Steamboat Rock
Steamboat Rock is a massive "island" of a rock mountain floating on the shore of Banks Lake. The durable rock was left behind through all of the Great Missoula Floods and was later nearly surrounded by the waters diverted by the Grand Coulee Dam. The top of the rock is a broad, flat plateau offering stunning views across the scablands of coulee country.
From 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
Hiked here recently?
Submit a trip report!
There are
20
trip reports for this hike.
See all trip reports for this hike.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
with photos
The main event for our family's weekend trip to the Grand Coulee area was a hike up Steamboat Rock. ...
The main event for our family's weekend trip to the Grand Coulee area was a hike up Steamboat Rock. The kids were excited to climb "a mountain." I couldn't bear to tell them it was actually a mesa.
It was in the upper 80s with little breeze and absolutely no shade, but everyone was determined to hike to the top. We started our trek at the parking lot near the boat ramp, but there are routes that also come up from the campground that meet at the base of the climb. The trail we took was sandy, but the balsamroot and lupine were lovely here. At the base of the Rock, there is a picnic table (and a bit further off, a better picnic table under a tree). The ascent from here is short, but steep and treacherous. The rocks underfoot get smaller and smaller until you are climbing on little pebbles that slide under your feet. There is little to hold on to. Our 7 year old had little trouble going up, but slid some going down. The 4 year needed some assistance going up, and held our hand or slid on her behind going down. I consider it a miracle that we didn't need to break out the first aid kit. If I were to rate this for age appropriateness, I'd say 6 or 7 and up. Nevertheless, we all made it through the notch. We turned left at the junction and headed south for our summit. The views are amazing from up here - the campground, Banks Lake all around and even a peek at the snowy-topped Cascades. We wandered about this flank of Steamboat Rock for awhile, admiring the bitterroot blooms and other flowers, then descended into a little pocket where we found the one tree to have lunch. I would've liked to explore the northern reaches of Steamboat Rock, but the temperatures were climbing into the 90s and the kids were beat. Instead of the sandy trail back to the boating area, we took the trail to the campground where we found some sprinklers to cool off. The kids were super proud of their accomplishments, and it was well worth the effort. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
with photos
New Moon night was May 10th. I lead full moon hikes each month with the Cascadians and recently some...
New Moon night was May 10th. I lead full moon hikes each month with the Cascadians and recently someone suggested going on an adventure during a new moon night for the purpose of star gazing in the dark night skies, without the light of the giant orb.
I planned a trip with that purpose to Steamboat Rock (and ended up going solo). I tried to time it for full-on floral displays at the same time. Did I ever!!! May 10th was a calm, 80 degree day, without the typical winds that can suddenly ravage the shores of Banks Lake in the late afternoon and evening. The balsamroot below the giant rock were in full bloom, lovely in the afternoon light. I headed up the trail to the top a bit before 7:00pm, anticipating an 8:25 sunset. The sunset wasn't very spectacular, as there were too many clouds in the western skies. However, the glow against the walls of the Grand Coulee to the east of Banks Lake was amazing! I love the view from the northern edge of Steamboat Rock, of scattered rocky and grassy islands, inlets, and secret alcoves and shorelines. The flowers were pretty atop the rock; I forgot how many grasses sweep across the high ground, with the backdrop of distant cliffs and the dark waters of the lake below. I met two rattlesnakes before making friends with some other folks who wanted to walk out after dark by headlamp. On our decent, we began counting pairs of glowing eyeballs. The deer had bedded down on the lower bench of Steamboat Rock. One set of eyes, then another, and another... right off our pathway. We counted five sets of eyes, likely wondering how rude that we were disturbing their rest. The route down is dicey in the dark, as the trail is dry, with little pebbles and moving scree in places. But, what a wonderful experience to be atop this ancient flood rock in the pitch black of a new moon night! It's amazing how dark these new moon nights are...
Steamboat Rock
— Jun 17, 2012
— RedBackpack
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
What an AMAZING little hike. I typically pick out-of-the-way hikes, but this was such a treat! Very ...
What an AMAZING little hike. I typically pick out-of-the-way hikes, but this was such a treat! Very quick elevation gain and a huge payoff! What a view!
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
with photos
This is a hike for the bird lovers! Birdsong everywhere, bluebirds were the highlight for me, but th...
This is a hike for the bird lovers! Birdsong everywhere, bluebirds were the highlight for me, but the lark song was beautiful all the way up. We stayed overnight in Grand Coulee, and did this hike in the AM. It was cloudy and cool, but didn't rain until we started down. There is one 'spiderman' section halfway up that would make this unsuitable for small children. Older ones will love it! Wander around at the top and look down on the hawks and swallows hunting along the cliff face. We walked the east side of the loop for a long ways, saw the deer herd and a few marmots.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
No water source
Expand report text
Hide report text
Read full report
with photos
We got a fairly early start this morning, as we were camped only twenty miles away. We parked in the...
We got a fairly early start this morning, as we were camped only twenty miles away. We parked in the day use area, which is way at the far end of Steamboat Rock State Park. There are three trailheads, one across the road from each major camping area and one across the road from the day use area. The three trails converge at the base of the ascent to Steamboat Rock.
As noted in Bauer & Nelson's Best Desert Hikes Washington (Mountaineers, 2004), the first 0.15 miles is a steep, rough, rocky ascent through a cleft. The trail then levels out and crosses a broad plateau or ledge, gaining some elevation before splitting into two forks going to two different bluffs. We went right to the easier, larger bluff, hoping to see the deer herd which lives there. Once at the top, we circumambulated the edge of the bluff in a counterclockwise direction, first looking down on Steamboat Rock State Park below us with the inner waterways that surround the peninsula. We walked north to overlook the beautiful, intricate waterways at the north end of Banks Lake. At about that point, we saw some pinkish flowers in clusters (buckwheat?), some right at the edge, and also a rock rose. We continued around the back (west) side of the plateau, which does not have a well defined edge but rolls away in grassy undulations. The trail was very faint on this side. We saw two marmots on a rock, and we had a distant view of the main part of Banks Lake to the west. We thought we had gone far enough to be near the starting point of the loop, so Slow Loris checked his GPS. He had not set a location point when we reached the top, but he had set a lap, and the GPS showed that, so we followed the arrow on the GPS through a trail which at this point was so faint that it was no more than a suggestion of matted grass, continuing until the arrow on the GPS converged with the number 1 marking the lap change. The descent was slow, difficult, and harrowing, not only at the initial 0.15 miles, but at several stretches of trail from the very beginning of the descent. These stretches were steep, and the trail was littered with loose gravel on powdery dirt. We were glad we had our poles. In places we scooted in a sitting position, always watching for rattlesnakes; younger hikers seemed to have little trouble, however! We enjoyed the views from the top but decided that the descent was too dangerous. We had been curious about this hike in the past and are glad we did it this one time but have decided not to do it again. |
 Steamboat Rock State Park. Photo copyright Alan Bauer.
Map it
|
Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Document Actions
- Email this page
- Print this
- Share
