Rising out of Banks Lake in the heart of Grand Coulee is Steamboat Rock State Park, a destination for thousands of vacationers every year. A geological wonder that was once an island in the diverted bed of the Columbia River, Steamboat Rock spent centuries landlocked in Washington State, finally becoming a beacon and a crossroad for travelers of the barren landscape. When the pioneers arrived, they found a rugged frontier and faced many hardships establishing a community, only to have it all washed away with the waves of progress and the building of the Grand Coulee Dam. This is the story of the people who settled the Steamboat Rock area, the land they fought hard to tame, and the inevitable outcome of man versus progress. With this book, uncover mysteries and unlock the story of Steamboat Rock.

For thousands of years people have traveled across Washington’s spectacular terrain, establishing footpaths and roads to reach hunting grounds and coal mines high in the mountains, fishing sites and trade emporiums on the rivers, forests of old growth, and homesteads and towns on prairies. These traditional routes have been preserved in national parks, restored by cities and towns, salvaged from old railroad tracks, and opened to hikers by Indigenous communities. In this new, full-color edition of the first-ever hiking guide to the state’s historic trails, historian and hiker Judy Bentley teams up with veteran guidebook author Craig Romano to lead adventurers of all abilities along trails on the coast, over mountains, through national forests, across plateaus, and on the banks of the Columbia River. Features include: • 44 hikes, including 12 new additions • Full-color trail maps • A trails timeline that connects hikes to key events • Updated trail descriptions • Accounts from diaries, journals, and archives • Historical overviews of 8 regions of the state • Contemporary and historical photographs Bentley and Romano offer an essential boots-on-the ground history of some of the state’s most fascinating places.