Four Roads In One On The Yellowstone Trail

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

I realize that a map may help locate sites in unfamiliar areas so I have numbered the photos in my four related Yellowstone Trail posts on the map. You will find the number in the caption of each photo.

The 1925 Yellowstone Trail followed the route of the Sunset Highway between Spokane and Seattle and maps are more likely to show the name “Sunset” than “Yellowstone.” One day I will have to research who named the Sunset Highway, the Inland Empire Highway, and the Central Washington Highway. Was it the Automobile Clubs or State officials? I don’t know, and perhaps someone on the forum can tell me.

In any event, road signs and motel names along the 1925 Yellowstone Trail (Pole symbol: Black and Yellow, often with an arrow pointing toward Yellowstone NP) alignment are much more likely to carry the name Sunset than Yellowstone. No matter, I like both names, and since the highways are one and the same, we get two for the price of one. Or more correctly, four for the price of one, as this was also the National Parks Highway (Pole symbol: NPH on Red, White, Red bands) and the National Park to Park Highway (Pole symbol, two P’s facing).

For many miles the Yellowstone travels the Scablands described briefly in an earlier post. In 1925 the road was gravel, with only the last 20 miles into Spokane paved. The countryside was described as alternating farmland and unimproved prairie, with small towns all along the route. The towns along the old road hang on today through some farming and ranching, some tourism, usually centered on the lakes formed in the coulees, and some small town pride.

When we leave Dry Falls headed east on the Yellowstone we travel through small towns that are at best in transition, and at worst dying or dead. Some have nothing but abandoned buildings lining their once busy streets, but some have found a basis for prosperity.

One of my favorite stops is Coulee City. We spent a night there in 1962, and unless my memory is shot, the place we stayed is still in business. I have some old photos of the family taken there.

Coulee City Hotel (Map Location 5)

This trip we stopped and had a picnic next to the public library, on a grassy little spot, and I took a photo of the hotel. It was probably built after 1925, but it looks like so many of the hotels that used to serve the traveling public, I thought it worth the picture.

The next stop is my favorite on this stretch of the Yellowstone, only because the old Hartline service station has, in its dirty window, a vintage map rack complete with free maps. They have been there for as long as I remember, and I always stop to check that they haven’t been moved. They have been in the sun so long now that they actually appear burned. When do you last remember getting a free map at a service station?

Hartline Garage with Old Pumps (Map Location 6)

For the many folks who have begged for a photo of Sheila, rose of the Road, and me, take a look at the reflection in the window. I am crouched to take the photo and Sheila is posing for the photo. There, now stop your pleading!

Old Free Maps Stand with Maps, in Chevron Garage, Hartline, Washington

The town of Almira is next with a vintage hotel, garage combination. The hotel is trying for a comeback as a B&B. The Edsel sits alone across the street. Both Hartline and Almira have seen better days, but hope springs eternal, and I wish them the best of futures.

Edsel in Almira, Washington (Map Location 7)

To view in 3D, stare at the images and slowly cross your eyes until a third 3D image appears in the center.

Leaving Davenport eastbound, turn left and then right at the east edge of town onto the old Sunset Highway alignment on the north side of the rail tracks. Stay on the Sunset for about 6.25 miles and you will find an old concrete section for a few miles, complete with the curved gutters of the 1920’s and 30’s. I looked for a date stamp on the gutters but found none.

It may be too esoteric for some, but there is a lone old style billboard on the right side of the road at about 8.75 miles. The Spokane Davenport Hotel of mid last century is advertised in fading paint. Considering that there would have been no sane reason to erect the sign on an abandoned highway, it must have been put up while this old section of road was still the main route.

Yellowstone Highway and Old Davenport Hotel Billboard (Map Location 8)

The Davenport Hotel has been beautifully renovated. I mentioned the sign to the owner a few years ago, but apparently nothing came of it. No surprise. What do you do with a faded billboard?

We didn’t travel beyond this point on this trip. The Yellowstone Trail between here and Spokane is quite interesting because it does the zig zag typical of the days when roads followed section lines. However, we wanted to visit a couple of towns off the Yellowstone, so we cut across on two lane paved and graveled roads to Rosilia on the 1915 Yellowstone loop south of Spokane, where we will pick the adventure up in the another post. Edited May 30, 2007 by Keep the Show on the Road!