The USGS quadrangle titled “Steamboat Springs” was mapped in 1969 and issued with a 1979 imprint, capturing one of Colorado’s most evocative mountain towns at a pivotal moment in its modern transformation. Drawn at the highly legible 1:24,000 scale, the map presents Steamboat Springs not merely as a settlement, but as a landscape of water, slope, forest, and route. The Yampa River threads through the valley, anchoring the town’s geography, while Fish Creek and its forks descend from higher ground with the precision characteristic of federal topographic mapping. Contour lines articulate every rise and hollow, revealing the natural amphitheater of hills and ridges that helped shape Steamboat’s identity as both a ranching center and a high-country resort.

Produced by the United States Geological Survey, this map belongs to one of the most respected cartographic traditions in American history. Since the late nineteenth century, the USGS has mapped the nation with scientific rigor, creating indispensable records of terrain, waterways, infrastructure, mineral resources, forests, and settlement patterns. Its topographic sheets were practical tools for engineers, land managers, geologists, foresters, planners, and travelers, yet they also possess a quiet graphic elegance. Here, the familiar USGS language of brown contours, blue hydrography, black cultural features, and green woodland areas transforms the Steamboat Springs region into a finely ordered portrait of place. The result is both technical document and historical landscape image, precise enough for field use and rich enough for study.

The map’s topographic character is especially compelling, because Steamboat Springs sits at the meeting point of valley floor and mountain ascent. The Yampa River corridor establishes a broad, habitable axis, while tributaries such as Fish Creek, North Fork Fish Creek, Middle Fork Fish Creek, Ranch Creek, and Coal Creek reveal the drainage pattern carved into the surrounding terrain. O’Farrell Hill, Storm Mountain, and the slopes associated with Mount Werner rise in sculptural contour intervals, giving immediate visual form to elevation change. The mapped landscape is one of transition: open ranchlands and town streets give way to wooded slopes, steep draws, and higher ridgelines. In this sense, the sheet conveys the physical drama that made the area attractive long before resort development accelerated.

Historically, the 1969 date is particularly resonant for Steamboat Springs. The town’s ski industry had recently entered a new era, with the Steamboat ski area developing on the mountain long associated with Storm Mountain and later Mount Werner, named for Olympic skier Buddy Werner. At the same time, Steamboat retained strong ties to ranching, hot springs tourism, rail and road connections, and the agricultural rhythms of the Yampa Valley. This map therefore records the region at a moment when its future as a major recreation destination was becoming increasingly visible, but before later decades of extensive residential growth, expanded resort infrastructure, and intensified tourism reshaped the valley. Its roads, watercourses, and contours offer a measured snapshot of that changing balance.

Beyond the town itself, the map evokes the wider geography of northwestern Colorado: the approach toward Rabbit Ears Pass, the forested high country of Routt National Forest, and the routes and watersheds that connect Steamboat Springs with Pleasant Valley, Gore Pass, Hahns Peak, and the broader mountain systems beyond. The surrounding region is defined by contrasts—rolling volcanic uplands, river bottoms, lodgepole and aspen-covered slopes, and distant wilderness areas such as the Flat Tops. Later landmarks, including Stagecoach Reservoir to the south, would become part of the area’s recreational identity, but this map preserves the earlier topographic framework from which that modern landscape emerged. It is a beautifully disciplined record of a celebrated Colorado mountain setting, poised between frontier memory and resort-era expansion.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Steamboat Springs
• Yampa River
• Fish Creek
• Mount Werner
• Rabbit Ears Pass
• Stagecoach Reservoir
• Routt National Forest
• Flat Tops Wilderness Area
• Gore Pass
• Pleasant Valley
• Storm Mountain
• North Fork Fish Creek
• Middle Fork Fish Creek
• O'Farrell Hill
• Ranch Creek
• Hahns Peak
• Coal Creek

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a federal agency known for mapping and surveying the United States.
• Historical 1:24,000-scale topographic map of the Steamboat Springs area in Colorado.
• Dated 1969 and published with a 1979 imprint.
• Includes contour lines showing elevation and terrain variation.
• Uses standard USGS symbols to represent landforms and geographic features.
• Shows diverse topography, including valleys, hills, and notable elevation changes.
• Reflects an area that has likely experienced later changes in infrastructure, recreation, tourism, residential growth, and land use.

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.