An Alaska-bound cruise ship passes the campground at Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island. (Craig Brown/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
It’s Christmas Eve. I’m taking a day off from journalism. Instead, I want to tell you about Washington’s most scenic highway, because almost no one knows about it.
Starting at the Idaho state line, it crosses three mountain ranges, a national park, Washington’s largest island and Puget Sound. If you drive it, you’ll see the finest scenery in the Evergreen State.
Sound familiar? Of course not, even though this highway visits an Old Western town, crosses the state’s most celebrated bridge and includes a ferry ride across Puget Sound.
It’s Highway 20, and if you drive all 400-plus miles of it like my wife and I did in the summer of 2021, you’ll be the only people driving its full length. Heck, most of the time, you’ll be the only driver on the road.
Sure, parts of Highway 20 are at least a little famous. You’ve likely heard of the Methow Valley and the North Cascades Highway, and maybe ridden the ferry from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend.
But let’s start in a part of Washington that too few people visit: Pend Oreille County. It’s here that Highway 20 begins, in front of a hair salon in the scruffy county seat of Newport, a couple of blocks from the Idaho state line. It gets better, I promise.
The Selkirk Mountains and the Pend Oreille River form an attractive wooded valley full of lakes and campgrounds. We were traveling with our trailer and spent the first night at Cusick, where the Kalispel Tribe of Indians operates a new RV park, casino and surprisingly good restaurant.
Headed west, Highway 20 continues past the Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge, where the caribou no longer roam, but you might still see moose, elk or any of 200 species of birds. Soon, you descend from the mountains to cross the Columbia River near Kettle Falls. The river is wide and still here, backed up by Grand Coulee Dam far to the west. Then, it’s up and over Sherman Pass, the state’s highest year-round pass at 5,574 feet, as you cross the Kettle Range.
At Republic, we detoured a few miles north to Curlew Lake State Park, an oasis of lush grass on the shores of a bejeweled lake. A railroad used to run through the valley but has been converted into a hiking/biking trail offering stunning views.
Across the Okanogan Highlands, the climate and vegetation changed to arid sage-steppe by the time we reached the rugged Okanogan Valley. A land of apple orchards and cattle ranches, it was a nostalgic stop, as my wife and I met here back in the 1980s.
Soon, we crossed yet another mountain pass into the Methow Valley and found ourselves at the Old West theme town of Winthrop. It’s fun to stroll the board sidewalks and admire the hills and the Chewuch River, which flows through town. Just west of town, Sun Mountain Lodge offers amazing views of the valley and the North Cascades.
Head west along the North Cascades Highway and be sure to stop at the Washington Pass overlook, where a short walk along a paved path will reward you with a panorama you could recognize from calendars, postcards and travel brochures.
If you go:
Season: Highway 20 is closed between Winthrop and Newhalem from late fall until late spring, you need to make this a summer or early fall trip.
Segments: If the whole trip is too much, try the east segment from Newport to Highway 97; the middle segment from Highway 97 to Interstate 5, or the west segment from Interstate 5 to Highway 101 on the Olympic Peninsula.
Side trip: Visit Grand Coulee Dam by leaving Highway 20 at Republic and rejoining in Omak, via highways 21 and 155. Highway 21 includes a free ferry ride across Lake Roosevelt. If you’ve never seen the dam, you should make this detour.
North Cascades National Park is next, where turquoise blue Diablo Lake is the centerpiece. Hiking, canoeing and just enjoying the uncrowded natural environment are worth your time.
But our journey continues westward, crossing underneath Interstate 5 toward Anacortes. As the first oil refinery appears, the highway turns left for beautiful Deception Pass and its famous bridge. This is hardly undiscovered country; the adjacent state park is Washington’s busiest. As you look at the dramatic bridge and get your first glimpse of salt water, you’ll see why.
We quickly passed through the Navy town of Oak Harbor, the largest city on Highway 20, and stopped at the quaint Island County seat of Coupeville, before spending a couple of nights at Fort Casey State Park. We watched the ferry come and go, envied the cruise ships bound for Alaska and visited the lighthouse, where you can enjoy sweeping views from the tower.
The state ferry MV Salish took us on the next leg of the journey to historic Port Townsend, also among the state’s most loved tourist destinations. We stayed at Fort Worden State Park, where one of the most popular movies of the 1980s, “An Officer and a Gentleman,” was filmed. The park is full of hikes among historical buildings and abandoned gun emplacements, and the town has a lot of great places to drink and dine.
After nearly two weeks, the end was near. Highway 20 runs west a few more miles, then intersects Highway 101 at a cafe called Fat Smitty’s.
Perhaps its inconsequential beginning and forgettable ending keep Highway 20 so undiscovered. But along its length, you’ll see some unforgettable sights that remind you why we choose to call Washington our home.
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