US Rt 2 from Sault Ste. Marie MI to WA

[Padlin]

Has anyone driven all or parts of this route, if so I'd appreciate your comments. What kind of road is 2? think the times Google Map shows are anywhere near correct?

I94/90 at 2081 miles, taking 32 hours.
vs US 2 at 2118 miles, taking 36 hours.

[MI_Postmaster]

How long did you spend traveling it?

It can be done in a week but I recommend at least a couple to allow for any side trips you might want to do. We took it going west this year and 2 years ago we used it coming back east.

We have kids in the Seattle area, and grand kids so that is why we travel from Michigan to Washington.

[Pangaea_Ron]

Padlin wrote:

MI Postmaster wrote:
We have drove the whole length this summer. It is a great trip to see the country, yes you have to drive through some cities but there are great places to stop and smell the roses! There is a lot less traffic, and in many places it is 4 lane highway. If you are in a hurry take the express way.

How long did you spend traveling it?

Pangaea Ron wrote:
I've done Highway 2 from Everett, WA to Cut Bank, MT several times. The route is great, but a bit devious.

Devious?

Maybe devious is the wrong word, but the highway does seem to do more North and South, than East and West at times. Don't blindly follow your GPS, as it will try to send you on gravel Forest Service roads for the "shortest" route.

[Padlin]

I have no problem going slow, just have to be in Seattle on or by a specific date.

[Jayco23FB]

I have driven it from Spokane to Iron River Mich. It is a good two lane for most of the trip. If you are traveling at 45 mph I think you will enjoy it. A couple nice USFS camp ground are Meadow Creek just inside the Idaho line and Yaak River on the Mont. state line. Its a good yooper road 🙂

[Matt_Colie]

I second the motions above - at least for the part from the Soo to Diluth. Google says it is 40 miles different. I won't argue that, but have driven a whole lot of I-94, I wouldn't trade the scenery and the world along Rt-2 for it ever. The 4 hours different that Google posts does not make room for the lower than speed limit that you will run dragging a house. That extra 4 hours of road time is a non-issue in my book.

As others said, take the slow way and stop to smell the roses. We have finally gotten there and are enjoying it while we can.

Matt

[doxiemom11]

We always figure an average speed of 45 mph and that accounts for small towns and slowing down, breaks and construction and turns out pretty accurate. That is how we figure anywhere that we drive including the x-ways.

[paulj]

US2 across the Great Plains (east side of GlacierNP) is flat and straight. It then crosses the Rockies around the south side of Glacier on one of the lowest passes. Across the rest of Montana it turns north and south several times so it can stay mostly in river valleys. It cross the narrowest part of Idaho around Sandpoint and Priest River, vacations areas for Idahoians.

Spokane is first significant city that it passes through. West of there it crosses a large area of wheat fields. You can deviate from it to see Lake Roosevelt and Grand Coulee Dam. There is a good drop the plateau level to the Columbia River, followed by a gradual climb to Stevens Pass as it crosses the Cascades. It drops rapidly to a river valley on the west side of Stevens Pass, and follows that to Puget Sound. Traffic picks up as it passes through old railroad towns with names like Startup, Gold Bar, Sultan and Monroe.

[Padlin]

MI Postmaster wrote:
We have drove the whole length this summer. It is a great trip to see the country, yes you have to drive through some cities but there are great places to stop and smell the roses! There is a lot less traffic, and in many places it is 4 lane highway. If you are in a hurry take the express way.

How long did you spend traveling it?

Pangaea Ron wrote:
I've done Highway 2 from Everett, WA to Cut Bank, MT several times. The route is great, but a bit devious.

Devious?

[Pangaea_Ron]

I've done Highway 2 from Everett, WA to Cut Bank, MT several times. The route is great, but a bit devious. As Roy&Lynne said: I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The portion through Glacier NP is limited in height, length, and width.

I'd also veer north in WA to Highway 20 for better scenery, and to avoid the congestion on weekends in Western WA.

[2gypsies1]

US2 from Michigan is a great drive - good highway. Be sure one of your stops is Fort Peck in Montana. Huge campground sites with manicured lawns. A nice place to relax for a couple nights. Once you enter Montana from the east you'll see why they call it 'Big Sky Country'. We love it!

[Roy_Lynne]

I drove Hwy 2 from Mackinaw Bridge to Montana but before I got to Glacier I cut down to 90. I LOVED the drive but there were not a lot of places to camp along the way. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Not a lot of camping spots but small towns were always friendly and knew where we could park the RV for an overnight.

[MI_Postmaster]

We have drove the whole length this summer. It is a great trip to see the country, yes you have to drive through some cities but there are great places to stop and smell the roses! There is a lot less traffic, and in many places it is 4 lane highway. If you are in a hurry take the express way.

Be aware in western North Dakota the oil boom has filled all of the campgrounds. You will run into construction in a few spots, they will put you on gravel in some of them, but we just slowed down and went through.

Enjoy the trip!

[jamesu]

Have driven it from western terminus in Everett, WA to Sandpoint, ID. Good 2 lane hwy. Follows city streets thru Spokane, WA - not a bad drive thru city for most part. Beautiful scenery through WA and ID, passing thru small America until you get to Everett north of Seattle..

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I've driven it from Sault Ste. Marie MI as far as Minot, ND. It is a good road.