Goldendale

Highway 97 heads north from the Columbia to the little town of Goldendale (pop. 3,700), 10 miles away, passing scores of cows, happily munching away or taking it easy along the route. The horizon is dominated by the snowcapped summits of Mt. Hood to the south and Mt. Adams [1], Mount St. Helens [2], and Mt. Rainier [3] to the west.

North of Goldendale, Highway 97 climbs through ponderosa pine forests as it reaches 3,107-foot Satus Pass, before descending into the scenic and lonely Yakama Reservation, and finally the town of Toppenish in Yakima Valley [4], 50 miles away.

Goldendale began when the first farmers and loggers settled here in 1879 and has grown slowly over the decades since.