Washington State’s Shortest Highway is Quite The Oddity

Washington State's Shortest Highway is Quite The Oddity

When you are talking shortest highways in Washington State, there is one highway that's less than three miles long and it's quite the oddity for the Evergreen State.

State Route 213 (SR 213) is the shortest state highway in Washington, spanning just 0.35 miles (0.56 km). This route serves the community of Malott in Okanogan County, connecting U.S. Route 97 (US 97) to First Avenue in Malott by crossing the Okanogan River via a bridge.

In its early days, SR 213 was just a minor road connecting U.S. Route 97 to areas south of the Okanogan River and Malott. First appearing on maps in 1954, this small stretch served local traffic but was not initially recognized for any significant role in regional connectivity.

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Its existence was primarily functional—offering a direct path for those traveling between these points without much fanfare or expectation of greater things.

However, the winds of change began to blow in 1959 when the Washington State Legislature passed a law that aimed to expand this minor road's reach by creating a branch of Primary State Highway (PSH) 16.

This new extension would connect PSH 16 near Okanogan directly to U.S. Route 97 in Malott. Set to take effect on July 1, 1961, this legislative move marked the beginning of SR 213’s journey toward becoming more than just a local thoroughfare.

By the time we reached the early '60s, further modifications were underway as U.S. Route 97 was realigned southward across the Okanogan River.

This realignment prompted another extension for what was then known as PSH 16's branch road—further integrating it into the region’s expanding transport framework and setting it up for future renumbering during statewide highway adjustments.

The highway between Malott and SR 20 will be eventually built as state law dictates it but for now SR 213 remains the shortest highway in Washington State.