Washington State Route 970

On Thursday, August 7, 2025, we drove Washington State Route 970 on the way from here to there.

State route No. 970:

A state highway to be known as state route number 970 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 90 in the vicinity of Cle Elum, thence northeasterly by way of Teanaway to a junction with state route number 97 in the vicinity of Virden.

Highway 970 begins at this junction with I-90 just east of Cle Elum. When I-90 was opened in 1964, this route became part of US 97, but that only lasted eleven years before 97 was shifted to the cutoff route.


We cross the freeway and the railroad tracks and quickly arrive at the junction with SR 903. Last chance for Cle Elum and Tucquala Meadows!


Highway 970 turns east to parallel the railroad tracks, and yup, it's railroad straight. In Teanaway, the highway turns at this junction with SR 10. The tailwind becomes a crosswind.


For 49 years, this section of the highway was part of US 97. Now it's been Highway 970 for even longer! We drive up the Teanaway River. Lots of small ranches but no livestock in sight. We leave the valley and climb onto a grassy ridge known as Swauk Prairie. Still no livestock, despite a big sign for buffalo meat. Highway 970 drops to Swauk Creek and we're quickly at the junction with US 97. Most of the traffic is on the Seattle-to-Blewett-Pass route, so we don't have a stop sign as the highway ends.

Remnants of history on the Teanaway...

Washington State Route 906

On Thursday, August 7, 2025, we drove Washington State Route 906, and this time it counted.

State route No. 906:

A state highway to be known as state route number 906 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 90 at the West Summit interchange of Snoqualmie Pass, thence along the alignment of the state route number 90 as it existed on May 11, 1967, in a southeasterly direction to a junction with state route number 90 at the Hyak interchange.

Highway 906 begins up here in the clouds, at this junction with I-90. There are no signs for 906 in this vicinity. Highway 906 runs mostly north-south, but it's signed east-west since it's closely parallel to the freeway.


Highway 906 is the route of the original highway over Snoqualmie Pass. When the freeway was built, the state probably tried to turn the old route over to the counties since it was redundant, but I guess the counties wouldn't take it. Too much maintenance. We start down from the pass. Here's a photo around the halfway point.


We pass ski areas with empty parking lots, like the old Ski Acres where I learned to ski--at night. We cruise down the hill to Hyak and reach I-90 yet again. Just like that, Highway 906 is done.

The old highway is now a frontage road in the mountains. It can be a pleasant drive if the freeway is clogged (or if you just prefer two-lane roads).

Washington State Route 904

On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, we drove Washington State Route 904 to a red inferno and beyond.

State route No. 904:

A state highway to be known as state route number 904 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 90 in the vicinity of Tyler, thence northeasterly via Cheney to a junction with state route number 90 in the vicinity of Four Lakes.

In the community of Tyler, Highway 904 begins at this interchange with I-90.


Just after leaving I-90, 904 turns east onto the old route of US 10. The old concrete is still there, covered by old asphalt. Bump bump bump bump, the whole way to Cheney. The highway runs through pine forest with no undergrowth. This is broad channelled scablands from an ice-age flood. Nearing Cheney, there are farms on a hill that the flood didn't scour away. As we enter Cheney, we reach the midway point of the highway.


After brief stops to see a red football field, sit in the shade, and eat lunch, we depart Cheney. Highway 904 widens to a suburban boulevard and we pass suburban shopping centers. Across the street from a neighborhood is a rustic farm. The highway narrows back to two lanes, but the concrete is new and smooth. At the town of Four Lakes, Highway 904 returns to I-90. Old US 10 curves toward Spokane, but we end facing north on this overpass.

This would be a peaceful drive through the countryside, if only the road wasn't so bumpy...

Washington State Route 903

On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, we drove Washington State Route 903 from Cle Elum to the lake.

State route No. 903:

A state highway to be known as state route number 903 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 970 in the vicinity of Cle Elum, thence northwesterly by way of Cle Elum and Roslyn to the National Forest boundary in the vicinity of Lake Cle Elum.

Highway 903 starts at this junction with SR 970 at the east end of Cle Elum. We're on the line of the old Sunset Highway and US 10, but it's built up so 970 can cross the railroad tracks and connect with I-90. This is a (squished) delta junction, with a lower bypass of this intersection, but WSDOT lists this upper part as the main route and not the bypass, so I started here.


Detour signs were still up for construction on a new roundabout in Cle Elum, but it opened the day before our drive, so we rolled right through. We leave town and come to the halfway point of 903 just before we get to Roslyn.


903 zig-zags through Roslyn and passes through Ronald, two old coal mining towns (along with Cle Elum). Off to the sides, fancy new developments have sprung up, for those who want to live ten feet from their neighbors, but in the mountains. Slowly we ascend into the woods. Near the south end of Lake Cle Elum, in the community of Lakedale, Highway 903 ends at a seemingly random location. It's at the national forest boundary, but there are just as many homes on the national forest side of the line than south of it.

I have been up this road plenty of times before and never once have I previously stopped at the south end of the lake. Lots of good backpacking up that way, but not on this trip. Instead, we went to the windy beach.

Washington State Route 902

On Sunday, June 29, 2025, we drove Washington State Route 902 to Medical Lake and back. I'm not sure the waters have much healing power anymore, but there are still plenty of hospitals.

