Hwy 2 from Spokane to Everett

Beautiful drive, but slow and hilly

donn0128 wrote:
Beautiful drive, but slow and hilly

Ditto.. well in so far as once you get to Leavenworth anyway. It's a little bumpier, less maintained I guess I would call it. Just as boring as I90 till you get to Leavenworth - plan on spending a day there sightseeing in downtown, it's one of our top destination tour traps.
From there, Hwy2 is a very twisty 2-lane hwy, much slower than I-90. If you want bonus points on beautiful views and can afford to add a day to your trip, do Leavenworth, then turn around and head north via Twisp and Winthrop to Hwy 20 and take that across. They just opened it back up April 3rd (annual snow closure). It is nicknamed the Swiss Alps of the US. Short of taking Hwy410 through Mt Rainier Nat'l Park, I'd say it's the most scenic E-W route we've got.

Ditto on Wash State highway 20. Absolutely beautiful, but only if you're not in a hurry. Lots of boondock camping along the way if you're into that. We'll be doing this route from north Whidbey Island to Sandpoint, Idaho next week. One of our favorite trips. -Mark.

Hwy-2 is mostly good road with great scenery. Mostly 1 lane with intermittent passing lanes. I-90 has 2 or 3 lanes the whole way. Hwy-20 is also a good 1 lane each way with some passing zones. I consider it the prettiest drive but for Seattle to Spokane, the longest drive but well worth the effort, especially if you've never done it before. Drive all the roads in your lifetime!

I have, but it's been at least 3 years since i drove the section between Stevens Pass and Monroe.

That section is notoriously hazardous, with an occasional fatality crash. It's also pretty rough the last time I drove it - the section once you reach the bottom of the pass on the west side, most of the way to Monroe. There's OK sections and bad sections - at least 3 years ago that was the case, and I decided I wasn't going to drive that section with my truck, camper and trailer again.

I have driven Hwy 2 from Everett to the Wenatchee area about, oh, a billion times.

There really isn't any construction or poor section that would give me pause from Monroe to the pass. Slow parts will be passing through the towns along the way, where the speed limit drops to 35. Monroe, Sultan, Startup, Goldbar all drop the speed limit and set up speed traps, so be careful.

The 59'r diner between Leavenworth and the pass has pretty decent food and great milkshakes. There is a rather large campground with hookups near there at Lake Wenatchee and a more primitive campground with fun dirt bike single track at Goose Creek.

East to west the climb to 4000' on HWY 2 is more gradual. Coming down the western side, let your exhaust brake and lower gears keep your speed in check. If you have time to take a diversion, cross the Cascades over HWY 20 for even more views and a slower pace.

We will be camping in Leavenworth within the next two weeks if you have not already passed by.

The scenery between Spokane and Wenatachee is pretty boring on both 2 and 90 and 90 is a much easier drive in that part. Once you summit past that the scenery on 90 is pretty nice and if you are looking to avoid Seattle you can cut through at North Bend, go by Snoqualmie Falls and hit hwy 2 in Monroe. That is actually a much easier drive than taking 2 the whole way. You didn't say why you want to avoid 90.

Bedlam wrote:
East to west the climb to 4000' on HWY 2 is more gradual. Coming down the western side, let your exhaust brake and lower gears keep your speed in check.

That is a good point. It is like a 800 foot drop off if you were to go over the railing coming down the western side of the pass. You would have some pretty good views as you go off the edge though. I constantly see people riding their brakes on that stretch...it is like they don't even know cars have low gears.

If you are up for a mini adventure/hike and your rig can handle it, there is a somewhat hidden entrance to the old Cascade hwy just as you pass by the pass ski resort (on the right headed west). The road has missing concrete and is twisty, but you end up at the (start/end) of Iron Goat trail which follows the old railroad path before they built the long tunnel. Very neat hike as you go through a 100+ year old snow shed, see the place where an avalanche took out an entire train, and see some spooky abandoned train tunnels.

If your rig can't handle the old hwy, you could start the trail at the other end which is close to the town of Skykomish.