I90 vs highway 2 to Seattle from Spokane (Wenatchee, Tumwater: rental car, rental)

[bestnickever]

As mentioned in the Seattle forum, my wife and i will be visiting Washington next week. I had intended to drive Spokane to Seattle on I90, but a friend suggested route 2 for a more scenic drive. Just curious of your opinion taking this route. How much longer of a drive is it? Is it that much more scenic/worth the extra time? Is the road in good shape? Thanks for help!

[allforcats]

Your friend is right -- Hwy 2 is very scenic, going through Stevens Pass and tiny towns (it's the towns' "main street") and endless forests. I-90 also goes through endless forests and bypasses tiny towns, and crosses the Cascades at Snoqualmie Pass. If deer are crossing the highway, there's room on I-90 to get out of their way, not so much on Hwy 2.

Here's what we know about those two routes: Hwy 2 is some miles farther north than I-90, and so slightly more convenient to Spokane. However, I-90 is a 4-lane highway, and so there's somewhere to get out of the way of crazy drivers. I-90 is THE major east-west commercial highway for the truckers, so it's constantly maintained in excellent condition.

Hwy 2 is a narrow two-lane highway, winding, distracting, and a constant scene of crashes, especially head-on crashes, on the west side of Stevens Pass. The road surface is well maintained. But it's just too narrow and winding, dictated by the shapes of the mountains, available land when the road was built, and a lack of state and federal funds (read: lack of interest) to do much about improvements. In memoriam early this year, one state funding project intended to add those metal "turtles" on the center line for a couple of miles, as impediments to speeding...

The only way to drive Hwy 2 is slowly, with one's eyes and ears and mind very very alert. It's a beautiful, scenic route. And really dangerous, especially in drizzle, rain, snow, hail, ice, wind, and sometimes sunshine if you're driving west late in the day.

As for scenery, Hwy 2 is a narrow road through Stevens Pass which rises closely on both sides of you -- exciting. I-90 is a wide road through Snoqualmie Pass, and you can pull over at many places to gaze at the mountains, the lake, take pictures, etc. -- relaxing, even thrilling. A British friend of mine once told me Stevens Pass was boring, and Snoqualmie Pass looked like Switzerland.

[WendyK]

Allforcats summed it up perfectly -- both routes offer great scenery, but there is about a 1-2 hour time increase if you take hwy. 2. Is this a round trip you're taking? Maybe you could take one route there and the other back.... I like the Hwy 2 route because you're forced to slow down through all the quaint little towns. If you've got the time and patience, take the road less traveled!

[bestnickever]

Originally Posted by allforcats

A British friend of mine once told me Stevens Pass was boring, and Snoqualmie Pass looked like Switzerland.

Interesting comment.

The comparison of the two roads sounds similar to the difference between the Coquihalla highway and highway 1 in BC. Both very scenic, although the "coke" is made for driving! The idea of passing through small town Washington sounds nice and interesting, but I think I'd like to sit back and enjoy a comfy four lane, rather than a narrow two lane.

It is a round trip of sorts Wendy, but we'll be heading back through BC, otherwise I would do as suggested.

Thanks the help!

[ochoco]

I've driven both routes hundreds of times over the years, and Hwy 2, The Stevens Pass Greenway, and part of the Cascade Loop, is by far the most scenic. Coming east from Spokane and after many miles of wheat fields, 2 drops down to the Columbia River just north of Wenatchee, and fruit orchards. As 2 leaves Wenatchee it joins the Wenatchee River for 20 miles to Leavenworth, the Bavarian Village, that, while very touristy, is definitely worth a stop. Upon leaving Leavenworth, 2 enters the very scenic Tumwater Canyon. After leaving the canyon, 2 gradually climbs for several miles with beautiful views in all directions. At Stevens Pass, 4064 ft. elevation, 2 drops steeply to the west. Depending on the weather when you travel 2, it can be sunny all the way to the top of the pass on the eastern side and then immediately go into fog or low clouds on the west side: that's how dramatic the Cascades are at catching the moisture from off the Pacific. Descending the west side of Stevens is steep, be careful of having to brake on such a steep decline. It's worth it. After several miles of descent you will begin to get views of Mt. Index. Actually some minor construction with short delays begins at just about the best view of Index to the southwest of the hwy. Shortly after the construction zone watch for a little restaurant/store/espresso place on your left: part of the movie 'Harry and the Henderson's' was filmed here. You may wish to stop for a break. Mt. Index dominates the view directly to the south, with a beautiful waterfall in full view. From there to Seattle it's pretty much typical western Washington Scenery. The traffic can be bad, but I've never had any problems. Have fun!

