By Catherine Bodry

Trailing through rugged alpine slopes in the West, small towns in the Midwest, and climbing to the highest reaches of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, U.S. Route 2 (often called Highway 2) inspires a cross-country road trip off the buzzing interstates. Flying just under the cover of the Canadian border, Route 2 spans 2,579 miles between the East and West Coasts. As its low-numbered designation indicates, it's the northernmost east-west route in the United States. You can break up your trip by state or region, or ramble across the entire country — here are some of the sights you'll see along the way.

Pumpkin field near Snohomish.
© Ann Cecil Lonely Planet Images.

The West

If you begin your road trip at the highway's western terminus in Everett, Wash., a port town north of Seattle, you'll make an immediate beeline for the mountains. Route 2 shoots directly west into the North Cascades and then softens its lines a bit, curving around mountain peaks and along the Skagit River. Peak through the trees at the straight face of Mt. Index, and crane your neck at Bridal Veil Falls. As you exit the lush Cascades, the landscape turns golden. You'll dip through the flaxen fields of Eastern Washington before continuing into Spokane. Here the highway briefly tags its bully cousin, Interstate 90, and then jogs north as it crosses into Idaho.

Your drive across the narrow chimney of the bluebird state will be brief; you'll follow the Pend Oreille River until it spills into Lake Pend Oreille, crossing into Montana soon after. There you'll curl along rivers and ranches as you trace the lower edge of Glacier National Park and cross the Continental Divide. The route then descends into the Great Plains, rolling across farmland and through American Indian reservations.

Field of sunflowers.North Dakota.
© John Elk III Lonely Planet Images.

The Midwest

Like many other highways in the region, Route 2 mimics the landscape as it unfolds across the Midwest: flat. As it crosses into the Great Plains and then North Dakota it begins to lose its healthy-heart-monitor peaks and valleys, and accordingly the driving becomes mellower. The route stretches through several cities; a good photo op is at Rugby, N.D., where highways 2 and 3 intersect. This spot is the geographical center of North America.

In Minnesota, U.S. 2 is officially designated routes 8 and 203, so don't get tricked into thinking you're off track if you notice unfamiliar road numberings. The route slowly slants to the south — stick to the Paul Bunyan Expressway from Cass Lake to Bemidji and keep heading southeast until you hit Duluth. Duck under Lake Superior and continue your slide toward Escanaba and Lake Michigan's shores. Once the highway hits the water, it bounces like a pinball to the north before ending — briefly — at the axis of lakes Michigan, Superior and Heron, and the Canadian border.

Boats anchored on Lake Champlain in Burlington.
© Kim Grant Lonely Planet Images.

Where Canada and the Great Lakes dip downward, Route 2 disappears until you reach Vermont, due east at the same latitude one mile south of the border in Vermont. To reach US 2 again, you can follow routes that trek through Canada or stay in the U.S. When you reach Vermont and pick up again at Route 2, it veers directly south along several islands in Lake Champlain, briefly pairs with I-89 on the mainland, then rides solo again at Montpelier. In its 35 miles through New Hampshire, the route stays exclusively in Coos County, skirting the White Mountains and the Presidential range.

Just after you cross into Maine, take a sharp left north in Bethel. Carry on your northwesterly way as the route (following Main Road) mimics the Androscoggin River's run. Your drive will be speckled with snow in winter and luminous leaves in autumn; in all seasons steeples will announce the presence of small towns across the soft, aged hills. Route 2 meets its unceremonious end in Houlton, dashing west to the Canadian border much in the same way that it sprinted toward the mountains from the Pacific.

Bio: Catherine Bodry is a freelance writer living in Seward, Alaska, where she is 3,000 happy miles from the nearest Interstate. She grew up near Seattle, and often used Highway 2 as an escape route from the crowds.

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