Washington celebrates its scenic diversity with the Washington State Scenic Byways program, just one way you can enjoy Okanogan Country and its many beautiful highways and country roads.
     Two dozen highway corridors statewide carry the scenic byways moniker, and Okanogan Country sports four of those scenic drives.
     - North Cascades Scenic Highway - The highway begins in the Skagit River valley and rises through the snow-capped peaks of the North Cascades. It skirts emerald waters of Ross Lake, then descends into the rugged Methow Valley.
     Indians used the corridor as a trading route from the eastern plateau country to the Pacific Coast for thousands of years before white settlers arrived in search of gold, fur-bearing animals and land to settle.
     Length: 140 miles.
     - Cascade Loop - The loop stretches from the islands of Puget Sound across the North Cascades Highway to the Methow Valley, south to Wenatchee and back across the Cascades via Stevens Pass. It takes in diverse scenery from ocean views to America's Alps and high desert Columbia River fruit country.
     Length: 400 miles.
     - Okanogan Scenic Byway - The route begins in Pateros at the confluence of the Columbia and Methow rivers and travels north to the international border near Oroville. The byway traces the fertile valleys of the Columbia and Okanogan rivers.
     Native Americans were the earliest settlers; now they share the Okanogan Valley with farming communities that turn out fruit, cattle and other products.
     Length: 83 miles.
     - Coulee Corridor - The corridor takes in spectacular cliffs carved by ice age flooding and high desert that produces a variety of agricultural products thanks to irrigation waters from the Grand Coulee Dam project.
     The coulee is a magnet for resident and migratory wildlife, and a paradise for the recreational traveler. The corridor was extended in 2004 to include the portion of Highway 155 that travels through the Colville Indian Reservation, making the designated corridor run from Othello to Omak.
     Length: 160 miles.
     - Sherman Pass Scenic Byway - The road travels from Republic to Kettle Falls through the heart of the Colville National Forest. The route crosses the highest year-round pass in Washington and includes interpretive signs for the White Mountain Fire of 1988.
     Length: 35 miles.
     More about the National Scenic Byways program is at www.byways.org. More about the state program is on the state Department of Transportation Web site, www.experiencewashington.com/byways/BywaysMain.aspx.