State route No. 902:

A state highway to be known as state route number 902 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 90, thence northwesterly, northerly, northeasterly, and easterly, via the town of Medical Lake, to a junction with state route number 90 at a point approximately three miles northeast of Four Lakes.

Highway 902 begins at this interchange with I-90 just south of Clear Lake.


We drive through sparse forest and pass a pond. The highway has no shoulder or guardrail. Highway 902 then climbs up into the farmland of Malloy Prairie, full of giant hay bales, before dipping back to the forested valley. This valley, full of small lakes, was carved by an ice-age flood. All the good farming soil got washed away, but now it has enough groundwater to support pine trees. 902 enters the city of Medical Lake and passes a giant state-run nursing home, then an eerie run-down barn. We stop at the Waterfront Park at the south end of the lake for a rest before heading into town. This photo is at the halfway point, in the middle of Medical Lake.


At the north end of town, we arrive at the beginning of the flood channel. Maybe this was the edge of the ice sheet and the water was flowing on top of the glacier to this point. Take a right to stay on 902. We cross a railroad then parallel it for a while. A new neighborhood climbs a hill. The land flattens out, but not many farms. We arrive back at I-90 in a mess of roundabouts. Zig-zag your way to the freeway.

902 is a nice, quiet drive to a nice, quiet town. No longer the tourist destination of 100 years ago, but they seem to be having fun.

Washington State Route 900

On Sunday, June 29, 2025, we drove Washington State Route 900, heading east on the old highway.

State route No. 900:

A state highway to be known as state route number 900 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 5 in Seattle near the Duwamish River, thence southerly by way of Renton to a junction with state route number 90 in the vicinity of Issaquah.

Highway 900 begins here at the north end of Tukwila, at an interchange with I-5. Once upon a time, it began in downtown Seattle but that part was removed in the great clean-up of 1991.


A half mile later, here's the other half of the interchange with I-5.


Highway 900 thence steadily climbs the hill, four lanes of concrete surrounded by forest. Cambell Hill, Earlington. Try to go the speed limit, I dare you. We drop back down into Renton. Signage for 900 disappears. We have arrived at the junction with SR 167. 900 used to go straight ahead, but Renton petitioned the state for the city to take over those streets, which they did in 2018. You'd think there is a gap in 900 now, but the code description above doesn't have a gap. For many years, there's been a concurrency with 405 on the east side of town. Now there must be an even longer concurrency. We turn right to join 167 southward.


After many stoplights on Rainier, we arrive at Highway 900's interchange with SR 167 and I-405. We shall go north on 405.


Shortly after merging onto I-405, there's a junction with SR 515. Since it's just an onramp, I forgot to have Isabelle photograph it. Here's a photo from the same spot ten years ago.


Around the corner, we reach the interchange with SR 169. Still on I-405, too, of course. This used to be signed for 900 west into Renton, but 900 and 405 were actually parallel right here (until 2018).


We then pass the onramp where 900 once joined I-405, before 2018. Even earlier, it just crossed 405 at that point, but then it was moved to the larger Sunset Blvd, connecting at the next interchange, which is photographed above. We'll now leave 405.


Highway 900 climbs to the Renton Highlands on Sunset Blvd (once part of the Sunset Highway, naturally). It's five lanes of broad, sweeping curves through shopping centers and old suburbia. Then we abruptly cross a line on the map and it's a two-lane rural road with tight turns. Up and down to May Valley, then bigger up and down through canyons of the Issaquah Alps. 900 spits out into a speedway into western Issaquah, all the way to I-90. Highway 900 thus ends.

Once upon a time, this highway was one of the main routes from Seattle to Snoqualmie Pass, so the highway actually turned east a bit before its current end, went through the heart of Issaquah, and climbed to the mountains and beyond. No more, though. Now it's broken bits of history. Old concrete, city streets, a concurrency surely ignored by everyone but me, and a hint of the Sunset Highway.

Washington State Route 823

On Sunday, December 15, 2024, we drove Washington State Route 823 across the Selah Valley.

State route No. 823:

A state highway to be known as state route number 823 is established as follows:

Beginning at the junction of state route number 82 in the vicinity of Selah northerly by way of Selah and easterly to a junction with state route number 821 in the vicinity of the firing center interchange.

Before award of any construction contract for improvements to state route number 823 under either program A or program C, the department of transportation shall secure a portion of the construction cost from the city of Selah or Yakima county, or both.

With quesa birria in our bellies, we hit the road. At the north end of Yakima, Highway 823 begins in this complex interchange with US 12 and I-82.


Highway 823 heads northwest between the two directions of I-82. We cross the Naches River. We cross the Yakima River. There's another junction with I-82, although it's only an onramp in this direction.


We depart the interstate and cross the Yakima River again. Highway 823 becomes 1st Street in Selah, the main drag through town. But wait! Don't miss the turn! (Don't be like me.) Before you get to the middle of town, the highway is shunted a block to the east. We wouldn't want to take Wenas Road over the mountains to Ellensburg, would we? Not today, at any rate. As we leave the snowy city, we must take another right turn to stay on the highway. We wouldn't want to take Wenas Road over the mountains to Ellensburg, would we? Not today, at any rate. (Yes, the two roads join together after a dozen miles.) Cattle farms in the snow. Cross the Yakima River a third time. And here we are at the end of Highway 823 at this junction with SR 821. So familiar.

Selah's a nice little town, but the ridges don't leave it much sunlight in December.