The tour swings across the Tucannon River through hilly country. As a conservation measure most farmers in this district used to seed only half of their land each year. Frequently as an additional safeguard against erosion, the farm was cultivated in strips, following the contours of slope and gully. Here the route follows the old Walla Walla-Colville wagon trail, over which thousands of settlers and miners traveled when land north of the Snake River was opened to settlement in 1858. The highway winds downhill.