Steamboat RockFrom the parking area, the trail tracks across the lower slope of the rocky butte. Wildflowers abound along the lower foot of the butte: arrowleaf balsamroot and prairie star flowers are particularly prominent. Within the first few hundred yards, the trail becomes very rough and steep for about 0.15 mile as it runs up through a slot in the cliffs. Halfway up the butte, the trail slides across a broad ledge, which is carpeted with sagebrush buttercups. The trail splits here (both forks lead to the top). Go left to climb another couple hundred vertical feet to the western end of Steamboat Rock's top. Stroll over to the sharp edge of the butte to peer down to the lake far below. The top of the rock here is blanketed in foliage, with a large garden of prairie lupines. Drop back down the trail and head up the eastern spur trail to reach the eastern flank of the butte's top. Keep an eye out for deer here as a small herd lives on the rock, and they generally browse up high during the day but come down for water in the morning. Scramble around the butte as much as you desire before heading back down.
Driving Directions:
From Ellensburg, drive east on Interstate 90 to exit 151 (State Route 283), signed "Ephrata/Soap Lake." Drive through Ephrata. At Soap Lake, turn north on State Route 17. Drive through Soap Lake and keep going about 20 miles to SR 2. Turn right onto SR 2. In 4.2 miles, you'll come to a Y junction. Stay straight to merge onto SR 155. At 15.5 miles from the Y junction, turn left into Steamboat Rock State Park. In 2 miles, pass through the entrance station, to arrive in another 0.5 mile at the trailhead area. Recent Trip Reports
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Day hike
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Snow on trail
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Great views. Snow in areas but easy enough. No one out on the trail today. Lots of deer we saw...
Great views. Snow in areas but easy enough. No one out on the trail today. Lots of deer we saw maybe 20 around parking area.
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Did this hike several times while we were camping. It's a great workout and SO beautiful. Just make...
Did this hike several times while we were camping. It's a great workout and SO beautiful. Just make sure you give yourself enough time to get down before it gets dark. Read the whole story on my blog: http://kellbell-whywouldany[…]2011/08/steamboat-rock.html
Day hike
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Wildflowers blooming
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Got to the park around 1:30 on Sunday and there were very few people there. Before we could even start...
Got to the park around 1:30 on Sunday and there were very few people there. Before we could even start hiking we were distracted trying to photograph butterflies and baby geese. The weather was great. The hike to the top took less an hour so we spent about 3 to 4 hours walking around up top, basically explored all of the outer-most areas, taking in the amazing views of the Coulee corridor and surrounding area. We saw lots of really interesting rock formations and found the big nest in a rock crevasse but it was empty. Birds and blooming wildflowers were abundant, it was really quite relaxing, magical in a way. Even with breaks, photos, and a few romps off-path, we got around the whole thing in less than 5 hours. I will definitely be coming back again soon, this rock rocks!
Day hike
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Wildflowers blooming
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This park has been on my list for a while, I'm so glad I picked the best day we've had...
This park has been on my list for a while, I'm so glad I picked the best day we've had all year to be here! It surpassed my expectations completely! I wished I had 3-4 days to enjoy all that is has to offer. But I will be back!
Campground is growing and there's some construction but that didn't distract me from the beauty all around. The trail up is easy, but going down is never fun on the loose rock/scree stuff for me. But I saw families doing it so I must just be getting old! Views up top were divine! I move this park to my top 5 of the state! I didn't see any snakes, lots of flowers starting to come out, I saw my first shooting star patch of the season, which was exciting. I was treated to a spectacular sunrise the next morning. I hated to leave the area. Day hike
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Wildflowers blooming
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The Lupine and Balsamroot have not started blooming yet below Steamboat Rock. The beginning of the trail is on sand...
The Lupine and Balsamroot have not started blooming yet below Steamboat Rock. The beginning of the trail is on sand until you reach the base of Steamboat Rock where you begin the steep, rocky, scree climb through a slot in the Rock. (One section of this climb is worse on your return to the TH and I think "never again" will I do this hike as I return, but in a year or two I remember how "cool" it is to look down on the eagle's nest, so up again I go!) At about 1/2 mile you reach the middle ledge where we turn right and continue east upward to the top where we continue North along the perimeter of the plateau to return counter clock-wise to the TH. We guess this is about 7 miles. As we were eating lunch about 15 years ago, we discovered an eagle's nest below us. We have returned many times since to watch the parents care for their babies. There were 2 babies seen this year. I think it will be 2-3 weeks before the balsamroot, lupine, and bitterroot are at their peak as they have barely started to bloom. However, we enjoyed the blooming sagebrush violets, bluebells, phlox, wooly-pod milk-vetch to name a few of the plants. The day was sunny and calm. We saw several deer, no rattlesnakes, and did not find any ticks! We enjoyed our 7 hour day exploring the area.
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Steamboat Rock State Park. Photo copyright Alan Bauer.
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