Down from Chelan? Do you mean the short stretch of WA150 from the town down to US97. There is a grade, but nothing worse than grades over the Cascades. 97A is a gentler approach to/from the town, but is on the wrong side of the river to Lincoln Rock.
I'll have to admit that my driving in this area has been in a car, and I've intentionally sought out the grades, like McNeil Canyon Rd from 97 to the plateau.
But from Winthrop you can stay on US97 and not climb to Chelan level. Any road along the river winds, but 97 isn't bad.
Eastmont Ave is a new bypass to the slower 28 through East Wenatchee. Though when I was there last fall, they were doing construction on Highline Dr south of Grant Rd, presumably to make the connection back onto 28 more direct.
28 is a major highway connecting Wenatchee to Quincy and I90. They've done a lot of work on it in recent years, improving intersections and scaling back rock faces. There's a nice rest stop at the top of the climb.
281 Quincy to George is state highway, even though it passes lots of fields. As for side roads, I'm more familiar with the gravel one down to Frenchmans Coulee and the dike road past the lakes, than the drive to the Gorge.
You can drive Vantage Hwy with Streetview.
One of the replies sounds like it's talking about US97 over Blewett Pass (from I90), as opposed to US97 along the river to the north. That's a bit windy, but no worse than US2.
WA152 south from Winthrop is a lower-grade state highway than any of these roads further south. It's not a bad road in any sense, it's just more rural and less traveled.
