State Route 141 (SR 141) is a
state highway in
Klickitat County
Klickitat County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,735. The county seat and largest city is Goldendale. The county is named after the Klickitat tribe.
History
Klickitat Count ...
, Washington, United States. It runs north–south for , connecting
SR 14 in
Bingen to
White Salmon and
Trout Lake. The highway follows the
White Salmon River
The White Salmon River is a tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Originating on the slopes of Mount Adams, it flows into the Columbia Gorge near the community of Underwood. Parts of the river have been designated Wi ...
towards the base of
Mount Adams, terminating at the
Skamania County
Skamania County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,036. The county seat and largest incorporated city is Stevenson, although the Carson River Valley CDP is more populous. The ...
border at the entrance to the
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of 1.32 million acres (5300 km2), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Ran ...
, where it becomes Forest Road 24 (Carson Guler Road). SR 141 is a state
scenic highway
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 viewpoint ...
that provides access to recreation areas on the south side of Mount Adams.
The original road along the White Salmon River was built in the 1920s by local residents and designated by the state government in 1937 as Secondary State Highway 8D (SSH 8D). The highway was renumbered to SR 121 in 1964 and then SR 141 in 1967. The highway has a signed
alternate route
An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state a ...
that connects it to SR 14 at
Underwood Underwood may refer to:
People
*Underwood (surname), people with the surname
Places
United States
* Underwood, Shelby County, Alabama
* Underwood, Indiana
* Underwood, Iowa
* Underwood, Minnesota
* Underwood, New York
* Underwood, North Dakota
* ...
, bypassing Bingen and White Salmon.
Route description
SR 141 begins in downtown
Bingen at an intersection with
SR 14 near the city's
Amtrak train station. It travels north through Bingen as Oak Street and turns northwest to ascend a ridge and enter the adjacent settlement of
White Salmon. The highway travels west through White Salmon on Jewett Boulevard and continues along the ridge overlooking SR 141 and the
Hood River Bridge
The Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge, or just the Hood River Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Columbia River between Hood River, Oregon and White Salmon, Washington. It connects Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30 o ...
crossing the
Columbia River.
SR 141 enters a rural area on the outskirts of White Salmon and descends towards a plateau, making a sharp turn west over a stream and north to follow Winebarger Road. The highway continues its descent towards the
White Salmon River
The White Salmon River is a tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Originating on the slopes of Mount Adams, it flows into the Columbia Gorge near the community of Underwood. Parts of the river have been designated Wi ...
, intersecting an
alternate route
An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state a ...
with access to SR 14.
The highway follows the White Salmon River upstream to
Husum
Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home o ...
, where it crosses over below Husum Falls on a historic steel and concrete
truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
. SR 141 continues north along the west bank of the river, passing through farmland and forestland that is dominated by
Ponderosa pine
''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...
. At
BZ Corner, it intersects a local highway that travels northeast to
Glenwood and the
Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains at the base of Mount Adams in southern Washington state.
It encompasses on the lakebeds of the historic Conboy and Camas lakes, a shallow marshy wetland ...
.
The highway travels north through the expanded White Salmon River Valley and reaches the town of
Trout Lake near
Mount Adams, where it turns west towards the
Cascade Mountains
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, a ...
, following Cave Creek. SR 141 terminates at the
Klickitat–
Skamania county line, which also marks the boundary of the
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of 1.32 million acres (5300 km2), it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Ran ...
.
The road continues west as Forest Road 24 on Carson Guler Road towards the
Guler Ice Caves and the
Indian Heaven Wilderness Area; the forest road is closed annually from December 1 to March 31 with limited access for winter recreation use.
SR 141 is designated as part of the
Washington State Scenic and Recreational Highways
The Washington State Scenic and Recreational Highways program is a system of scenic routes in the U.S. state of Washington.
History
The passage of the Scenic and Recreational Highway Act of 1967, signed into law on April 27, 1967, established ...
system and provides access to the south side of Mount Adams, which includes the
Mount Adams Wilderness and
Mount Adams Recreation Area
The Mount Adams Recreation Area is a recreation area in the U.S. state of Washington managed by the Yakama Nation Tribal Forestry Program. The area encompasses an ecologically complex and geologically active landscape. The region features the m ...
.
SR 141 is maintained by the
Washington State Department of Transportation
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...
(WSDOT), which conducts an annual survey on state highways to measure traffic volume in terms of
average annual daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a ...
. Average traffic volumes on the two-lane highway in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 180 vehicles near Gifford Pinchot National Forest to a maximum of 6,400 vehicles in downtown Bingen.
History
The Klickitat County government began planning a road along the upper White Salmon River in the 1910s after a request from residents of
Glenwood to build a road. Local residents volunteered to build the road in the 1920s under supervision from the county government, using private donations to fund their cause.
The early road was added to the state highway system in 1937 as Secondary State Highway 8D (SSH 8D), a branch of
Primary State Highway 8 (PSH 8) along the Columbia River. The state government funded several improvements to the road, including a steel truss bridge across the White Salmon River at Husum Falls that opened in 1940.
The state legislature created a western branch of SSH 8D in 1951 that would bypass Bingen and White Salmon.
The state highway system was
renumbered and restructured as "sign routes" (later "state routes") in 1964. Under the new system, SSH 8D was initially designated as State Route 121 (SR 121), an auxiliary route of
SR 12, the successor to PSH 8.
The extension of
U.S. Route 12 (US 12) across Washington in 1967 caused SR 12 to be renumbered to SR 14, and SR 121 became SR 141 as a result. The former SR 141 was absorbed into US 12, while
SR 121 was re-used for another highway in
Thurston County.
Traffic congestion on SR 141 during peak months has risen due to an increase in the number of visitors to recreational facilities on the corridor, requiring lowered
speed limit
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expre ...
s to prevent vehicle–pedestrian collisions. A shoulder
rumble strip
Rumble strips (also known as sleeper lines or alert strips) are a road safety feature to alert inattentive drivers of potential danger, by causing a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the vehicle interior. ...
on the highway was removed and replaced with a fog stripe during a
chip sealing project in 2014, causing local residents and recreational users to protest. In response, WSDOT installed a rumble strip along the shoulder line to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists using SR 141. Despite the improvements, a majority of respondents to a local survey in 2015 stated that they felt it was not safe to walk or bike on SR 141.
Major intersections
Alternate route
A designated alternate route connects SR 141 to
SR 14 in
Underwood Underwood may refer to:
People
*Underwood (surname), people with the surname
Places
United States
* Underwood, Shelby County, Alabama
* Underwood, Indiana
* Underwood, Iowa
* Underwood, Minnesota
* Underwood, New York
* Underwood, North Dakota
* ...
, bypassing Bingen and White Salmon.
The highway follows the White Salmon River to its mouth at the Columbia River, traveling for .
It was established in 1970 as part of SR 141, becoming the successor to the west branch of SSH 8D.
The alternate route carried average daily traffic volumes of 3,200 vehicles in 2016.
Major intersections
References
External links
Highways of Washington State
{{State highways in Washington related to SR 14
141 141 may refer to:
* 141 (number), an integer
* AD 141, a year of the Julian calendar
* 141 BC
__NOTOC__
Year 141 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caepio and Pompeius (or ...
Transportation in Klickitat County, Washington