Established Camping
Bay Loop Campground — Steamboat Rock State Park
About
State Park
Amid a Pacific Northwest desert, Steamboat Rock State Parks offers lush green lawns, climbing rocks, water activities, camping and miles of trails for horses and hikers.
Bay Loop Campground (sites 131-166 & Cabins 1-3)
Steamboat Rock State Park is a 5,043-acre camping park with 50,000 feet of freshwater shoreline at the north end of Banks Lake and a columnar, basaltic rock with a surface area of 600 acres. Three campground areas and a large day-use area are protected from winds by tall poplars.
Fee Info
Discover pass: Annual Pass: $30 One-day Pass: $10 Watercraft Launch Fee: $7 for the day Trailer Dump Fee: $5 per use Entrance fees: Varies Overnight Unattended Vehicle Fee: $10 per night
Access
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
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Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Cabins
Features
For Campers
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Reservable
- Showers
- Drinking Water
- Electric Hookups
- Toilets
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Water Hookups
Was very nice in October
The description of this campground provided in the “About this campground” is quite accurate. From the campground you can do boat activities or hiking. We also did a very nice long bike from the campground but for some sections of it we had to share the road with fast car traffic. While you will need to drive there it also makes it a nice base from which you visit Grand Coulee Dam. We went there at the beginning of October and the weather was quite nice. It would probably be too hot for us during the summer.
- (6) View All
Very well maintained (but $$) state park
General: Three campgrounds (Sage, Dune, and Bay Loops with a total of 136 full hook-up sites and 26 standard sites) in the main park plus primitive sites at Jones Ba (44) and Osborn Bay (36) with vault toilets and no water, 12 boat-in sites north of the main campground and five campsites for equestrian campers in Northrup Canyon. There are also three cabins in the Bay Loop that each sleep five.
Site Quality/Facilities: We stayed in the Bay Loop. The sites were all very generous in size and spaced a decent distance apart. The drives are paved and can accommodate large RVs. Each site has a large metal picnic table and fire grate (although there was a fire ban when we were there). Park volunteers were very visible throughout our stay maintaining the campsites.
Bathhouse: The bathhouse in the Bay Loop was the more modern of the two I saw. It was clean and had one shower stall BUT there were NO hooks or bench (other than a useless tiny shelf above the sink) to put toiletries; my bag fell and the top of my moisturizer container broke making a huge mess! There are also two all-in-ones. Showers were 50 cents for every three minutes and I managed to do a three-minute shower!
Activities: So much to do but you have to bring your own toys! I had read there were kayak and SUP rentals but could not find where to do this anywhere in the park. There is a swimming beach, boat launch, fishing pier (and fish cleaning stations in each camp loop), basketball, volleyball, playground, and paved walking trails connecting the beach and all the camp loops. I was disappointed that the Steamboat Rock trail was closed when we were there due to fire danger. Also, the concession stand selling burgers, hot dogs, ice cream, etc. is closed on Monday and Tuesday and, of course, we were there on a Monday!
The scenery is beautiful, and the campground is very well-maintained. The price is steep ($50) but at least you don’t have to pay extra for the Discover Pass. All in all, we had a very nice stay here and would come back again, hopefully to hike the Steamboat Rock trail with the reward of Huckleberry ice cream.
- (14) View All
Great for spring camping and hiking
Full hookups, nice and quiet for springtime camping, but I think it would be miserably hot in the summer. Maybe good for boaters, but being a hiker, we enjoyed the cooler weather and quiet atmosphere
Location
Bay Loop Campground — Steamboat Rock State Park is located in Washington
Coordinates
47.86843 N
119.0924 W