State Route 153 (SR 153, named the Methow Valley Highway) is a long

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, serving as part of the Cascade Loop in

Okanogan County Okanogan County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington along the Canada–U.S. border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,104. The county seat is Okanogan, while the largest city is Omak. Its area is the largest in ...

. The Methow Valley Highway begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 97 (US 97) in

Pateros Pateros, officially the Municipality of Pateros ( tgl, Bayan ng Pateros), is the lone municipality of Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 63,643 people. This municipality is famous for its duck-rai ...

at the confluence of the

Methow River The Methow River ( ) is a tributary of the Columbia River in northern Washington in the United States. The river's watershed drains the eastern North Cascades, with a population of about 5,000 people. The Methow's watershed is characterized by r ...

and the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

. SR 153 travels northwest, parallel to the Methow River, to end at SR 20 south of

Twisp Twisp is a town in Okanogan County in north central Washington, which sits at the confluence of the Twisp and Methow rivers. The population was 938 at the time of the 2000 census and decreased to 919 at the time of the 2010 census. History On ...

. The highway was first established in 1897 as the Methow-Barron Road and was designated as various highways, including State Road 12 from 1905 to 1919, the Roosevelt Highway from 1919 to 1923, and Primary State Highway 16 (PSH 16) until the 1964 highway renumbering, when it became SR 153.

Route description

SR 153, part of the Cascade Loop, begins at an intersection with US 97 south of the confluence of the

into the

. The highway dips south before leaving Pateros into farmland and serving

Alta Lake State Park Alta Lake State Park is a public recreation area located southwest of Pateros, Washington, at the northern end of Alta Lake, in the mountainous northwest interior of the state. The state park and adjacent lake lie beneath towering stone cli ...

to the south near the

Chelan National Forest Chelan National Forest was established in Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washingt ...

. SR 153 crosses the Methow River twice heading west towards the Sawtooth Ridge and turns north to the communities of Methow and

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

. The highway continues northwest, ending at an intersection with SR 20 southeast of

and

Twisp Municipal Airport Twisp Municipal Airport is a municipal-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) southeast of the central business district of Twisp, a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. Facilities and aircraft Twisp ...

. Every year 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 (state), Washington. Establi ...

(WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed 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 y ...

(AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that between 1,400 and 2,500 vehicles per day used the highway, mostly at the northern terminus near Twisp.

History

SR 153 follows the route of the unpaved Methow-Barron Road, which was established in 1897 and later became State Road 12 in 1905. State Route 12 was named as part of the Roosevelt Highway in 1919 and became the secondary

Methow Valley Highway Primary State Highways were major state highways in the U.S. state of Washington used in the early 20th century. They were created as the first organized road numbering system in the state in stages between 1905 and 1937 and used until the 1964 ...

in 1923. The Methow Valley Highway was later made into a primary state highway in 1925 and became Primary State Highway 16 (PSH 16) during the creation of the Primary and secondary state highways in 1937. PSH 16 was extended westward and became the

North Cross State Highway Primary State Highways were major state highways in the U.S. state of Washington used in the early 20th century. They were created as the first organized road numbering system in the state in stages between 1905 and 1937 and used until the 1964 ...

in 1961, before the establishment of SR 153 during the 1964 highway renumbering.

Major intersections

References

External links

Highways of Washington State
{{State highways in Washington related to US 97

153 Year 153 ( CLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 906 '' Ab urbe cond ...

Transportation in Okanogan County, Washington