So, I'll start with a little forward. I got up early and took the long drive over to Grand Coulee to do the dam tour... don't bother - skip straight to the hike, it's a waste of time and you spend more time on security procedures than looking at anything at the dam. If you really want a tour of a dam and hydro facility sign up for a Seattle City Light tour at Newhalem and Diablo - it's really cool and you get to see and get close to a lot. Since I didn't want to drive all that way without making it a full day I planned on doing some hiking and chose Steamboat as it was right along the way, fairly short, looked pretty cool and was something I probably wouldn't drive that distance just to do. This part of my day was a great choice. There is an improved trail - graveled to the base of the rock that leaves from the second (soon to be third) camping area. There's an information kiosk at the trailhead, so it's easy to spot. There's an unimproved trail - sandy that is across the street from the first camping area, marked with a small sign. Both end up at the same spot at the base of the rock. The first little bit of the climb is loose talus with a tiny bit (maybe 3- 5 feet - too tall to step up, but not really climbing) of rock slope that required (at least for me) hands and feet. It wasn't anything bad, but if you go when it's crowded be especially careful both about people in front of you possibly kicking rocks down and you kicking them down on others... as with any climb up is always easier so be prepared for it to look a bit more daunting when you come back. I was carrying my backpack with camera gear, so I turned around and came down backwards, ladder style, for that bit and was fine, but it would have been nice if I'd been able to take it off and have someone hand it down. After that first rocky bit, it's still fairly steep, but dirt and nothing terrible. After the T, I can't say I really found any particular trail that looked like "the trail".. there were lots of social and game trails - I followed one of the more foot worn ones out to the edge of the mesa, then came back and looped around on what were probably deer trails. I had the whole top all to myself. It was exquisitely quiet up there and I saw a lot of animals - a little rabbit (I'd love to know if it's a baby Nuttal's or if it just might be a rare pygmy rabbit), a family of marmots, deer and of course tons of birds. If I hadn't got such a late start I'm sure I could have spent all day just wandering the mesa top. I did not see any snakes yet - though there was something small that I did not see that scampered/slithered off into the grass.. it could have been a snake or maybe a lizard. I did not find any ticks either (yeah!)

Beautiful day for hiking except for the wind. It was still cool enough that I did not see any snakes. The arrowleaf balsamroot was beautiful below the rock, but once on top of the Steamboat Rock there was mostly grasses and sagebrush. The incline up is much easier than coming down. There is a short section that was a little bit tricky to navigate because it was so steep and has loose rock on top of very sandy hard packed soil. Even with good hiking boots, I would recommend going slow and taking caution on the way down - if knees are an issue for you, this section of the trail might be pretty challenging. Once on top of Steamboat Rock the trail is GREAT and the views are spectacular! This was the first of 3 hikes that day, so I cut my hike short - I did not hike the entire loop on top of the Rock. Once on top, I took off towards the right and explored along the edge. I got to the northeast corner and turned around to head back. Great hike and worth the drive! I would highly recommend checking out Steamboat Rock and exploring the Banks Lake area - it is breathtaking!

We stayed two nights at the campground and enjoyed exploring trails to the north and south of the rock, and spending all day up on top. Early wildflowers (shooting star, blue bells, yellow cup, violets) are blooming in great abundance, carpeting all of the meadows. Many more wilflowers ready to bloom over the next several weeks (larkspur, camas, lupine, poppies) Really fun to have lots of time to really explore and wander, the view in every direction in spectacular. Spotted the herd of deer grazing on the south end. Favorite bird sightings: bluebird, western kingbird, sage thrasher, horned lark.

Stunning quick morning hike. My first taste of basalt columns in this continent. Super cool to see so many of them! Bring poles! Really a nice safety feature when hiking back down. It's really steep with lots of loose rocks. I didn't hike the complete loop, but saw a herd of deer and lots of birds.

The hardest part of this trail is getting back down from the top of Steamboat Rock, but the views were worth it. To get to the top there is a fairly steep trail up a scree slope. Poles would have been helpful but we managed without. We also didn't realize that the loop trail trail around the top of the rock would take us around the entire perimeter. Sadly, there weren't too many wildflowers blooming.