Steamboat Rock State Park – Northrup Canyon

I decided on a quick bike ride before leaving the Grand Coulee area. Steamboat Rock State park doesn’t have a lot in terms of hiking or biking, it is more about boating and swimming, but the Northrup Canyon trail leads out to an old homestead, so I went for it.

Originally I tried to park in the lot across the street from the Northrup Canyon road, but the State Park charges $10 for day-use, and considering I was going to be there an hour or two, I could not justify that cost. So I drove down the public road until there was a pullout large enough to handle the van and trailer. Only a 1/2 mile down the road and I was popping the mountain bike out of the trailer for a ride.

As I rode up the dirt road I began to question biking over hiking. The grade was going to kill me, and it was non-stop for about a mile… where I ran into a parking lot and pit toilet. How I wish I would have driven up here and parked, argh! I headed down the trail, which was actually a hard packed gravel road, more suited to a standard passenger car then a mountain bike. It was a pleasurable ride none the less, with a mix of riding environments; thick trees, rolling hills, rocky climbs and descents, and even an old wooden bridge just to mix it up. I stopped, 1.5 miles out, and snapped a photo of my first view of the homestead. Afterwards, I glanced down and noticed a thorn in my front tire… this is where I forgot how to ride a bike… and immediately yanked on it.

Psssssssss-you-dumbass! (It said that, I swear)

Instead of getting the chance to look around the old homestead, I turned the bike around and rode out as fast as I could, making it back to the van before the tire went completely flat. All that effort to snap only a single photo:

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