Fall Scenic Drives in Washington State

Written by RV Out West
Yakima River Canon

There’s something about an autumn drive in Washington State. Mountain passes painted in gold, winding roads lined with fiery fall foliage, crisp mornings, and those unexpected stops that make you glad you took the long way around.

But the best fall road trips aren't just about finding beautiful places. They're about giving yourself enough time to stumble across something you didn't set out to find. A turn down an unfamiliar road, a roadside stop you hadn't planned on, or a stretch of highway that makes you pull over just to take it all in.

This week on RV Out West, Jennifer, publisher of Scenic Washington, joins us to talk about some of the best fall scenic drives across Washington State. With her knowledge of Washington's scenic byways, highways, and backroads, Jennifer brings a fresh perspective on where to point the truck when the leaves start changing.

We'll get into some familiar routes, but more importantly, we're talking about the drives and destinations that might not be on your radar. The kind of places that deserve more than a quick drive-through and a photo from the passenger seat.

From mountain scenery and colorful valleys to lesser-traveled highways that deserve a spot on your fall road trip list, this conversation might just change where you point your rig next. So grab your coffee, pull up a map, and get ready to start building your list of  Washington State fall scenic drives. You might even find yourself adding a few extra days to the calendar.

SHOW NOTES

In This Episode

Fall is one of the best times to hit the road in the Pacific Northwest. From golden maple leaves and winding river canyons to mountain passes and wide-open landscapes, Washington State offers some incredible autumn driving experiences.

This week, Jennifer, publisher of Scenic Washington, returns to RV Out West to share her favorite fall scenic drives, lesser-traveled highways, and places that deserve a spot on your next road trip itinerary.

We explore why the best road trips aren't always about reaching a destination. Sometimes it's the unexpected roadside stop, a piece of local history, or a turn down a road you hadn't planned to take that makes the entire trip memorable.

Grab your coffee and get ready to start planning your next Washington State fall road trip!

Scenic Washington Resources

Scenic Drives and Destinations Mentioned

Here are the Washington routes and destinations Jennifer recommends checking out this fall.

Yakima River Canyon Scenic Byway

Yakima River Canyon – Follow State Route 821 between Ellensburg and Yakima for dramatic basalt cliffs, winding river views, and beautiful fall foliage.

Chuckanut Drive

Chuckanut Drive (SR 11) – A beautiful coastal drive near Bellingham featuring big-leaf maples, island views, and scenic pullouts.

Chinook Pass

Chinook Pass Scenic Byway – Take in Mount Rainier views and fall colors along this mountain route.

Northeast Washington and Sherman Pass

Hood Canal

Hood Canal – Explore the Highway 101 corridor around Hoodsport, Lilliwaup, and Quilcene. Jennifer recommends this area for its fall colors, waterfront scenery, and seasonal shellfish.

Columbia River Gorge

Coulee Corridor

Mount Baker Foothills

Mount Baker Highway – Enjoy fall colors, forest roads, and river scenery without necessarily traveling all the way to the mountain.

History Along the Way

One of the highlights of this conversation is Jennifer's reminder that scenic drives are about more than beautiful views. Washington's roads are full of history.

Scenic Washington Previously on RV Out West

Jennifer last joined Brooks on Episode 92.

Episode 92: Discover the Beauty of Washington State's Scenic Byways 

Scenic Washington

This episode of RV Out West is sponsored by Scenic Washington.

Scenic Washington is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and enhancing Washington State's 29 Scenic Byways. Through free travel guides, maps, and trip-planning resources, Scenic Washington inspires travelers to explore the state's most beautiful roads, charming communities, and unforgettable landscapes.

