You can see it from almost anywhere in town—the mountain known as Sleeping Giant, which as it happens—really does look like a sleeping giant. The 8,744-peak, officially and alternately known as Elk Mountain, stands alone, eerily rising from the valley floor like a giant with a blanket draped along its flanks, its knees drawn up, its profile broad and strong. It’s no surprise that there are many legends surrounding the iconic mountain that dominates the skyline on the northwest end of the valley. Some say the Giant is responsible for the “Yampa Valley Curse,” which makes people lose their heart to Steamboat, and never be able to stay away. Long before that, it was said to be a sacred mountain for the Ute Indians who summered here long before fur trappers settled in the valley and believed the mountain provided protection from settlers from the west. There’s even a story that the natives hunted rattlesnakes and set them loose on Sleeping Giant to keep settlers away—this one has at least some truth to it as the mountain is still riddled with rattlesnakes to this day.