Ellensburg

Ellensburg is a city of 21,000 people (2019) in the North Cascades region of Washington State.

Get in
Ellensburg is located at the junction of Interstates 90 and 82, approximately 110 miles east of Seattle and 170 miles west of Spokane. Road is the only practical way in, there is no air or rail service. Greyhound has four departures daily to Seattle from a stop at the western edge of town (see below).


 * I-90.svg (I-90) is located south of town. Ellensburg is accessed from Exits #106 (W. University Way & Thorp Hwy) and 109 (S Canyon Rd).  It is 110 mi/165 km (1 hr 38 min) east of Seattle and 170 mi/272 km (2 hr 44 min) west of Spokane.
 * I-82.svg (I-82) begins southeast of Ellensburg at Exit 110 from I-90. I-82 goes southeast through Yakima (36 mi/57.5 km), Toppenish, Sunnyside, Tri-Cities (113 mi/181 km) and down into Hermiston, Oregon (142 mi/227 km) to Interstate 84.  From I-84, I-82 starts from Exit #179.
 * US 97.svg US 97 goes another 160 mi/256 km (3 hr) north to Omak and another 48 mi/77 km (45 min) from Omak to Osoyoos, BC by Lake Osoyoos, just over the U.S./Canadian border. From I-90, access to US Hwy 97 northbound is off of Exit #106 and the first left (north) from the eastside of the freeway. Going southbound, US-97 follows I-82 to Union Gap just to just south of Yakima where it branches off again on a separate road to Toppenish and south to Biggs Junction, Oregon (Exit #104 along Interstate 84 in Oregon).

By bus
The on 1512 Hwy 97, on US Hwy 97 & University Rd (Exit #106 of I-90) in the outskirts of town serves as a de facto bus station for: Central Transit Rt #15 (to 4th & Ruby in downtown) and 16 (to Central Washington University) pick up at the Greyhound stop for the ride into town.

The near CWU on E 10th & E University Ave (908 E 10th) serves as the other de-facto stop for Flixbus and BellAir Airporter (stop here by appointment only). In additional they may also have stops in other parts of town too. See the below links:

Get around
The city is small enough to walk on foot in less than an hour.

Drink




Sleep
Except the Rainbow Inn and Motel 6 most of the listed hotels in the below are either NW of town at W University Way & I-90 (Exit #106) or  south of town at Canyon Rd & I-90 (Exit #109):

Telephone
The area code for Ellensburg is 509.

Go next

 * Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park/Wanapum Recreational Area, about 30 miles east
 * Liberty B.L.M. Recreation Site, an old gold-mining site 22 miles from Ellensburg
 * Summit at Snoqualmie - ski resort at Snoqualmie Pass