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Idaho Line to Seattle

  • Distance: 347 miles
  • Routes: SR 2, Interstate 90, SR 97, SR 970
  • Estimated Driving time: 6 hours

Tour Overview

This tour is one of the most varied, as it crosses the state, east to west, and so you’ll find agricultural, mining, and railroad history, dramatic rock and river formations, and significant buildings, bridges and technological advancements, including the Coulee Dam, which changed landscapes and whole towns, bringing water to previously arid areas.

The portion between Seattle and Central Washington follows the Mountains to Sound Greenway Scenic Byway. This scenic byway is a connected landscape of natural lands and vibrant communities along Interstate 90 between Seattle and Central Washington. The Greenway preserves a sustainable balance between urban and natural lands, and conserves a shared heritage of working farms and forests, parks, wilderness areas, wildlife habitat, history and recreational and educational opportunities.

Key Waypoints along Idaho Line to Teanaway

Spokane Bridge

East of Spokane, this was a boom town in the early 1860s thanks to mining. In 1862 A.C. Kendall built... Visit

Spokane

The major city of the Inland Empire of Washington, Spokane sits at the falls of the Spokane River 90 miles... Visit

Davenport

This Lincoln County seat, west of Spokane, is wheat country. Precipitation is light, but bountiful crops are the rule, for... Visit

Wilbur

This town depended largely on the Columbia River Flour Milling plant, where flour, bran, shorts, and middlings are produced. It... Visit

Almira

This town grew rapidly when construction on the Coulee Dam began and became known as “The Gateway City to the... Visit

Moses Coulee

Named for Chief Moses, this town was also formed by glacial floods, created during the last Ice Age, between 12,000... Visit

Waterville

Among the state’s small towns, Waterville contains one of the most intact and cohesive collections of historic buildings, many of... Visit

Wenatchee

Close to the geographic center of the state, this town became a fruit growing capital. The name is from the... Visit

Teanaway

East of Cle Elum near the junction of the Teanaway and Yakima Rivers, this town began as a stopping point... Visit

All waypoints on this leg

★ Mainstreet Community

Side trips along Idaho Line to Teanaway

Liberty Lake

This side trip is a three-mile loop through a resort community with natural areas.

Nine Mile Dam

Drive out along the Spokane River to Nine Mile Dam and Riverside State Park, on this 28-mile side tour.

Camp Washington

Take a 17-mile loop to Camp Washington Monument, erected in 1908, that marks the historic Colville–Walla Walla Road and the site of Camp Washington, where Isaac I. Stevens, first Territorial governor, made his first camp in the Territory.

Mondovi

A short 4 mile round trip excursion to Mondovi affords an opportunity to drive out through the wheat fields to the small town nestled amongst the hills.

Old Blewett Pass

This 11-mile route runs across the original pass and reconnects with the tour. A twisting climb takes you to the pass, reaching 4,071 feet, where you can look out over the Yakima Valley.

Liberty

This four-mile round trip takes you through the only surviving old-style gold mining town in Washington.

Key Waypoints along Teanaway to Seattle

Teanaway

East of Cle Elum near the junction of the Teanaway and Yakima Rivers, this town began as a stopping point... Visit

Cle Elum

At the junction of the Cle Elum and Yakima rivers, this community began to develop in earnest when coal deposits... Visit

Snoqualmie

The boom days of lumbering and milling formed this town—the first white settlers were the Kellogg brothers, who settled on... Visit

Snoqualmie Falls

One of the state’s most popular scenic attractions, Snoqualmie Falls and the surrounding two-acre park includes an observation platform, a... Visit

Renton

The largest and most active trading center in the vicinity of Seattle, which covers the flats formed by the Cedar... Visit

Seattle

The largest city of the Pacific Northwest, it lies along Elliott Bay, on the east shore of Puget Sound, 128... Visit

All waypoints on this leg

★ Mainstreet Community

Side trips along Teanaway to Seattle

Roslyn

This 16-mile trip takes you through mining country, including the town of Roslyn, which has a national register historic district and where the TV show Northern Exposure was filmed.

Carnation

This 35-mile round trip takes you through a Scandinavian farming and dairying town founded in 1865 as Tolt. It was renamed after the Carnation dairy company—yes, that Carnation, of instant breakfast fame—which had its dairy farm nearby; in the 1940s,...

Redmond

Discover a tech town’s rural roots on this 30-mile trip.

Kirkland

There’s a lot to see in this 44-mile trip, which covers much of the development of the towns on the east side of Lake Washington from former fruit-farming town Bellevue to the town that investors once hoped would become the...

This tour has 2 legs, 62 waypoints, 10 side trips, and covers 347 miles.