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State Route 20 (Washington)

State Route 20 marker

State Route 20
Route information
Defined by RCW 47.17.080
Maintained by WSDOT
Length: 436.13 mi (701.88 km)
Mileage does not include ferry route
Existed: 1964 – present
Tourist
routes:
International Selkirk Loop
Major junctions
West end: US 101 in Discovery Bay
 
East end: US 2 in Newport
Location
Counties: Jefferson, Island, Skagit, Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille
Highway system
SR 19 SR 21

State Route 20 Spur
Location: Anacortes, Washington
Existed: 1964–present

State Route 20 marker

State Route 20 (SR 20), also known alternately as the North-Cross Highway or the North Cascades Highway, is a state route in the state of Washington. It travels from an intersection with U.S. Route 101 (US 101) at Discovery Bay near Port Townsend to Newport at a junction with US 2 about 400 feet (120 m) from the Idaho state line. It includes the Port Townsend–Keystone Ferry between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island. Although US 12 has a larger east–west extent, SR 20 is the longest highway in Washington at 436.13 miles (701.88 km), only 5.3 miles (8.5 km) longer than US 12. The highway has been called "The Most Beautiful Mountain Highway in the State of Washington."

What is known today as the North Cascades Highway was originally the corridor used by local Native American tribes as a trading route from Washington's Eastern Plateau country to the Pacific Coast for more than 8,000 years. After the California Gold Rush of 1849, white settlers started to arrive in the North Cascades looking for gold as well as fur-bearing animals. This far north, the settlers needed a clear route through some of the most rugged terrain in Washington Territory.

It wasn't until 1895, however, that funding to explore a possible route through the Cascade Range was appropriated.


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