Excellent views, on par with hanford reach imo. The trail north the day use area isnt listed on WTA but hiked that the day prior - nice easy walking with pristine views at the end.

This report is for steamboat rock itself. The trail is mild aside from the short steep section gaining elevation. The tread is hard, sandy, and slippery. Hiking poles are highly recommended. Saw a mom going up with 2 toddlers, i would not recommend this hike for children. I carried my dog up in a backpack. I would not recommend this hike for animals. Leashes are required so they may pull you down the steep scree.

Also saw about a dozen deer at the north end of the rock and another 4 on the hike out.

The campground facilities were nice enough, but the groups were loud and obnoxious so we cut the camping trip a night early. The sites are way too cramped for peaceful tent camping. 99% of other campers were RVers + rowdy “WOOOOOO LETS DRINK BLOODY MARYS” boat crowds (actual quote). Wont camp here again but highly recommend the hike/drive out here. Outstanding scenery.

As good as expected, but not good if you don't have proper footwear

Left the  trailhead at 7:10 . Took a right at the junction arriving at the top at 8:00 . Was not expecting the scramble going up but that’s ok . Once at the top it is relatively flat .Walked the outside rim counter clockwise enjoying every step . Lots of great views. Ran into a couple herds of deer. The first I counted 20. We were all heading in the same direction up there so I ended up pushing them around the north west corner. They were curious and not to shy . I was wearing a big hood so they weren’t to sure about me.Not much pressure up there , they have there own little oasis. Ran into the other group of about 10 on the west side in the middle. These were more shy like normal. Glad I went counter clockwise and covered the bigger side first. There is a deep saddle that separates the north from the south. The North is much bigger and the saddle is ware you decide witch way to go when your on your way up . All in all it was epic ! I ended up doing a figure 8 and covered both sides getting back to the truck about noon.No regrets, a must do if you go to Banks Lake . Wind started picking up as I started heading down . Great way to spend a morning .

Considering Banks Lake is frozen, I expected the trail to be frosty or snow covered. Nope. No frost and no snow. Mud. Lots and lots of mud. It started at the base of the trail on the flat part. Actually, any place that looked flat and rock free had 2-4 inches of chocolate pudding or soft serve mud. Muddy silt from the bed of an ancient river.
We took a right and headed for the far end of the plateau. The only wildlife we saw on top was eagles and ravens. Oh yeah, one marmot scrambling across the scree. We saw deer and turkeys down by the campground. When the wind picked up and rain started to fall we turned around.
I love it here. If you’ve never driven the coulee corridor when the waterfalls turn to ice, you should do it. The geology here is something to see.
We had trouble with the state park reservation website. There was one tent camper and one RV but the cabins looked vacant this weekend. We chose to stay at a hotel in the area which is way better than making this a day trip.
As much as I love it here, I’d recommend waiting until it dries out or freezes up.

Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World depicts an elevated plateau, surrounded by sheer cliffs making it so inaccessible and isolated from the rest of the world, that it is still populated by dinosaurs. I can't helping thinking about this, and the 1925 silent film based on the novel, when I'm on top of Steamboat Rock. I admit I haven't yet seen any dinosaurs, but I'm going to keep looking.

Getting on top of this rock is not nearly as challenging as in The Lost World, but it does have one tricky section early in the ascent, a steep gully covered in loose rock for roughly 100 feet of climb. Coming down this, especially if you're tired, is the main challenge of a day here. I was glad I had poles and good boots.

The top is really divided into two relatively flat sections, with a valley dividing them. The east end of this valley is where you hike up, and then you have a choice of going north to the largest flat area, or south/west to a much smaller plateau. Most people will prefer the larger northern area. I started by going counter-clockwise around the northern perimeter. The perimeter trail sometimes comes very close to the edge, which is fun if looking at a 500-foot drop is your kind of fun, but you can step back if it's not. Since there was snow, I could see that a previous hiker had chosen to keep some distance from the edge. There's also a trail that goes more up the middle of the plateau, with a little more elevation but without the drop-off thrills.

Because I drove a long way for this hike (staying overnight in the state park), I wanted to see everything, so also hiked around the southern plateau and then through the valley, for a total of about 6 miles and 800 feet of climb. It was lightly snowing the whole time, but it wasn't unpleasant until a stiff breeze started pelting me with wet snow. Fortunately I was ready to head down at that point anyway. And the snow added to the otherworldly atmosphere.

I didn't see another human all day. Tracks in the snow showed that one had been here within the last day or two. But most tracks were from the resident deerosaurs, er, deer. Of those, I personally encountered two groups of about 10 each. I also saw some rabbit tracks.