Yakama Scenic Byway
Yakama Scenic Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Washington. Within Washington it covers roughly 85 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Yakama Scenic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The Yakama Scenic Byway runs south from Union Gap through Toppenish and Goldendale on US 97, crossing the Yakama Indian Reservation. It connects to SR 14 near the Columbia River at the Maryhill Museum of Art. Named for the Yakama Nation, whose reservation the road traverses for much of its length, the byway leaves the irrigated farmland of the Yakima Valley behind as it climbs into the dry, high-desert hills of the Simcoe Mountains and crosses Satus Pass. A worthwhile detour along SR 220, about 27 miles west of Toppenish, reaches Fort Simcoe, a former U.S. Army post and Bureau of Indian Affairs agency listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. The drive's landscape shifts from valley agriculture to sagebrush desert to river gorge, giving it more visual range than its modest length suggests. It's one of Washington's state-designated scenic byways, distinct from the separate Yakima River Canyon Scenic Byway between Ellensburg and Yakima.
- Union Gap to the Columbia River via US 97
- Crosses the Yakama Indian Reservation
- Satus Pass & the Simcoe Mountains
- Fort Simcoe National Register site (SR 220 detour)
- Maryhill Museum of Art
- Washington state-designated scenic byway
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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 Yakama Scenic Byway
No campgrounds are listed close to Yakama Scenic Byway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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