dillysnana

I am looking to to travel Highway 2 picking up in Michigan all the way to Everett WA. Anyone have suggestions for stops, points of interest along this route? Then heading on from Everett down the coast through Oregon into California. Thanks

happytrailstoyou

I live in Seattle and once got the idea to drive US 2 from Seattle to Spokane. It wasn't that great of an idea. Anyway, driving east from Everett here are some points of interest:

*Stevens Pass
*Leavenworth (a faux Bavarian village)
*The Columbia River
*Coulee City (there is a scenic 26-mile detour to the Grand Coulee Dam)
*Spokane (a major city with a lots to offer)
*Sandpoint (a nice town with a lake)
*Kalispell (I enjoyed touring the Conrad Mansion)
*Glacier National Park is a detour from US 2

That is as far as my experience takes me.

HTtY

Patty

What time of year? Second the suggestion of Glacier NP (and the surrounding area) and Sandpoint. We continued on 20 after the WA border.

tomfuller

The museum of the Plains Indian is in Browning. It is rather boring east of there. Lots of oil traffic in South Dakota.

tomfuller

Pardon North Dakota.

tom_mn

The only American memorial of a lynching, in Duluth http://www.death2ur.com/duluth_minne...ing_victim.htm

The source of the Mississippi https://goo.gl/images/3IDAku

Ackislander

Go to your public library and borrow "Blue Highways" by Willam Least Heat Moon. He makes this trip in the opposite direction. IIRC, his opinion mirrors the more recent experiences here.

Interest on US 2 is not evenly distributed. You could spend a month exploring from Browning, MT to Spokane, WA, but unless you are a fan of horizons, you may be less thrilled in other parts.

There is another section of US 2 that begins at the Atlantic Ocean and ends at the Ontario border. I think it is beautiful, but my staff who actually had to drive from Bangor to Burlington a couple of times a year hated it: two lane highways with logging trucks. Substitute "oil field trucks" for the west, though the collapse of the oil industry in those parts may mean that you can get a room for the night.

tom_mn

The beginning end is also dense with attractions: Soo Locks, Mackinac Island and Bridge, Tahquamenon Falls, Whitefish Point, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Iroquois Point Lighthouse, cruise to see Painted Rocks National Lakeshore, and farther west in Michigan Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupine Mts (detour).https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5675/2...f9b44047_b.jpg

http://www.judygarlandmuseum.com/

The dullest portion of the trip is actually in Montana, but perhaps Poplar, AKA Stab City, is a bright spot here https://insearchofunusualdestination...-montana-usa-2

tom_mn

A lot of people go in for lake kayaking in Bayfield WI
http://www.apostleislandskayak.com/sample-page/

There are a lot of nice beaches in MI, but more on the north side of the Upper Peninsula off Hwy 28 (US 2 follows Lake Michigan in MI)
Au Train has a great beach, highlighted here with somewhat rare northern lights http://www.apostleislandskayak.com/sample-page/

FYI: Northern Lights become less common as you go west on US 2, even though the latitude is the same. See map at the bottom of this page http://www.aurora-service.org/aurora-forecast/

tom_mn

Sorry wrong link for beach https://www.adamdornphoto.com/produc...au-train-beach


The dull bit of the drive is the central third without trees, from Fosston MN to Cut Bank, MT

John

Glacier National Park is 2 miles off highway 2 in Montana. Certainly NOT dull!!

Keith

Staying on US 2 in Michigan, you will want to stop at the Cut River Bridge. Short drives off 2 will take you to a couple of special places: Fayette State Park (iron smelting ghost town in a beautiful setting) and Kitch-iti-kipi at Palms Brook State Park, Michigan's largest natural springs.