Spaces & Places: America's Cultural Landscapes Stevens Canyon
Highway Lewis County, WA The Stevens Canyon Highway is a linear
landscape in Mount Rainier National Park that extends 19 miles
from Paradise to its intersection with the East Side Highway.
Surveys for the road began as early as 1904 and construction
began in 1931, but it was not completed until 1957 due to delays
during World War II. The road was designed by landscape
architects and civil engineers as a scenic drive through public
land, but also as an important connector route between the
eastern and western sides of the park. The alignment of the
highway was carefully chosen to showcase spectacular scenery,
while carrying vehicles through Stevens Canyon and around
Backbone Ridge using the route that was the most economically
feasible and least destructive to the park’s resources. The road
links the major developed areas on the east and west side of the
park including Longmire, Paradise, Ohanapecosh and Sunrise as
well as numerous other attractions