). Luckily, shuttle services will run you up there for a price. This is how we went, sharing a shuttle with a Miami family. They were as thrilled with the ride as with the springs, and asked the driver to pull over for photos several times, including one shot of a herd of reindeer.

If the last time you visited here was decades ago, you’ll be delighted to find that it’s not just hot and wet, but also beautiful and well-tended. The bathroom facility is an architectural wonder, with stone tiling, exposed bracing, a curved roofline and windows that reach way up high. If it weren’t for the toilets, you’d think you were in a first-class mountain lodge.

Nobody visits for the bathrooms, of course; they come for the hot water that streams down the hillside to mix with river water. The rock-lined pools range from scalding to freezing. When Audrey and I visited, falling snowflakes melted in rising steam, something that’s a memory-maker. By the way, these pools are clothing optional after dark. I attach no value judgment to that; I’m just saying.

A peaceful place to lay your head, hot water to soak your weary bones. What’s left? Bodywork, of course. You’ll find sweet scents, dark chocolate, herbal teas, and skillful hands in many places, including the two hot springs. I found them at two by-locals- for-locals establishments : Life Essentials Wellness Spa and Rocky Mountain Day Spa.

Life Essentials (lifeessentials-inc.com) is the place to go for anti-aging and relaxation. It offered many treats that were new to me, including full-body oxygen therapy, a detoxifying ion cleansing, infrared light treatments for the face, and alkalized drinking water. And the traditional massage was fitted to my every need and whim.

The owner of the longstanding Rocky Mountain Spa, Seana Cardillo, (steamboatmassage.com), identifies her place as the more “Western” of the two day spas (as in East-West, not Cowboy-West). The same practitioners work at her sister spa at the Sheraton resort up by the ski lifts, but at the downtown location, the prices are lower and there’s a bit less “fluff and buff,“ she says. No wonder locals like it—and savvy travelers, too.
Locals are also proud that they’ve got their own spa products manufacturer: Little Moon Essentials (littlemoonessentials.com), created by Laura Lamun. She herself is a force to be reckoned with: 4’ 10,” purple haired (at least, she was when I met her), a voice that’s half music and half laughter, and energy enough to light up her end of town. Her business—a collection of 100 percent natural body care products—is housed in a basic industrial shed whose interior is painted in bright reds, purples, yellows, and blues. It’s worth taking a tour of her production and packaging areas. Think of it as a mini-tour of a micro-blendery. If you go, you’re very likely to meet the Chief Formulator—Lamun—in the flesh. And massage is available here, too.

It’s great when others work our muscles, but even better when we work our own. On a spa retreat, yoga was the natural choice. We had the chance to practice it in a “50 and better” class at the Steamboat Springs Yoga Center, overlooking the Yampa River. Audrey didn’t come away sweaty, but she did come away with a very positive impression of Steamboat’s septuagenarians, one of whom offered us food recommendations. From her list and our explorations, we’ve pieced together the following recommendations:

This town of 10,000 has, surprisingly, three natural foods stores: Healthy Solutions, Bamboo Market, and Sweet Pea Market, all within walking distance of each other.

For lunch, Freshies is touted the most; we liked it, but were surprised to find that the downtown venerable institution, Winona’s at 617 Lincoln Av., is equally good at serving up fresh fare. (It’s known for hearty breakfasts, but has updated with the times.)

For dinner, Café Diva and CV Bistro are indeed gastronomically noteworthy. If you’d prefer to eat really wonderful food in the calm of your cabin, then stop by The Drunken Onion, a place where the very best of food is all packaged to go. How does a dinner of carrot ginger soup, grilled asparagus, blackened chicken with lemon chive aioli, and peanut butter pie sound?

Your visit will be over all too soon, but before you leave town, make two more quick stops. The first is to buy the best toffee I’ve ever eaten (sorry, Enstroms). It can be had by contacting Kari Pollert through the website, dianestoffees.com. There is no consistent retailer for these delectables yet, so you may end up meeting the maker in a parking lot, as we did – which only added to the homegrown charm of her confections.

Last stop: the Deep Steep, a tea shop. While tea doesn’t leap to my mind when I think of a health-promoting getaway, the motto here is, Tea: It Does the Body Good. You can learn all about the health benefits of tea, but I propose you admire the extensive menu, and learn a trick or two about tea preparation—even if you take your tea in a to-go cup.

Tea and toffee in hand, Audrey and I sat back, smugly reviewing our retreat. Her report: “People back home will be surprised when I can’t tell them if the skiing in Steamboat has been any good. I’ll just smile, and think to myself, ‘I bet we had a better time than the skiers did.’”

In addition to writing The Enlightened Tourist column for Nexus, freelance writer Wendy Underhill has written features and investigative reports on a number of diverse topics.