Get their FREE Scenic Byways Guidebook & Map

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Podcast Episode Transcript (EP220):
Fall Scenic Drives in Washington State

Brooks, Host Take in Washington's fall colors, scenic byways and unforgettable autumn road trips with these suggestions from an expert. Welcome to RV Out West. I'm your host, Brooks. My family of fours Base Camp is located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and our RV adventures radiate out from there. Please grab a mug of coffee and join us as we discuss our RVing around the American West. From sweet camping spots, gear and equipment to tips and tricks, we've got you covered. We are RV out west. Well, I missed an episode last week. And friends, that doesn't happen that often, if at all. Thank you so much for your understanding. I just didn't want to rush to get an episode out just to meet a deadline. I always strive to provide you with a quality show, bringing you helpful information that is both entertaining and inspiring. That said, the reason I missed that episode is that I was so focused on getting our brand new merch store launched and I'm really excited about it. I did announce it on socials, but if you haven't heard, we now have merch. I am thrilled to share this news with you. It's a great way to support the show and rep our community out in the wild. We've got zip up hoodies, soft cotton t shirts, snapbacks, a beanie, cozy fleece throw, blankets, candles, drinkware, and so much more. If you're curious to see all the different designs and types of merch, be sure to head over and check it out. You can visit the link right there in this podcast episode description. Go take a look, pick up some merch, and support the show. Every little bit helps. Thanks so much. I'm thrilled to be welcoming back to the show. Jennifer, the publisher of the Scenic Washington guidebook and map that features all the scenic highways and byways that Washington State has to offer. We have twenty nine designated scenic byways and highways right here. Jennifer was last on RV out West in February twenty twenty four in episode number ninety two. Discover the beauty of Washington State's scenic byways, and I'll be sure to have a link to that episode in the show notes. If you want to go back and give it a listen. I do also want to share that in twenty twenty six, Scenic Washington did become a sponsor of the show. So I would encourage you to use the link in the episode description on our socials or in the show notes to order your free Scenic Byway map and guidebook. It's free. Guess what? It's free, really, and it's an incredible resource to help you not only plan a future trip, but to keep in your RV or tow vehicle so you can reroute and take the road less traveled. Jennifer joins us on the show today to share with us about some fantastic fall routes to take so you can take in all the various autumn beauty the Washington state has to offer. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us here on RV Out West.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Thanks for having me. I look forward to chatting with you today.

Brooks, Host So, Jennifer, you are the publisher of Scenic Washington, and you produce an amazing map of all of the scenic roads, drives, byways here in Washington State, as well as a pretty amazing guidebook. You are a sponsor of the show, so thank you for that, by the way. But I love that the road map and the guidebook are both free to people, and I've had links in the show notes. We'll continue to have links in the show notes. And I think this is a resource that everybody should have in their glove box next on their coffee table or on their desk next to, you know, wherever they're sitting and having their coffee to just kind of dream the dream and think about new roads to explore. So my question for you to start out, is there something about autumn that makes an ordinary drive feel more like an adventure? The same roads we've driven all summer suddenly start to look a little bit different. What is it about fall that makes you want to get in the car and go exploring?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Well, you know, I think there is something special about fall. Um, the, the most obvious would be the change in colors that you see as you're driving along the road with the trees. And I'm referring to the colors of the leaves, you know, changing also a bit of a slower pace. Summer is busy, right? The roads are busy. People are out and about. And I feel like once we round the bend, so to speak, into autumn, things slow down a bit. People are maybe not in the same travel mode. Kids and cars and things like that. And impact, you know. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? On destinations. Whereas when you're just even driving between, you know, commutes and things, you can notice the trees are changing. Um, the road might be wet in the morning. It's less, it's less traveled. And so I think that in itself just naturally happens. But also people intentionally set out to go look for the landscapes because this time of year is remarkable with just the change of the season. And so I think there's an opportunity to see wildlife even more so in the fall. And, and just drives along rivers. And, you know, even in the lowlands can produce some really great scenes. The shift in the air, the the shift in the color, the trees changing really kind of sparks, sparks, I think interest in people to hit the road. Um, and we certainly have no shortage of drives here in Washington, as you mentioned, with the Scenic Byways roadmap and the road trip guidebook, we do feature Washington's scenic byways. There are over twenty officially designated byways here in Washington. Many of them cross through the Cascade Mountains. Some of them are along the coastal routes. And so there's a variety, no matter what part of the state you're in to experience a scenic drive. Um, year round, which is really great.

