Miles: 13.1 miles possible, main butte loop is about 6 miles
Elevation Gain/Highest: 745ft/2287ft
Map: State Park Map, Caltopo
Favorite Eats After Hike: I enjoyed a tasty salad from Pearl St bar & Grill in Ellensburg on the way home, other wise I had Packed A Cooler.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike details:
Steamboat Rock State Park is a 5,023 acre park with 13.1 miles worth of trails around and on top of this majestic butte comprised of columnar basalt that rises 800 feet from the Bank Lake surface. From the top, you can see Grand Coulee, the surrounding Scablands and into the Colville and Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest.
There are several trailheads that lead from the campground loops that line the east side of the butte, all directing you to a notch between the two main “pillars” of the butte on the south and north ends. For the most part, the trail is a well maintained sandy path through sagebrush and grasses but expect to need your hands and careful footing to navigate the rocky scree that makes up the ascent through that notch.
Once up on the level surface of the butte, you can head left or right. The left takes you to several viewpoints that gaze south from the butte and the right brings you up to the main surface of the butte and loop trails to the north end. You can take a few hours or half a day exploring the terrain, wildlife and 360 views.
My trip report:
2/18/2021
Car camping a night at Steamboat allowed me to get up at sunrise and do a short loop hike before getting on the road to Lake Lenore Caves and home.
The park roads were in good shape and I parked/camped at the Bay Loop which had a trailhead right across the road from my spot. I was still making coffee when the butte itself lit up with the morning sun but I was not in a hurry since there was no one there but me. Maybe it was the low twenty temps?
Starting out about 7:45am, the trail was lightly snow covered and compact, my trail runners did fine. It was about .4 miles to where the trail takes up into the scree between the two pillars of the butte. This is where hands were helpful and although there was ice, there was enough exposed rock to get traction. It appeared as though there was a section of the trail where the scree or a switchback had been eroded making for more of a scramble than I imagined was normally there.
Once up on the lower section of the butte, I took a right to head up to the top. The views down to the park and Banks Lake were desolate and moody. There was a bit of of wind and I added a neck gaiter and gloves.
At the top of the butte, I followed the trail around the east side that had just a few sets of prints. The snow was not deep, the terrain was littered with winter stubble and rock poking through. I could see well into the white caps of the Colville National Forest.
At 1.75 miles and close to the northern point of the butte, I took the path back that went through the middle rather than the western side making for the shorter loop. There was no human traffic here, just the prints of deer and rabbit.
I did opt to put spikes on for the decent through the rock between the pillars, wouldn’t want to slip on a icy patch with them nesting quietly in my pack.
The whole loop came to about 3.3 miles.
Directions: From I-90 east, take exit 151 for Ephrata/Soap Lake. Drive through Ephrata (a great spot to top off the gas tank) to the junction with SR 17 in Soap Lake. Heading north on SR 17, continue 21 miles to Hwy 2 and turn right. Drive for 4.3 miles where you’ll merge onto Hwy 155 and turn left or north again. About fifteen miles, turn left onto the Steamboat Rock State Park Entrance Road which takes you out onto the peninsula. Proceeding through the entrance station, the road passes several campground loops and ends at the main day use parking area. For a longer hike, there are several smaller day use parking areas along the way. You will need a Discover Pass.
51052 Highway 155
Electric City, WA 99123
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