Imagine traversing the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1800s.

Stretches of dirt road guide the path of pioneers. Horse-drawn wagons creak , carrying traders to and from distant lands to buy and sell goods. The population is diverse: European-American settlers, Native American tribes, (Chinook, Nez Perce, and Yakama), as well as immigrants from China who came to work in the mining and railroad industries.

The Old Sunset Highway Heritage Corridor is an iconic relic of this bygone era.

In1865, after nearly a decade of surveying the land for a pass through the mountains east of Seattle, local funds were finally raised to carve out a 25-mile road from Ranger’s Prairie (now North Bend) toward Snoqualmie Pass. These funds established the Snoqualmie Wagon Road, which transformed the region’s economy by providing a direct route for trade and settlers from Seattle to Ellensburg.  

However, as time wore on and ownership of the road changed hands, the once-thriving thoroughfare fell into disrepair. It wasn’t until the dawn of the automobile age in 1905 that the road saw a revival. With the advent of motorcars, the demand for improved infrastructure soared. Thus began the transformation of the old wagon road into a modern highway. 

The push for these improvements yielded the proposal of the Sunset Highway, which actually followed a trail that Native Americans had used for centuries. The road was hailed by the governor as the “first passable route between east and west sides of the (Cascade) mountains.” It ran west from the Idaho line, over Snoqualmie Pass and down into Fall City, then continued south around Lake Washington and into Seattle.  

Gone were the treacherous, steep grades of the wagon road, replaced by a series of switchbacks and a leveled gravel path. Automobile enthusiasts flocked to the route, eager to traverse the scenic journey through the heart of the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to the Federal Highway Act of 1921, the road saw further improvements throughout the 1930s, and finally received full pavement in 1934.  

The Old Sunset Highway Heritage Corridor is a testament to the evolution of road development, ingenuity and industrialization in King County. Today, this highway consists of three segments of the old routes over the Snoqualmie Pass, each accessible from the I-90 corridor.  

Views from the Old Sunset Highway Heritage Corridor during from the modern day provide a glimpse into the past.

Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/OldSunsetHwy

– Lillianna DeLeon