Brooks, Host So let me ask you then, if you think about your own personal favorite fall drive. What is one that comes to mind?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington You know, the top of mind right now, particularly because I did this drive in October a couple of years ago, is the Yakima River Canyon, also known as Canyon Road, also known as State Route eight hundred twenty one. This connects between Ellensburg and Yakima, but it goes along the Yakima River and it's a windy road. I think it's just over twenty five miles. stretch. Basically, that takes you through the canyon. The cliffs are just so dramatic and rugged as you drive through. It's like the basalt rock exposed, really kind of craggy. And then just following the curves of the river. So it's a slower drive compared to when you're commuting on. Um, I think it's, is it eighty two, whatever it is that gets you from normally from Ellensburg? Yeah. It's just, it's just such a different experience. And particularly in fall, all those leaves or trees along the river are turning yellow and just kind of, you know, the breeze moving the leaves. It's just beautiful. I absolutely love that drive. And it's really not that far out of the way if you're making that commute. Yakima River Canyon is a top drive for sure, in my opinion, and it's pretty much open year round. I know it can get icy at times, um, in the shade there on the road, but it's not a mountain pass. And so you can access it generally year round.

Brooks, Host There is no cell service on that road.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Yeah, it does kind of get a little bit quiet.

Brooks, Host Which isn't. Yeah. It's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm just, you know.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Yeah. That's something to consider for sure. Um, there are, there's a couple of places along the route where you can pull out. There's a sort of a fishing also lodging place along the way. There's a restaurant out, but yeah, it's, it's off the grid kind of.

Brooks, Host Yeah. That's okay. If you had to convince someone that a fall road trip is worth doing, even if they don't hike, don't want to camp, aren't particularly outdoorsy. What would you tell them?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington That's a great question. I actually think that most of the scenic byways offer a really accessible experience for people who don't even want to get out of the car. So you can drive from, for example, one end of Chuckanut drive to the other and experience Chuckanut drive is State Route eleven. That's on up in the Whatcom County near Bellingham area. And it's a coastal route. You can see the maple leaves. You can see views of the islands. You don't have to. You can pull out at one of the pullouts along that route to see and actually take a moment and view the views, but just the drive itself, you don't ever have to get out. You don't have to hike a trail to see that. You can just explore it from the comfort of a car. And I would even say the same for many of the roads that go up and around Mount Rainier. I read that they were designed to be experienced as well in a car as out walking on the on the trails out there. So you can drive Chinook Pass and you can see views of the mountain. You don't have to get out and hike to it. So a lot of the routes are accessible from a car and you know, the comfort of the car. I would say, um, but of course, if you want to get out and hit the trail, that just kind of expands the experience a little bit.

Brooks, Host So recently, Jennifer, you published an article which I really enjoyed reading, by the way, and it was called Take the Scenic Route to Fall in Northeast Washington. Yes. And that article goes to Republic and other parts of northeastern Washington. When people talk about fall drives in Washington, many immediately kind of go straight to thinking of the North Cascades, Leavenworth, Chuckanut, Mount Rainier. But what does northeastern Washington offer that people might not expect to find there?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Northeast Washington is sort of the last frontier of Washington. It's rugged. It's, um, unpopulated in the same way that the Western Washington area is. It's gorgeous. It's a beautiful corner of our state that experiences the wonder of fall just as much as North Cascades. That's actually a good point. A lot of the concentration of visitors ends up in North Cascades during fall because they're chasing the larch. It's the larch march. You know, the western tamarack. The larch is the sort of Holy Grail coveted viewpoint in October. And North Cascades Highway really sort of bears the the brunt of the visitors that go through there. And actually that state route twenty. It continues east, north and east and lands you right through Republic, which is where the story was centered. Um, that is highway twenty and actually Sherman Pass, it's a Sherman Pass scenic byway. There is a mountain pass in there. It's Washington's highest maintained mountain pass. So, you know, it can have some winter weather experience even at this point in the season. But what you get is access to the Colville National Forest, which is full of large trees, among others. Beautiful color. And also there's small town. So Republic is kind of just this little old gold mining town kind of nestled right in the mountains there. There's lots to see and do right from there and hikes. There's the Ferry County Rail Trail, which is really cool. A lot of work has been done on that particular area and there's a neat. I actually put a photo. I'll send you a photo of this in the story, um of the old tunnel through the, the rock where people. Now it's been paved, certain sections of that are paved and you can walk. So it's a non-motorized trail that people can walk, hike, bike, stroll, whatever they're doing. And it's just a really gorgeous spot and quiet, very quiet in northeast Washington.

