Steamboat Rock State Park

This is Bay Loop and was our first time here. Any site in this loop on the outside (lake view) has NO privacy and is on a very popular trail to the playground and concession stand. There are a number of sites in this loop that the trail backs up to. I really like that there is a grassy area in each site, but they are also very sandy. If you have SUP, kayak, boat, fishing pole, bicycle -- bring them!! We look forward to coming back, but we are not going to stay in a site that is near the trail. You can hike up to Steamboat Rock and there are lots of little trails alongside the base as well. Grand Coulee Dam is a few miles north and you'd be remiss to not check it out. It was once considered the 8th Wonder of the World. Dry Falls State Park is a few miles south and is worth checking out as well, there is a visitor center and food truck that serves hot dogs, nachos, ice cream, coffee, etc. Soap Lake and Ephrata are further south. DO NOT go to the taco truck in Soap Lake off the main road! They told us their card machine wasn't working, we got 2 super burritos and 2 beverages and paid them $40, no prices are listed, so I'm certain we got ripped and I had a bad stomach ache, but wasn't sure if it was the burrito or the shake I had at Dry Falls. However, the the campground is very beautiful and peaceful (except for busy weekends). We were here 5/4-5/8 and it seemed like the evenings got really windy and stormy, not sure if that's just springtime in Eastern Washington or the norm each night. It was not warm enough to check out the water, but I would love to bring the kayaks & fishing poles next time. You can sometimes get internet and cell service is fine to make calls, but don't be thinking you're going to stare at the socials while you're here. The bathrooms were spacious and clean and the showers are FREE! I have never seen this at a State Park. I guess you just push a button, but bring your shower shoes.

We completed our 5000-mile tour of the west with two days at Steamboat Rock. It was a great choice. After seeing the dam (sorry, no more tours folks) we were pleased to back into a lovely shaded spot near the shore in area 1 here. One of the amenities of this park is a paved bike path that allows you to tour the entire park with ease. That allowed us to discover the beach and welcome concession stand selling hot dogs and Polish sausage dogs. Parking sites here are quite close to each other, back-in spots placed around a ring. Fortunately this prevents you from parking directly next to your neighbors. Unfortunately you're still pretty close, particularly if your neighbor has a noisy pet. Not much you can do about that. This park appeals to families on vacation. There is a nearby boat launch for those towing watercraft. Our neighbors were kayakers so they just walked to the shoreline to launch. If you're young and athletic you can climb the cliff trail to the top of Steamboat Rock to get a better view of the spectacular Scablands geology of this area. This premiere Washington State park is squeaky clean and well maintained with full hookups, restrooms with pay showers (no laundry) and views galore. No wifi but we had 3 bars with our boosted Verizon cellphone.

We had a great hike on the steamboat rock plateau and watched ravens doing spirals in the air. They'd use the upward winds from the cliffs to glide up and then dive while doing a spiral in the air. We've never seen that before. A mating ritual perhaps or just for fun?
The campground was fully booked on the fathers day weekend.

Note that I stated that I had 2 bars, but I could not get any web pages to load. I could get data if I was out on the fishing dock. The issue is a large rock just N of the campsites that block towers at Electric City to the N. Sites 112 to 118 on the very east side of the campground may have better data throughput because the are the farthest east you can get in the campground.

This was our last camping outing for the year before we had to winterize and pack it in for the winter. I received an email from Washington State Parks in late August that promoted the new Cove Loop at Steamboat Rock State Park. So, looking at the reservations page for this park, it showed the new loop and what appeared to a mostly unreserved campground through the remainder of September and October until reservations ended for the season. I had to jump on the opportunity of staying in a new loop with new utilities, new fire pit, new picnic table, etc. I wasn't disappointed.

In the new Cove Loop, each campsite has full hookups. While not totally unheard of, this is the first I've experienced of a full hookup site with two sewer ports. One about midway up the driveway and one at the back of the driveway next to the power and water post. At first I thought it was overkill, but then it became clear how logical this was. Different rigs have different locations for their sewer dump, and it has become quite common for a lot of newer trailers to have sewer dump at the rear of the rig, however a lot of other rigs still have dump about amidships. This was a huge design plus for the site. However if you are like me, a service bay that is amidships, the rear of campsite location for power and water required me to get out my longest water hose and my 30amp extension cord to get connected. I'm glad I had both of those or else I wouldn't have had power or water. The electrical box is new and very much up to standard. I looked at the readings from my Power Watchdog a few times over the weekend and found that input power never suffered any voltage drops and the post was wired up totally correctly without any odd grounds or hot neutrals, etc. Being a new power post the outlets were tight and the breakers were very positive. I wasn't super excited to see a rather average twist valve for the water service. I had kind of hoped to see a lever pull water service. Water pressure was very good.

