Steamboat Rock State Park is a state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

 in the state of Washington in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located near the north end of Banks Lake

Banks Lake

Banks Lake is a long reservoir in central Washington in the United States.Part of the Columbia Basin Project, Banks Lake occupies the northern portion of the Grand Coulee, a formerly dry coulee near the Columbia River, formed by the Missoula Floods during the Pleistocene epoch. Grand Coulee Dam,...

 in the Grand Coulee

Grand Coulee

The Grand Coulee is an ancient river bed in the U.S. state of Washington. This National Natural Landmark stretches for about sixty miles southwest from Grand Coulee Dam to Soap Lake, being bisected by Dry Falls into the Upper and Lower Grand Coulee....

. It covers 3522 acres (14.3 km²), has 50000 feet (15,240 m) of freshwater shoreline, and is open year-round for camping and day use. During the winter, it is possible to do cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

 as well.

The park takes its name from Steamboat Rock, a basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

 butte

Butte

A butte is a conspicuous isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; it is smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landform tables. In some regions, such as the north central and northwestern United States, the word is used for any hill...

 found in the lake. Steamboat Rock is a long-established area landmark

Landmark

This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...

, first used by nomadic Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 tribes and then by early settlers. The plateau is over 600 acres (2.4 km²) in area and rises 800 feet (243.8 m) above Banks Lake, which nearly completely surrounds it. It was once an island in the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

bed during the last ice age. When the Columbia returned to its natural course, after centuries of being dammed by ice, the massive rock remained.

External links

• Steamboat Rock State Park, Washington State Parks