Brooks, Host Yeah, I really like going to Lake Curlew and Republic. It's a cool area.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Yeah. And that trestle, the Ferry County Rail Trail, goes across the lake. Actually, it's pretty cool during the winter. It's, um, groomed for cross country skiing.

Brooks, Host Oh, fun snowshoeing.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Yeah. Snowshoeing and stuff. And so it's a really beautiful spot. And the colors, a lot of the trees and leaves along the shores there are are lovely this time of year.

Brooks, Host One thing that I really enjoyed reading in the article is that the scenery isn't really the whole story. You mentioned the region's gold mining history. The Civilian Conservation Corps, an old log flume. Why do you think knowing the place's history changes the way we experience a drive through it?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington That's a good question. I think if you take a minute and stop and look around, and that's a good example with the Civilian Conservation Corps camp, there's a I think it's called camp Growdon camp Growden. I'm not exactly sure on how people pronounce it, but it's a it's a really cool site. It's, there's actually a rock. And they put the workers boots and bronzed them. Or what is it called when the bronze or something. And so it can it's like a statue of these boots.

Brooks, Host They cast it. They cast.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington It. Yes.

Brooks, Host Yeah. It's the, the process of casting, I believe.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Okay. So if you go there, you'll see there's sort of a, a big rock with a cast of the c.c.c. worker boots right there along the buildings and things. And it has little, um, sort of plaques depicting the historical significance of that site. And just further up the road is the log flume heritage site. And you can see the old flume. They have steel cutouts of workers who were up there doing that work back in the day. And so seeing the, the history of the site and then understanding the function, what were they doing? Why was that going on? And and and when was this happening? I think makes you I don't know, it gives you a sense of place and time when you visit. Um, beyond just looking at natural beauty, it kind of gives you a sense and an understanding of the history and that maybe makes it stick a little bit more. I mean, you are getting the scenic drive, you are experiencing that beautiful area of the state, but also seeing how it how it was formed and the resulting, you know, towns and cities that have sprung up, you know, it just kind of adds to the story, makes it interesting.

Brooks, Host I couldn't agree more. And I think adding that piece of history to any road trip just gives a, an extra richness and depth to what one is experiencing. Uh, I've talked before about being down along the Columbia River gorge, and you're on that drive, whether you're on the Washington side there by Stevenson or on the Oregon side by hood River, And I immediately think, like, imagine what it would have been like to have been part of the Lewis and Clark expedition and coming out without these highways there. It just blows my mind. And you're looking at that scenery going like, that's just that's what Lewis and Clark in their adventure or their expedition did on that. It just it's wild. And it adds a whole separate appreciation.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington It does. And it's kind of neat to see the mile markers and the or the, you know, historic landmarks along those routes. And particularly I'm thinking of I drove the Lewis and Clark Trail. There's a significant spot. It's called Paddock Creek. Have you been by there. They they know kind of out going towards Clarkston its way east.

Brooks, Host Take me there. Yeah.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington It's really cool. They have in this field. They've depicted what the campsite would have looked like. And they've done it in steel cutouts. So you look out, there's a plaque and it, it actually has kind of a like a legend or whatever showing. Okay, this would have been so and so. This is so and so. And it's like the tents, the people there, the dogs, you know, the animals and things that were part of the expedition all set up, sort of camped out there. And it's just an example of this large expedition of travelers coming through and what they would have looked, what it would have looked like had you come upon them back in the day. And it just is a really cool because it gives you the same thing. It's like, wow, they were just sitting out here and you have to take away all the roads, all the nearby towns, and just really imagine what that must have been like for them and how wild it was. And then also like how they know where they were going. Clearly, you know, they had guides and things, but they were just on the land.

