Steamboat Mountain

Overview

Steamboat Mountain is the highest point in Wyoming’s Red Desert. This sparsely populated region is 9,320 square miles in area, and consists mostly of high altitude steppe and desert in south-central Wyoming. Most of this area is administered by the BLM. Steamboat Mountain is obscure and little known, but it does have a fairly impressive south face that rises high above the nearby Killpecker Sand Dunes. Steamboat is the most dominant natural feature in this area. It has a prominence of 1,273’, and a fairly impressive isolation of 38 miles, which places it at #13 on the Wyoming Isolation List.

Getting There

From Exit 104 in Rock Springs, head north on Highway 191 for about 9 miles. Turn right on County Road 17, also called Chilton Road. This is a good dirt road. Zero your odometer. After about 30 miles, you will reach an intersection. Turn right.
You will remain on CR 17. After about 40 miles, you will reach an intersection with County Road 83. Turn left on County Road 83. At 43 miles, you will reach an intersection with BLM Road 4104. You are now at the southeast base of the mountain at spot elevation 7315. This would be a good place to park if you want to climb the mountain.

Route - County Road 83

Start walking up the road. After about 1.6 miles, you will come to an intersection at 7,823’. You can also drive to this point. Turn left, and start walking up the road. At 8,300’, the road moderates, and begins a more gradual ascent. At 3.9 miles, you will be directly north of the summit at an elevation of 8,500'. Turn left, leave the road, and start heading south over moderate terrain to the summit. It’s about a quarter mile and 170’ of elevation gain from the road to the top.

External Links

Red Desert

Peakbagger.com page for Steamboat Mountain

Images

View Steamboat Mountain Image Gallery - 12 Images