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.

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-whywouldanyonereadthis.blogspot.com/2011/08/steamboat-rock.html

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!

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.

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.