Yakima Canyon Road: Selah to Ellensburg
25 miles of State Route 821 ("Canyon Road") following the Yakima River between Selah and Ellensburg, past basalt rock formations of the Yakima River Canyon. Tight curves, esses and sweepers that demand full attention, with generally light traffic outside holiday weekends.
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Narrow shoulders throughout; RV and holiday-weekend traffic is the main variable — outside those periods, traffic is described as minimal. Check current access · Reviewed 2026-09-23
Planning the drive
Canyon Road runs 30 counted bends over 25.3 miles, a mix of esses and sweepers following the Yakima River between basalt rock formations — wildlife along the route includes deer and bighorn sheep, so sightlines matter as much as the curves themselves. At a 4.7% maximum grade this isn't a steep climb, it's a sustained, engaging river-canyon drive. Motorcycle Roads NorthWest: SR 821 “Canyon Road”
Outside holiday weekends, traffic is reported as minimal — no RVs, no fast drivers, next to nothing to contend with. Narrow shoulders are the main hazard the rest of the time, especially if an RV does appear.
Roads to connect
Driving notes updated .
Road shape
- Length
- 25.3 mi
- Bends
- 30
- Switchbacks
- 6
- Bends per mile
- 1.2
- Turning per mile
- 144°
- Curviest rank
- 141of 160
Measured from the OpenStreetMap centreline at a 20 m sampling step — road shape only, not a safety or speed judgement. How bends are counted.
Elevation
- Total climb
- 1,866ft
- Climb per mile
- 74ft
- Highest point
- 1,528ft
- Steepest grade
- 4.7%
Sampled every 100 m from USGS 10 m elevation data, a public-domain federal dataset. Total climb counts vertical change in both directions, so it does not depend on which way you drive. How elevation is measured.
Speed limits
Varies
Unverified
Check posted signs along the road.
No reliable posted limit was found for this selected section. Follow current signs.
Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.
Sources
Difficulty 2/3 (Winding) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “Technical” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:
- Motorcycle Roads NorthWest: Washington State Route 821 “Canyon Road”
- Wikipedia: Washington State Route 821
- OpenStreetMap road data (22 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-23. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.
Roads nearby
Distances are approximate straight lines between road centers, not driving distances or direct connections.