Brooks, Host Do you know how they knew? I know the answer. Look, you ready for this? Yeah. They had a scenic Washington guide book and map, and it gave them the route to get them straight out to The Dalles in Astoria area in Port Stephens. It totally was the scenic Washington. Guidebook and in map. It's still. They downloaded it for free. Yeah, they had Starlink back then. It was wild.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington It's so cool. Yeah. I mean, it's a real resource, I will say.

Brooks, Host Yeah. Yeah. Well, this is a perfect segue to talk about Scenic Washington. I shared with you in the beginning of this episode that their map and guidebook are free. You really need to order yours today. And I don't understand what you were waiting for. This really is such an incredible resource. What? We're going to pause so you can hear a word from our sponsor, Scenic Washington. Discover all twenty nine of Washington State's scenic byways, with Scenic Washington's twenty twenty six guidebook and map packed with route details and must see stops. Best of all, it's free. Pick up one at visitor centers all across the state or at scenic wa dot com. You can also click the link right there in this episode's podcast description. So order yours today. What are you waiting for? Start planning your next adventure. And we're back. We're putting together a fall drive bucket list packed with scenic routes, incredible views, and stops worth adding to your fall RV adventure. You're listening to RV out West. Well, let's build a Washington fall drive bucket list.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Yeah.

Brooks, Host Okay, so beyond northeastern Washington.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Mhm.

Brooks, Host And we don't need to exclude northeastern Washington, but beyond which routes would you put near the top of your list for someone who wants to experience the state's autumn scenery? And then the command to that is for each route. Tell me one thing that makes it worth the drive.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Okay, I like it. So for sure, Yakima River Canyon, which I already mentioned and I think the the drive itself following the river and the views, the canyon, the rock wall, all that make it worth it. It's just so gorgeous. And actually, Columbia River gorge is on my list too. And I think beacon Rock that's a little bit closer. It's on the the more western side, I guess, if you will, closer to students. And, um, it's really cool to see. But just that drive along the river is pretty compelling. It's beautiful. And there's, if you want to pull off a lot of waterfalls, more Columbia River gorge, if you want to hike, especially in the fall, fall and spring is always great for the water falls. Hood Canal, the east part of highway one hundred and one from north of Shelton. We're talking like Hood's Port Lilliwaup. That whole Quilcene area is just absolutely gorgeous. The maples and you get on a clear day, just that crystal water Mount Rainier backdrop. And if you're into shellfish, you know, this time of year is great.

Brooks, Host And then why is it great? Just because doing like, razor clam digs is that kind of oysters.

Speaker 3 Oysters like cold water.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Um, and so there's certain seasons or certain months, they say for eating oysters and they end in er. Have you ever heard that. So October, November, September like the months that's like law or something. Yeah, yeah. So you can get oysters year round as long as water. The water is cooperating and all things are clear and clean of toxins. But yeah, the colder and fall months are sort of known as great for shellfish.

Brooks, Host Are you an oyster eater?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington I have eaten oysters, and I will, but I don't seek them out exclusively. But I've gone to Oyster Fest in Shelton, which is awesome. And there's Taylor Shellfish up north in Bellingham area. They have a really cool, uh, you can just drive down to the farm, sit. they've got like a sort of outdoor area. You can just buy oysters and leave where you can get a few oysters and eat. And so it's a cool experience and it's fun, but they got to be small. I like the small, tiny ones. I don't want to be chewing on oysters.

Brooks, Host I love them on the half shell. Um, I'll put them on the grill too, but I'm not necessarily a big fan of the shooters. But that's because I don't like the cocktail sauce, because I think it ruins the taste of the oyster. You're masking the taste of the oyster with the horseradish of the cocktail sauce, for sure.

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington So those I think, and then I also I Chuckanut drive is close to me. I'm up in Whatcom County. And so that's just a beautiful drive year round, honestly. But whenever those maple leaves are turning, they're huge. The big leaf maples are just when it's not super rainy and they're kind of blowing in the wind along the road. And, you know, it just, it's, there's something kind of magical about that. And it is a windy road. So if you like to, you know, get off the highway, get some curves. Those are those are some top some top drives. I just was out for a hike a couple of weeks ago at Mount Baker Highway. We did a forest road, which, you know, it was part of getting to the trailhead and I just was remarking, I can't believe how gorgeous it is in the foothills. You don't have to necessarily go up over and hit the mountain pass. If you're if it's this time of year, you're not sure if it's going to be maybe snowy at the top, which can happen specifically. Like I'm thinking Mount Rainier because Chinook Pass is up and over you. The foothills are great. It offers a really great opportunity to see fall color. A lot of times there's a river winding by. And so just the combination there, that's a theme I'm noticing in our conversation is there's always a river. So I think that that's those are probably my top four.

