The Great Northern Route (US-2) Across Washington

The 325 mi (525 km) of US-2 across Washington State contain enough contrasting landscapes to fill many states. West to east, the route begins at the industrial fringes of Seattle and Puget Sound, passing through a couple of Victorian-era towns before climbing steeply up toward the towering peaks, dense forests, and pristine lakes of the Cascade Mountains.

East of the Cascade crest, the rugged volcanic landscape suddenly becomes drier and much sparser, the dense forests fading first into lush farmlands and orchards reclaimed from the natural desert, then continuing across increasingly barren sagebrush plains into Idaho.

Though traffic can be heavy on long summer weekends, and also in winter in the Cascades section, it is usually light along US-2, since most of the 18-wheelers and other heavy vehicles follow the parallel I-90 freeway, 25 mi (40 km) to the south.