[Parasailing]

Years ago, I used to travel back and forth from Spokane to Seattle; nowadays for me the scenery has taken a back seat (pardon the pun) to maintaining safe focus on where I'm going. (To put it kindly, I think people drive differently nowadays.)

Sometimes it's fun to go online and see what the roads are like in diff. cities, but I have to say it always feels good to come back to good ol' Spokane. (Here's someone driving in Spokane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pinE4Q43vQo and compare that to driving in Seattle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjVD1-1mbuE.)

Anyway, I digress; as far as scenery between Spokane and Seattle, it's all as pretty as ever. And lots of places where they have gas stations are actually scenic areas so when you've pulled over for a fillup, there's often pretty mountains, etc., to look at!

I wish my back was better -- one of my favorite drives used to be from Spokane up to Castlegaar (BC). Anyone here been up that way recently?

[SoCalAngel2009]

Originally Posted by Parasailing

Years ago, I used to travel back and forth from Spokane to Seattle; nowadays for me the scenery has taken a back seat (pardon the pun) to maintaining safe focus on where I'm going. (To put it kindly, I think people drive differently nowadays.)

Sometimes it's fun to go online and see what the roads are like in diff. cities, but I have to say it always feels good to come back to good ol' Spokane. (Here's someone driving in Spokane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pinE4Q43vQo and compare that to driving in Seattle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjVD1-1mbuE.)

Anyway, I digress; as far as scenery between Spokane and Seattle, it's all as pretty as ever. And lots of places where they have gas stations are actually scenic areas so when you've pulled over for a fillup, there's often pretty mountains, etc., to look at!

I wish my back was better -- one of my favorite drives used to be from Spokane up to Castlegaar (BC). Anyone here been up that way recently?

Thanks for all these posts. In two weeks, I'll be going from Seattle to Spokane, then to Couer d'Alene. Can you tell me how long the drive is? We'll definitely be taking the four lane highway.

[dozerbear]

Originally Posted by SoCalAngel2009

Thanks for all these posts. In two weeks, I'll be going from Seattle to Spokane, then to Couer d'Alene. Can you tell me how long the drive is? We'll definitely be taking the four lane highway.

It's 280 miles from Seattle to Spokane, and another 35-40 to Coeur d' Alene on I-90. Normally, I-90 is about an hour faster than taking US-2, but there is a ton of construction work in Snoqualmie pass this summer, with more 20 miles west and even more 30 miles east. So the actual difference in driving time probably won't be much. If it was me, I'd leave a little early and take highway 2, it usually has much lighter traffic (especially trucks) but both are scenic drives.

[SoCalAngel2009]

Originally Posted by dozerbear

It's 280 miles from Seattle to Spokane, and another 35-40 to Coeur d' Alene on I-90. Normally, I-90 is about an hour faster than taking US-2, but there is a ton of construction work in Snoqualmie pass this summer, with more 20 miles west and even more 30 miles east. So the actual difference in driving time probably won't be much. If it was me, I'd leave a little early and take highway 2, it usually has much lighter traffic (especially trucks) but both are scenic drives.

Oh, that's too bad about the construction work. Do you know if they work on the weekends? We're flying into Seattle from LAX on Saturday, the 15th... arriving around 9:00 a.m. Hopefully, we can leave the airport by 9:30 after we get the rental car.

One more thing, any idea what the weather will be like for the drive? July is usually really hot here... in the 100s.

Thanks much.

[AK76]

I90 = boring, HWY 2 much more interesting and scenic. If expedience is what you desire, take I90. Sightseeing? Take HWY 2.