Stevens Pass (US-2) conditions today

Stevens Pass is the US-2 crossing of the Washington Cascades, 4,061 feet at milepost 64 on the King and Chelan county line. From November 1 to April 1, every vehicle over 10,000 pounds GVWR on this part of US-2 has to carry tire chains.

US-2 starts in Everett and climbs the Skykomish River valley through Monroe and Skykomish (milepost 50) to the summit. East of the top it drops to Coles Corner (milepost 85), runs Tumwater Canyon (mileposts 90 to 99), and comes out at Leavenworth on the way to Wenatchee. WSDOT puts typical traffic over the pass at about 4,500 vehicles, roughly 450 of them freight. It is the closest Cascade crossing north of I-90 that stays in service through the winter, because WSDOT closes SR 20 over the North Cascades for the season every year.

The west side is the steep one. Starting about 6 miles east of Skykomish, the highway gains about 2,729 feet in 9.8 miles to the summit, an average of 5.3 percent, and its steepest mile runs about 6.3 percent. Those figures come from a PJAMM Cycling survey of the climb. For a loaded truck headed west, that climb is the descent, so pick your gear at the summit and keep your speed down from the top.

WSDOT says the passes where it runs avalanche control, Stevens among them, average more than 450 inches of snow each winter. Its Stevens Pass avalanche crew uses cable trams and a 105 mm howitzer to bring down snow on twelve avalanche paths above the road, and the zone that needs control most often, called Old Faithful, sits just west of the summit.

• Summit 4,061 ft (1,238 m) at US-2 milepost 64, on the King and Chelan county line (WSDOT; USGS)
• Vehicles over 10,000 lb GVWR must carry chains on US-2 between Index (MP 36) and Dryden (MP 108) from Nov 1 to Apr 1, plus two extra chains (WAC 204-24-050)
• Skipping a posted chain-up risks a $500 fine, written by the Washington State Patrol (WSDOT, October 2025)
• Avalanche control holds traffic at the summit and at Scenic, 8 miles west, mostly between midnight and 6 a.m. (WSDOT)
• West-side climb gains about 2,729 ft in 9.8 miles, 5.3 percent average, steepest mile about 6.3 percent (PJAMM Cycling survey)
• December 2025 flooding closed US-2 from Skykomish to Leavenworth; the summit reopened to normal traffic Jan 10, 2026 and Tumwater Canyon on Feb 10, 2026 (WSDOT)
• The 7.8-mile Cascade Tunnel, opened Jan 12, 1929, carries BNSF and Amtrak trains under the pass; its east portal is 1,180 ft below the summit (HistoryLink; CLUI)

Washington ties truck chain rules to the signs WSDOT posts, plus one calendar rule. Under WAC 204-24-050, any vehicle or combination over 10,000 pounds GVWR on US-2 between Index (milepost 36) and Dryden (milepost 108) has to carry enough chains to meet the chain-up rules from November 1 to April 1, whatever the weather, and at any other time chains are required. That stretch covers the whole pass. The same rule makes every vehicle over 10,000 pounds GVWR carry at least two extra chains. Trucks on local deliveries that stay outside the chain area and do not cross the pass are exempt, going by their bills of lading.

When a chains-required sign covers your vehicle, the chains go on before you enter the controlled area. For the common five-axle rig, a tandem-drive tractor pulling a tandem-axle semitrailer, WAC 204-24-050(2)(c) calls for chains on at least four drive tires (every tire on one drive axle, or one tire on each side of both drive axles) and a chained tire on either of the trailer's two axles. Combinations with six or more axles chain one more tire on each side of the drive axle when "all vehicles chains required" is posted. Chains need two side chains and hardened metal cross chains, with at least one cross chain touching the road at all times. Plastic chains are not allowed. The rule's all-wheel-drive exemption covers only vehicles under 10,000 pounds. Studded tires are legal in Washington only from November 1 through March 31, and they do not count as chains.

WSDOT says drivers who fail to install chains when signs are posted risk a $500 fine (October 2025), and the Washington State Patrol does the enforcing. WSDOT and the State Patrol can also keep any vehicle out of a chain area if they judge it cannot get through safely. A "traction advisory/oversized vehicles prohibited" sign stops oversize permit loads (WAC 468-38-095).

The pass has no fixed seasonal closure. WSDOT closes US-2 as needed for avalanche control, storms, washouts, and crashes, then reopens it once the control work and snow clearing are done. Read the WSDOT Stevens Pass report for your direction of travel before you leave Monroe or Wenatchee.

John Frank Stevens surveyed the pass for the Great Northern Railway in 1890, and it carries his name. The railroad came over it in 1893 on a line of switchbacks, the year Skykomish began as a Great Northern rail town. The first Cascade Tunnel, 2.6 miles long, opened in 1900 and took trains off the switchbacks.

Snow stayed the problem. On February 23, 1910, a passenger train and a mail train heading west came through the tunnel and were stopped by snow and slides near Wellington, at the west portal. They waited six days. In the early hours of March 1, an avalanche off Windy Mountain carried both trains down into the Tye River gorge. HistoryLink counts 96 dead (35 passengers, 58 railroad employees on the trains, and three more in cabins) and 23 survivors. It is still the deadliest avalanche in US history. The railroad renamed Wellington as Tye and built snowsheds over the line between Scenic and Tye.

On January 12, 1929, the Great Northern opened a new 7.8-mile Cascade Tunnel between Scenic (2,247 feet) and Berne (2,881 feet), 502 feet lower than the first one, and the avalanche-prone grade past Wellington went out of service. It is the tunnel BNSF and Amtrak's Empire Builder use today.

The highway came in 1925, when the Cascade Highway over the pass was finished as a narrow dirt road. It was paved in the 1930s. The abandoned railroad grade is now the Iron Goat Trail, opened in 1993, with trailheads at Martin Creek, Scenic, and Wellington, all reached from US-2.