Outdoor Recreation

Steamboat Springs can close the Yampa River — a hotspot for tubing, swimming and fishing — when it's too low and hot.

For years, it’s been an open secret that the seemingly pristine body of Lonesome Lake in the Wind River Range isn’t so pristine. Now, new federal data suggest it’s actually 384 times higher in fecal matter than what’s considered safe.

Amid a Republican-led push to sell millions of acres of public lands to alleviate the housing affordability crisis, some governors in the Mountain West are pushing back.

The park is on track to have its busiest year ever.

The Albany County Outdoor School focuses on science and outdoor recreation, using Curt Gowdy State Park and the Snowy Range as classrooms.

Frustration among outfitters and guides over federal permitting is not new. Recreation-focused staff and budgets at national forests, in particular, have gone down as demand has gone up. This has been resulting in lengthy delays in responses to applications.

Federal officials are reportedly considering shrinking at least six national monuments in the Mountain West region to increase energy development on public lands.

Friends of the Bridger-Teton is hiring five former forest workers. They’ll help complete projects the forest can’t get to this summer – an accumulation of years of lack of funding and more recently, DOGE cuts.

An uncertain future of new tariffs has the Colorado outdoor industry concerned. New and longtime brands are now preparing for what's next.

Visitors to both parks should keep an eye out for park vehicles and snow removal equipment, and respect any road and wildlife closures.