Washington State Route 510

On Saturday, March 31, 2018, we got back driving again. Here we go, SR 510!

RCW 47.17.685
State route No. 510:

A state highway to be known as state route number 510 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 5, thence southeasterly via St. Clair to a junction with state route number 507 at Yelm.

The code's description above doesn't mention what city the start point is in, oddly enough. Originally, in 1964, SR 510 started between Olympia and Lacey at a junction with I-5 at Pacific Avenue. Then, three years later, the start point was moved to I-5 in Hawk's Prairie to make SR 510 three miles shorter. And now, without moving, it's in Lacey. ...Annexation.


South past all the big box stores, Marvin and Martin, we slowly roll through traffic. At a roundabout, we turn right onto Pacific Avenue. Back on the original route. Also, back on the old Pacific Highway, the main road between Olympia and Tacoma, back before shortcut called 99 was built. We roll along through the woods, well below the 50 mph speed limit. Above the headwaters of McAllister Creek, the Old Pacific Highway branches off to the left and we go up the hill on the St Clair Cutoff. St Clair never took off as a town; it's just an area of houses in the forest. Just past hidden St Clair Lake, we come to the midway point of SR 510.


Up the hill and two roundabouts later, we're on the Yelm Highway and going 35 through the Nisqually Indian Reservation. Oh look, a casino. We take a right turn at the fourth roundabout to stay on SR 510 (straight would take us in the half-completed bypass of Yelm). On the left, Buddhist temple. On the right, Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. It takes a lot of land to gain enlightenment. Into Yelm, slower and slower we go, till we reach the end of SR 510 at this intersection with SR 507.

Washington State Route 510: one of Thurston County's busy old roads.