The Utes used the land that is now Steamboat Lake State Park as seasonal hunting grounds. Routt County Road 129, which leads from Steamboat Springs to Steamboat and Pearl lakes, was once a trail used by Native Americans as they moved across the land, following the seasonal migration paths of the animals they hunted. Because early peoples migrated through the area and did not build settlements, few archeological artifacts have been recovered.

As mining declined in the early twentieth century, ranching became a primary industry, first with cattle and later sheep. Grazing rights were contested between cattle and sheep ranchers during the “sheep and cattle wars.” John Kelly Heart and his wife Pearl were sheep ranchers where Pearl Lake now is located. Remaining historical sites include a saw mill site, the Quealy Cabin and the Wheeler Homestead area. Most of the Wheeler homestead was burned and inundated by Steamboat Lake.