Trails converge from the day use area and overnight campgrounds to ascend a scramble up to the top of Steamboat Rock. The ascent can be tricky in places due to marbly soil and loose rocks. Trekking poles help.
Near the top, the trail splits. To the left is a path which splits again. The left split reportedly goes up to a view over the east side of the rock. We bypassed it and continued straight through a draw, over relatively flat terrain, eventually wandering over to a nice view to the SW overlooking Banks Lake. Then we headed east and found a fantastic view to the SSE from atop a sheer cliff. Swallows swooped past us and a small marmot trundled by in front of us, right along the edge of the cliff. The entire peninsula was visible, and a lot more to the south, where a vertical face of Steamboat Rock provided contrast. An eagle caught updrafts against the rock face.
From here, we crossed back to the relatively flat area, then climbed beyond it the last 200 feet or so to the flat top of the rock. A couple of glacial erratics attracted us to them. We stopped for lunch at the larger rock pile, thinking it would provide a nice place to sit. But a huge amount of marmot droppings made it less appealing.
From there we struck out to the NNE and found our way back to the top of the ascent chute. We decided to explore the path that originally led to the right. Good choice. The views to the north were easily obtained, and absolutely astounding - my favorites of the whole hike. Again, there was a vertical cliff face to stay back from. But this time the view of Banks Lake to the north included numerous rock peninsulas and islands - very picturesque!
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