The Historic Sunset Highway
in Washington
Cle Elum to Wenatchee via Blewett
The Historic Sunset Highway
in Washington
Cle Elum to Wenatchee via Blewett
Leaving Cle Elum, the Sunset Highway heads east on Cle Elum Airport Rd. This is on the original 1915 alignment. This road continues for about 2 miles then curves to the right. You would then take the next left onto Masterson Rd. This road continues to a 4-way intersection. The highway continued across the intersection and becomes Red Bridge Rd.
From the 1904 Book History of Kittitas County; The thriving little city situated on the upper Yakima river at the junction of the main line of the Northern Pacific railway with its Roslyn branch bears the musical name Cle-Elum, and is the third town in size and importance within the boundaries of Kittitas county. Four years ago it had less than 300 inhabitants; today it boasts a population of 1,500, and surely there is no more prosperous community in the whole Evergreen state.
The present junction of Highways 97 and 970 was at one time the crossroads of wagon traffic in the upper county. Traveling from Cle Elum, this was the junction of the road north to the Swauk Mining District and the road east toward Ellensburg. There have been businesses at that junction serving travelers and miners from the 1880’s to the 1970’s. The location was originally called McCallum after Peter McCallum established a store there in 1882 and a post office in 1884.
Blewett Pass is the section of the Sunset Highway between Cle Elum and Wenatchee. The pass was named after Edward Blewett, a Seattle mining promoter of the 1880s. The route as most all our highways, started out as an Indian trail. The route began to be used by miners who had discovered gold in Swauk Creek in 1867 and again in 1873 when they discovered gold in Peshastin Creek, which is above Ingalls Creek. The Swauk Mining District was formed in 1873.
Driving Old Blewett Pass - August 26, 2016
The Old Blewett Pass Highway was also a part of the Yellowstone Trail from 1925 - 1930 and it is located between Peshastin WA on the north end and the junction of US-97 and SR-970 (Lauderdale Junction) at the south end. One section of the old highway is a 13 mile spectacular yet harrowing ride with 248 curves on a narrow roadway. With no guardrails you climb along the side of a mountain to the summit at 4061ft.
The Old Blewett Pass Wagon Road
Most people are familiar with the Old Blewett Pass Highway , built in 1922 with it’s 248 curves on a narrow 13 mile stretch of highway. The stretch of road that became a part of the Yellowstone Trail in 1925. Well before that old highway was built, there was an earlier road over Blewett Pass.
Gold had been discovered in Peshastin Creek as far back as the 1870's and mining had been done on a small scale until the 1890's when large hoards of miners descended on Peshastin Creek. In 1891, the wagon Road from Cle Elum was completed with the miners volunteering time to work on the road. This road would be their only access to supplies in Cle Elum.
This section of the old abandoned highway begins near Blue Creek and Mineral Springs Campground. To get there, turn off U.S. 97 at FR 9738 and walk across the highway to the abandoned section. You can hike up the old road for a few miles along Swauk Creek.
Brender's Gas Station and Auto Campsite
The Gas Station was built in 1926 and soon after a campsite was built. The old gas station and campsite are no longer in business.
From the Ingalls Creek Trailhead you can hike up an abandoned section of the old highway for approximately 1.5 miles. The road ends at the old landslide that buried the old road in the 1960's. There are spectacular views from the old roadway up on the mountain.
Campbell Road was a section of the old highway located at the north end of New Blewett Pass Highway south of Peshastin. This old road is still in use today and runs along the west side of Highway 97. During the summer months you can visit the fruit stands along this road.
After crossing the Wenatchee River from the west, the old highway curved to the left and connect with what is now School Street. The old highway then becomes Main St. and crosses the Wenatchee River again. The concrete pavement was poured in 1926 and some of the slabs are dated.
The area that is now Dryden was originally called Pine Flat by the local ranchers because of the large Pine trees growing in the area. During the 1890s, these trees were logged and floated down the Wenatchee River to be milled, leaving the land barren and dry.
In 1863, Father Respari, a Catholic missionary, built a cabin near Cashmere and taught Christianity to the Wenatchi people for 20 years. In 1883, Father Grassi took over the cabin, and the church became known as the “Mission”. Soon after Father Grassi moved in, he built an irrigation system and taught the Wenatchi to raise vegetables on a small garden patch with the few seeds he had brought with him.
Before the existence of Monitor, the area was known by settlers as Brown's Flat, named after Reuben Brown who settled there in 1885. At the site of Monitor a school was built to serve school districts on both sides of the Wenatchee River.
Between Cashmere and Monitor there are 2 sections of original concrete pavement. One section is on Mt Stuart Dr. and the other is on Carey's Corner. I also found a dated slab near the Old Indian Cemetery. It is dated 9-10-20.
The name Wenatchee applies to a river and its valley, a tribe (Wenatchi), and a town. The county seat of Chelan County, Wenatchee is a thriving town at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers and the center of the nation’s major apple-producing area.
The Colockum Road or the Blewett Pass 1913
Blewett Pass Road Should Be Improved 1914
Proposed Route Between Wenatchee and Ellensburg 1915
Cle Elum Man Writes about Blewett Pass Road 1915
Blewett Pass Road in a Class by Itself 1915
Big Excursion Part at Blewett Sunday 1915
"Echo Point" Name of Curve on Blewett 1922
A Drive on Old Blewett Pass 2016
PDF Files
Mines and Miners of the Swauk by Josee Ann Jordan 1964
Swauk Basin History by Wesley C. Engstrom 2006
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