Brooks, Host Well, so is there, would you say then let me ask you this. Would you say is there like a scenic drive here in Washington? You think people underestimate maybe because it doesn't have a famous landmark? Like, oh, if you take this road, you're going to get this really spectacular view of Mount Saint Helens or of Mount Rainier or Columbia River gorge. Uh, is there one that you think people underestimate because it maybe doesn't have such that spectacular reward when you get to the end of it? You know, kind of thing.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington I actually think the Coulee Corridor kind of falls under that category. It's the Grand Coulee area. So we're talking central and Eastern Washington. Um, a lot of people, I don't know if they appreciate the what's referred to sometimes as the, the scablands or the, you know, the glacially carved areas of Washington because they are pretty rugged. But if you take a minute and look at it. And so it's not Western Washington by any means. There isn't a tree to be seen. Right. So you're out there and it's just so rugged and you can see just for miles and miles open, um, big, you know, sky. And then those coulees are, are remarkable. And if you look, there's um, dry falls, which is a really cool, you can pull in to this overlook where not currently it's not a waterfall, but at one point in time, a long time ago, it was a huge waterfall. And so you can see the remnants of the ice Age. And that in itself is kind of an interesting thing. If you want to get geeky and, you know, talk about geology and like ice age, I feel like that part of Washington, oftentimes people are just driving from, you know, driving through getting from here to there and maybe not really, um, recognizing the significance of the region and kind of just the vast difference that it holds, comparing it to Western Washington, where we're talking volcanoes and evergreen forests. And, you know, those are hard to beat. They're like the quintessential Washington experience. But I often feel like Eastern Washington and specifically the Coulee Corridor just kind of doesn't get the love that it deserves.

Brooks, Host You know, I have on my list of places to see and I have not seen is in vantage, and it's called Frenchman Coulee. Yeah. I've not been. And I really want to go see that I'm not a rock climber. So, you know, it's not like I'm going with the intent to go, you know, climb it or whatever. But, uh, a friend of mine was out on a motorcycle ride and I was like, hey, go check this out. I've heard cool things about it. I've never seen it. And he was like, all right. So he took the detour and went out and he was like, Holy smokes, that was really cool. And he's a born and raised Washingtonian himself. and he was like, I had no idea that this was even in our state. And he was like, it was just the coolest thing.

Speaker 3 So it is cool over.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington There, you know? It also is cool, which I think it kind of could be controversial in a way. But the Wild Horse Energy Center up there, where all those big wind turbines are, there is a visitor center up there. PS The Puget Sound Energy runs that and there's some really cool hikes. I'm talking more like walking along, especially if you go during spring. The wildflowers up there are amazing and they're just desert wildflowers, which is another kind of different thing. There's goats all over the place, up on the rocks up there, and they blend in so well. You can't believe how many there are when you finally stop and look. And so I just yeah, those little sort of craggy, the craggy parts of Washington pockets.

Speaker 3 Um, yeah.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Are are gorgeous in their own right. And so I think going and seeing it for yourself is what makes it you realize like, wow, okay, yeah, this is a cool spot. Glad I saw it. Glad I took the detour.

Brooks, Host So Jennifer, the phrase take the scenic route sounds simple, but what does it actually mean to you?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Take the scenic route. I think it means acknowledging that there are other ways to get around and travel and. And they're worth the time it takes to do it. I know that sometimes people or we get focused on the destination like, oh, I'm going to Leavenworth. Okay, well, there's a lot of things to see and do between here, home and Leavenworth, right? And so taking the time and just allowing for the time in your drive. And that's one thing I mentioned in the Northeast Washington article, which is, yeah, we're going out here, but allow yourself time to stop. Pull into those little pullouts.