Since we were camping in October, weather was not hot, but the days were pleasant and the nights not bitterly cold. We did have to heat overnight. There is little established vegetation in the new loop. Our site had an asphalt driveway that was nearly level, with a pea gravel camp area. If you are tent camping this might not be the most comfortable surface to pitch a tent on. The central area of the loop has the restroom/shower house, and has a very green lawn. Some trees have been planted in the lawn area. However each campsite is bordered by unlandscaped areas that are covered in weed mat and very large broken stone. If this were the middle of summer our campsite would have had no shade, and Steamboat Rock is known for being very hot in the summer. I hope the state comes through and plans more trees around each campsite. This will add to the privacy of the sites and provide necessary shade during the summer. The sooner they do that the sooner those trees will mature to provide real coverage.

All camping loops are connected by a paved bike path that runs along the waterfront. There are two access points from the Cove Loop to the bike path. We rode that path numerous times. The playground is all the way at the north end of the state park near the day use parking lot and boat launch. It is a very impressive playground and your younger kids will probably want to be there most of the day.

Steamboat Rock is basically in the middle of nowhere in Washington State. It is a fairly long drive from I-90, through a number of small towns and then onto winding state highways which are a bit washboardy. Be prepared for a slower drive. Also beware of wind. You may have a lot of wind along hwy 17 and hwy 155 depending on conditions. This will also slow down your journey. There is a rather long access road off hwy 155 that takes you about 2 miles from the highway to the state park entrance gate. The entrance is staffed. I've arrived after hours at other state parks and been able to check in at the welcome board without issue, I did not notice how Steamboat handles after hours check-ins.

Steamboat Rock is an oasis in a desert of sagebrush and columnar basalt. It is a great place to unwind, maybe put your boat in the late, let the kids run around on their bikes and stargaze at night. The park is in excellent condition and very well maintained. Prepare yourself for varying and changing weather conditions, especially in the spring and fall.

Cell service is varied. We had weak service at our campsite, but had very strong service at the playground. Our provider is AT&T. We also found better service closer to the water than inside any of the camping loops. Your mileage may vary.

The reason is.... THIS PLACE ROCKS! What a gorgeous park. From very spacious sites to great water and lots of it. Great boat launches, clean bathrooms, fun informative hosts, hiking trails and super biking.... all make this a wonderland for camping. We had some of the family with us in a tent. You have to keep the tents on a tent pad site and it has pea gravel so ... might want to bring a tarp to put down first for a bit of padding. The grass is watered everyday and it made for fun cool off in the sprinklers. We were allowed to have a campfire which surprised me as it was quite warm. There is a Safeway about 10 miles down the road in Coulee City. Also there is a laser light show at the dam each night at 10 that is free, informative and fun. Bring a pad because the concrete benches are HARD. Lasts about 40 minutes.
This is a fishermans dream. We are not into that but are wake board and watersports folks with boat etc. This was wonderful water for this as well and it is so huge it was not hard to avoid bothering fishermen. This is located on Banks Lake and we were surprised at how big it was. There are limited sandy shady shoreline, so sun shade coverings are helpful. We found several good coves to set up in for the day fun

If you are planning on working remotely here... DON'T. Cell service is spotty at best. Verizon could connect very poorly from the bathroom. Coverage was pretty good out on the water. T-Mobile only out on the water. Att also on the water. We are running a Pepwave Router from the rig and the coverage was terrible. We had several emergency calls we were trying to navigate and they kept requiring a trip around camp to find coverage. This is an issue only IF you must be connected.
Otherwise.... we loved all of it.

This was a wonderful State Park. New or like new electric pedestal, and the H2O and Sewer cap were all in a great spot. Paved and level pad. No need to break our Anderson Blocks. Great lawn area in the middle of the sites in the Bay loop (and the others I believe). Nice fish cleaning station and rest room & shower facilities. There was a great hike to the top of Steamboat Rock with the trail head across the road. We stayed in late March. This is Eastern Washington so not much shade. I would recommend this for early spring and Fall but could be a bit hot without shade in the Summer.

We enjoyed our stay at steamboat and would definitely stay here again. A couple of things to note: 1. firewood is stored in a box near the bathrooms and is an honor system. However, the firewood goes very quickly so I would advise getting some early or just buying some at the Safeway in town. 2. Cell service is very spotty. Other reviews said ATT gets 3 bars but that’s simply not the case. We got 1 bar on ATT and 1 bar on Verizon’s extended network which wouldn’t even send texts reliably. As with most state parks, there is no WiFi. If you rely on internet or phone during your stay, you’ll have to go into town 15 mins away to get reliable cell service.