(Photo: Pick up a Western hat while you’re in town – downtown Steamboat store offer options from traditional Stetsons to custom contemporary styles. Photo by Brooke Welch.)

Featured the Steamboat Springs Visitors' Guide Summer 2024. 

Steamboat Springs, CO - Black ones, blue ones, straw ones: Western hats come in all sizes, colors and fabrics. The one thing they all have in common is that they are as good-lookin’ as they are practical.

Cowboy hats protect wearers from sun, wind, rain and snow. They’re durable; built to last for generations. They’re customizable – think feathers, beads, silver buckles – and they’re versatile. Routt County cowboys and cowgirls generally have at least two: one for work and one for dress.

Some folks prefer a traditional Western hat: muted colors, simple bands, classic shapes. Stetson, a name so well-known it has become synonymous with cowboy hat, is available locally at F.M. Light & Sons in downtown Steamboat Springs.

Other people want a modern, customized hat. Steamboat Hatters, on 11th Street in Old Town, offers clients the chance to build their own hat, and it can even be done online.

Visitors are just as likely as locals to purchase Western hats. They make great memories of a wonderful time spent in Steamboat, as well as versatile headwear that makes a statement back home.

Hats, like all things Western, have a few traditions of their own.

If you can, always hang your hat. If that’s not an option, set it upside-down on its crown to keep its good luck from running out. Don’t ever place it on a bed; that will bring on an argument. Never mess with another person’s hat – one notable exception: a man who lets a woman wear his hat is indicating his interest in her.

Hats should be removed during prayer, church, indoor weddings and funerals, the national anthem, and when meeting a woman for the first time. And be sure to tip your hat as the old school Western way of saying “howdy.”