Outing to STEAMBOAT ROCK – A Hike
Steamboat Rock is an imposing 800-foot-tall, 600-acre, flat-topped columnar basalt butte that resembles an immense stranded ship, located in the desert landscape of Central Washington’s Grand Coulee. It is a structural remnant of an ancient ice-age waterfall carved out by cataclysmic glacial meltwater floods over 13,000 years ago.
On December 5, 2026, the Lower Grand Coulee Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will host an exploratory hike that will traverse the lower reaches around its base rather than hiking to the top of the rock. One of the primary goals of the hike is to locate glacially polished striated basalt/flood features around the bottom of Steamboat Rock. Additionally, there will be opportunities to talk about the basalt and granite formations present, identify Missoula Floods landscape features, and discuss soils, prehistory and history of the area.
The hike will be as much as 3.5 miles long with about 200 feet of elevation gain
DATE – December 5, 2026
TIME – 10AM to 3PM
WHERE – Steamboat Rock State Park, DISCOVER PASS IS REQUIRED
Bring a sack lunch and snacks
The park is located about 10 miles south of the city of Grand Coulee and about 18 miles north of Coulee City off SR155.
Follow signs to the park for about 2.6 miles to a parking area on the far northeast end of the park.