Okanogan Trails Scenic Byway
Okanogan Trails Scenic Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Washington. Within Washington it covers roughly 80 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Okanogan Trails Scenic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The Okanogan Trails Scenic Byway runs 80 miles through north-central Washington, following the Okanogan River south from the U.S.-Canada border to Pateros, where the river joins the Columbia. The route traces a stretch of the historic Cariboo Trail, a Native American trade route used for thousands of years before it became, in the 1800s, a corridor for mining camps and cattle drives into Canada. Much of the drive crosses the Colville Confederated Tribes Reservation and skirts the Okanogan National Forest, moving between open prairie and rolling hills, dense forest, and granite canyons, with private valley land given over to orchards and vineyards. The byway reaches Osoyoos Lake Memorial Park along with Alta Lake and Conconully State Parks, and connects to the Great Washington Birding Trail. In Omak, the annual Omak Stampede and its infamous Suicide Race — a horseback dash down a steep bluff into the river — remain the region's best-known cultural event.
- 80 miles, Canadian border to Pateros
- Follows the historic Cariboo Trail
- Crosses the Colville Confederated Tribes Reservation
- Osoyoos Lake Memorial Park
- Conconully & Alta Lake State Parks
- Omak Stampede & Suicide Race
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What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Okanogan Trails Scenic Byway
4 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Okanogan Trails Scenic Byway.
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