State Highway 200 (SH-200) is an east–west state highway in northern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, United States. It travels along the north side of Lake Pend Oreille and the

Clark Fork River The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately long. The largest river by volume in Montana, it drains an extensive region of the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and ...

between the

Sandpoint Sandpoint ( Kutenai language: kamanqukuⱡ) is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho. Its population was 8,639 at the 2020 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, ...

area and the Montana border, where it continues as

Montana Highway 200 Montana Highway 200 (MT 200) in the U.S. state of Montana is a route running east–west covering the entire state of Montana. From the starting point at ID 200, near Heron, the highway runs east to ND 200 near Fairview. It is part of a c ...

. The highway is also a national

scenic byway A scenic route, tourist road, tourist route, tourist drive, holiday route, theme route, or scenic byway is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by scenic viewpoints ...

that is named the Pend Oreille Scenic Byway. This state highway is part of a continuous chain of similarly numbered state highways that stretch from Minnesota to Idaho.

Route description

Idaho SH-200 starts at a junction with

U.S. Highway 95 US Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south US Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland from the Pacific Coast. US 95 begins in San Luis, ...

in Ponderay, a small community north of

. The highway heads eastward along the north shores of lake Pend Oreille at the very feet of the Cabinet Mountains with several turnouts and scenic overlooks. After the town of Clark Fork it then enters the Clark Fork River Valley following the

and ends at the Montana border just before Heron, MT where it becomes

. The road passes through the towns of Ponderay,

Kootenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

, East Hope, and Clark Fork. ID-200 is the westernmost portion of a chain of Highway 200s which extends east through Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. At only in length, Idaho's Highway 200 is the shortest in the chain while Montana's Highway 200 is the longest. There is another highway called SR 20 in Washington that would complete the chain of Hwy 200s, but ID-200 is no longer directly connected to WA-20.

History

SH-200 was originally part of the

National Parks Highway The National Park to Park Highway was an auto trail in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s, plotted by A. L. Westgard. It followed a large loop through the West, connecting twelve National Parks: * Rocky Mountain National Park *Yellowstone ...

, a national

auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...

created in the early 20th century to connect various national parks. In the 1930s, it was designated as State Highway 3, corresponding with the Montana highway's number. From 1941 to 1967, the route was signed as part of U.S. Route 10A. After that highway's decommissioning, Idaho State Highway 200 was created in 1968 to replace it as part of a multi-state effort to renumber highways on the Spokane– Duluth corridor to the same number. By 2007, the portion of Highway 200 west of the US 2/95 intersection had been terminated. Mileposts still display its pre-2007 length.

Major intersections

Business route

State Highway 200 Business (SH-200 BUS) is a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

of Highway 200 that runs through Hope, Idaho. It follows the former route of US 10A.

References

External links

Pend Oreille Scenic Byway

National Scenic Byways Program, Pend Oreille Scenic Byway
* {{cite web, url=http://www.idahobyways.gov/byways/pend-orielle.aspx, title= Pend Oreille - Idaho Scenic Byway, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517052556/http://www.idahobyways.gov/byways/pend-orielle.aspx, archive-date=2008-05-17

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...