Routt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,829. The county seat is Steamboat Springs. Routt County comprises the Steamboat Springs, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Placer gold was found near Hahns Peak in 1864 as part of the Colorado Gold Rush.Voynick, S.M., 1992, Colorado Gold, Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company, Routt County was created out of the western portion of Grand County on January 29, 1877. It was named in honor of John Long Routt, the last territorial and first state governor of Colorado. The western portion of Routt County was split off to form

Moffat County Moffat County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,292. The county seat is Craig. With an area of 4,751 square miles, it is the 2nd largest county by area in Colorado, behind Las An ...

on February 27, 1911.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Carbon County, Wyoming - north * Jackson County - east * Grand County - southeast * Eagle County - south * Garfield County - south-southwest *

Rio Blanco County Rio Blanco County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,529. The county seat is Meeker. The name of the county is the Spanish language name for the White River which runs through i ...

- southwest *

- west

Major Highways

U.S. Highway 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

State Highway 131 * Colorado 134

State Highway 134

National protected areas

* Mount Zirkel Wilderness * Routt National Forest *

Sarvis Creek Wilderness The Sarvis Creek Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located south of Steamboat Springs, Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of ...

* White River National Forest

State protected areas

* Pearl Lake State Park * Stagecoach State Park *

Steamboat Lake State Park Steamboat Lake State Park is a Colorado state park located in Routt County north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and near the community of Hahns Peak Village. The park, established west of Hahns Peak in 1967, includes a reservoir. Park facilit ...

Yampa River State Park Yampa River State Park is a Colorado state park located along the Yampa River in Routt and Moffat Counties in northwestern Colorado in the United States. Features Yampa River State Park provides 13 access points for boaters along of the Yampa ...

Trails and byways

* Continental Divide National Scenic Trail * Fish Creek Falls National Recreation Trail *

Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway The Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway is a National Forest Scenic Byway and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Routt, Garfield, and Rio Blanco counties, Colorado, US. Route Gallery File:Ripple Creek Overlook-5.JPG, The Flat Tops Wilde ...

* Great Parks Bicycle Route *

Swamp Park National Recreation Trail A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 19,690 people, 7,953 households, and 4,779 families living in the county. The population density was 8 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 11,217 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.90% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.39% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.73% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 3.22% of the population were Hispanic Latino of any race. Of the 7,953 households 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.60% were married couples living together, 5.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.90% were non-families. 24.40% of households were one person and 3.70% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.92. The age distribution was 22.60% under the age of 18, 10.10% from 18 to 24, 36.50% from 25 to 44, 25.70% from 45 to 64, and 5.00% 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 116.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.40 males. The median household income was $53,612 and the median family income was $61,927. Males had a median income of $36,997 versus $26,576 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,792. About 2.80% of families and 6.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.20% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Routt County tilted Republican for much of the second half of the 20th century. From 1952 to 1988, Republicans carried the county in all but one election. The one break in this trend came in 1964, when Lyndon Johnson won Routt by a healthy margin of 63–37. Since the late 1980s, Routt County has trended Democratic. It swung from a 34-point win for Ronald Reagan in 1984 to only a five-point win for George H. W. Bush in 1988. In 1992, Bill Clinton became the first Democrat to win the county since 1964 and only the second since 1948, carrying it with modest pluralities in both of his bids. George W. Bush won the county in 2000 by only 264 votes. However, John Kerry won it by a 10-point majority in 2004, and since then Routt has become powerfully Democratic, with Democrats winning by margins rivaling those in the counties closer to Denver. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the county 54–37. Routt County continued its Democratic trend in 2020, with Joe Biden winning the county 63–35. This is the largest margin of victory for a Democratic presidential candidate in the county since the 1916 election.

Communities

City

* Steamboat Springs

Towns

Hayden Hayden may refer to: Places Inhabited places in the United States *Hayden, Alabama *Hayden, Arizona *Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona *Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California *Hayden, Colorado *Hayden, Idaho *Hayden ...

* Oak Creek *

Yampa Yampa is a Colorado municipalities#Statutory town, statutory town in Routt County, Colorado, Routt County, Colorado, United States. The population was 429 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. City name is the Ute dialect, Northern U ...

Census-designated place

Phippsburg Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,155 at the 2020 census. It is within the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, Biddefo ...

Other places

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educat ...

* Hahns Peak Village *

Toponas Toponas is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Routt County, Colorado, Routt County, Colorado, United States. Description The community took its name from nearby Toponas Rock. The population in 2010 was 48; in 2017 it is estim ...

* Milner

References

External links

*
Colorado County Evolution by Don StanwyckColorado Historical Society
{{Coord, 40.48, -106.99, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CO_source:UScensus1990 Colorado counties 1877 establishments in Colorado Populated places established in 1877