Speaker 3 There's.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Always a sign and it says Scenic View, scenic Vista historical landmark ahead. And so how many times do you just drive by that? Because you're like, oh, we're going to Leavenworth. You know, that's where we're going. Well, there's a lot to see and do along the way. I think that that's sort of the, the definition of taking the scenic route is allowing yourself time to stop and explore and maybe not keeping a strict timeline.

Brooks, Host Is there a point where kind of documenting the experience may get in the way of actually having that experience?

Speaker 3 Yes.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Yeah. And you see that I think you see it when the trail is crowded, right? So and I've experienced it, I've done it. I know exactly what you're referring to. It's almost like I'm going here to see this and to take a picture and document that I did this. And it's almost like what happens between the moment that you get out.

Speaker 3 Of the.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Car and walk to the trail and see the tree. Did you were you just focused on that final picture you were going to get? And I think in locations where there is a big, you know, big reward at the end of the drive or the hike, like a big lake at the end or a big view or something that becomes again, the destination. And so if you can dial it back and just think about the scenic route. Okay. It's a road or a trail or whatever. And there's things like things you can smell, things you can touch, things you can sensory experience beyond sort of the view. So, so I guess, yeah, thinking about the other senses and how, how they can be impacted or how you can experience it might slow you down a little. Um, and it might be different in a car, right? So you're not necessarily being roll down the window in small, right?

Speaker 3 Right. Feel the wind.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Feel the distinct temperature change once you cross over the Cascades and into eastern Washington. It's usually warmer, drier. And so just kind of taking a minute to acknowledge those senses. And then, yeah, I get the picture because it's great to remember what you saw. But yeah, don't forget the other, the other senses that get you along the way.

Brooks, Host You've spent time helping people discover Washington state through scenic Washington. Has that work changed your own relationship with our state, and do you find yourself looking at familiar places differently now?

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Yeah, definitely. Um, I also find myself not going to places anymore because they are too crowded or understanding to, to promote a place, you have to be careful. You know, there's a reason why places are the way they are pristine and natural beauty. And so being mindful about that and aware of the impacts of visitors to certain areas. But yeah, I look at things and I always try to take the scenic route. I've driven all of the scenic byways in Washington, and so to be able to have firsthand experience, those. This. The work I've done has enabled me and also encouraged me and given me the desire to do that. So, I mean, I can get there quicker, but I know there's a scenic route to take.

Brooks, Host I love that. Well, Jennifer, thank you so much for coming on the show today, talking to us about fall drives as well as some of the other scenic roads. Tell me more just briefly about your map and your guidebook. Why should people get it? Forget the fact that it's free. I keep telling them it's free. Go get it. But tell them what's on it, why they should go get it. And then where can they? Follow along on your adventures and learn more about Scenic Washington?

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Thank you. So the Scenic Byways, road trip, guidebook and map, I consider them to be sort of companions to each other. They're both the same four by nine size. They fit perfectly in the glove compartment. They're really great resource for exploring our state. There's information about the different regions in Washington. Some photos for inspiration, points of interest that are mapped out on our illustrated maps. The mapping guide are distributed free at visitor centers throughout the state. And so we do that because we have great partners. Advertising partners make it possible for us to distribute that for free and print it for free. So every year we have it. So it's an annual publication, it comes out in May and we distribute it throughout the year. We have a partnership with State of Washington Tourism to distribute the map. And our guidebook is on the ferries. It's out visitor centers, like I said, and through our advertising partners who handed out to their visitors as well.

Brooks, Host Where can I learn more about Scenic Washington and follow along on your adventures?

Speaker 3 Yes.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington So if you want to follow along on our adventures, our Facebook page and Instagram page is where it's at. Facebook is scenic. Washington or Washington State three hundred sixty five. Um, and then our Instagram is scenic wa. And so there we're just sharing stories, sharing posts, trying to provide travel inspiration for people to get out and take the scenic route and maybe hopefully experience something new, learn something new about Washington. Um, yeah. And get out there and have some fun.

Brooks, Host Well, Jennifer, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to come on and share your passion for Washington State and our scenic routes. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Jennifer, Scenic Washington Thanks for it's great talking to you again.

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