The Long Way
Pierce County
A winding road curves through a mountainous landscape with a snow-capped peak in the background.
Plate I. Mount Rainier view, Road to Rainier Scenic Byway. From nps.gov
Roadside locomotive in Elbe, Road to Rainier Scenic Byway.
Plate II. Roadside locomotive in Elbe, Road to Rainier Scenic Byway. Photograph by Thorsten Lindner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Road to Rainier Scenic Byway

Elbe, Pierce County, Washington. Scenic byway; year-round.

Details

Map. Elbe, Pierce County, Washington. Larger map
Where
39000 State Route 706 E, Ashford, Elbe, WA 39000. Directions
Getting there
From Tacoma East on SR 512 to SR 7. South on SR 7 to SR 706 in Elbe. East on SR 706 through Ashford to the Nisqually Entrance.
Access
The SR 7/706 corridor provides the only year-round vehicle access to the park, and years ago, it was designated a Washington State Scenic and Recreational Highways.
Website
nisquallylandtrust.org
Managed by
Nisqually Land Trust.

An exciting destination all on its own with restaurants, lodging, outdoor gear, shops, galleries, a Pacific Northwest Art museum, and visitor centers.

Notable Events

  1. 1884James Longmire opened a rough trail from Succotash Valley (now Ashford) to his holdings at the springs, the first route into what is now the national park. npshistory.com
  2. 1904Completion of the Tacoma Eastern Railway to Elbe provided much easier access to the gateway of the park. npshistory.com
  3. 1924The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway inaugurated its National Park Limited electrified train service between Seattle and Ashford, stopping only at Tacoma. npshistory.com
  4. 1925The Mountain Highway segment from Tacoma to Ashford and the Nisqually Entrance was resurfaced, leaving less than 7 miles of the route unpaved. npshistory.com
  5. 1928The National Park Limited met with little success, and passenger and mail service to Ashford was discontinued. npshistory.com
  6. 2012Heavy rains and unstable terrain caused a landslide on SR 7 west of Alder and above Alder Canyon; the road closed in June and reopened four months later as a one-lane road while WSDOT crews removed 300 cubic yards of loose rock and material. nisquallylandtrust.org
  7. 2013Country magazine, in its November 2013 issue, named the State Route 706 portion of the Road to Rainier Scenic Byway one of the Top 10 Picturesque Drives in America. nisquallylandtrust.org
  8. 2016Nisqually Land Trust published the Road to Rainier Corridor Management Plan, developed with partners under the Federal Highway Administration's Scenic Byway Program. nisquallylandtrust.org

People

  • Chief Leschi, Nisqually leader who led the resistance to the Medicine Creek Treaty in the Puget Sound War (1855-56).
  • Henry C. Lutkens, early settler of Elbe; the town was named for his home Elbe River valley in Germany.
  • Indian Henry, Nisqually who guided Thomas C. Van Eaton to the Eatonville townsite (1889).
  • Thomas C. Van Eaton, founder of Eatonville, the largest community on the byway (1889).
  • W. A. Ashford, settled Ashford and filed for the township named Ashford (1888).
  • James Longmire, opened the first trail from Succotash Valley (now Ashford) to the springs (1884).

Sources

  1. nisquallylandtrust.org/our-lands-and-projects/initiatives/road-to-rainier-scenic-byway
  2. nisquallylandtrust.org/nisqually-wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Road-to-Rainier-CMP-20160801-navigable.pdf
  3. nisquallylandtrust.org/our-lands-and-projects/initiatives/road-to-rainier-scenic-byway
  4. nisquallylandtrust.org/nisqually-wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Scenic-Byway-Brochure_2016_FINAL_web.pdf
  5. nps.gov/mora/learn/historyculture/historic-roads-and-other-structures.htm
  6. npshistory.com/publications/mora/haer-wa-35.pdf