Old Highway 8 (off Washington State Route 14)

Ok, I’ll admit it. The twisty quotient on Washington Route 14 has a bit of a tendency to be less than stunning once you’re east of the Cascades. It definitely drops down to high-speed sweepers east of Stevenson, but this road might provide a wee bit of welcome diversion if you’re not in an all-fired hurry.

And yes, it’s a much shorter road than most of my listings. It’s a sub-road really, but one that I really enjoyed.

It’s also known by a handful of various names it seems. My Gazetteer called it “Old Highway 8”. Google Maps calls it “Lyle White Salmon Road” and “Old Highway” and switching to “Canyon Road” on the eastern end.

A lot of names for such a small road. The views from up top are anything but small though, and the corners are tricky and banked. Highway engineers don’t really seem to like banked curves that much anymore, but this old road still has them where it threads in between a stone formation and a boulder perched atop the edge of the ridge.

View from nearby:
View from Near Old Highway 8
(courtesy of Joe Goldberg. Creative Commons: Attribution–Share Alike)

The west entrance for this road is 4.7 miles east of Bingen, sandwiched between a gravely parking lot and Rowland Lake. Rowland Lake is a rather pretty little lake formed by the new route 14 and Union Pacific railroad routings.

The east end is JUST west of the Route 14 Klickitat River bridge and just a few hundred feet from where Route 142 comes down from Goldendale.

If you’re still bored, several other motorcyclists have recommended the real Canyon Road that runs north from Old Highway 8 and has some great twisties before turning to gravel 2/3rds of the way to Appleton.

  • Counties:
  • Length: 6.2 miles
  • Towns: Lyle