Washington State Route 272

On Sunday, October 13, 2013, we drove the length of Washington State Route 272 from the Palouse River across the Palouse to Palouse and beyond!

RCW 47.17.495
State route No. 272:

A state highway to be known as state route number 272 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 195 at Colfax, thence easterly to a junction with state route number 27 at Palouse; also

Beginning at a junction with state route number 27 at Palouse, thence northeasterly by the most feasible route to a point on the Washington-Idaho boundary line.

Down by the Palouse River in the canyon known as Colfax, SR 272 begins at this intersection with US 195.


The road climbs up a gully out of Colfax and onto the Palouse fields. A bit of fog clung to the ground as we drove up and down the hills on a little roller coaster. At Clear Creek and Eden Valley, we dived down into small forests, but we were always quickly back into farmland. We zigzagged down a hill, crossed the Palouse River, and zigzaged our way into the town of Palouse. We shortly arrived at a junction with SR 27.


A few blocks south, SR 272 resumes at another junction with SR 27. Palouse was a quiet town -- Sunday morning. It was decked out in American flags everywhere thanks to the local Lions Club.


Back up the hill out of town and into the rolling fields, we rushed the final mile to Idaho.

Oh, Palouse. French for "lawn"... or is it "sward"?