2,000 Sheep Close Blewett Pass Twice Every Year

Twice a year, drivers on US 97 near Liberty Road run into a traffic stop unlike any other in the state. The road closes. Flaggers step out. And then roughly 2,000 sheep come pouring across Blewett Pass, guided by a handful of shepherds and a team of border collies doing most of the actual work.

The whole thing takes about 20 to 30 minutes. Then the highway reopens, and everyone goes back to their day, usually with a much better story than they started with.

A Tradition Older Than the Highway Itself

The flock belongs to rancher Mark Martinez, whose family has run sheep through this stretch of the Wenatchee Mountains for generations. The first crossing happens in summer as the animals head toward higher mountain grazing land. The second comes after Labor Day, when cooler weather pushes them back down toward lower pastures for the winter.

WSDOT treats the whole operation with a good-humored approach that's become part of the charm. The agency's own post about a past crossing read: "Twice a year we act as crossing guards on Blewett Pass for 2000 sheep, a few shepherds, and several very good dogs when the sheep move to new grazing la-a-a-a-and."

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This is By Far the Best Traffic Delay in Washington

Time-lapse video of the crossing has gone viral more than once, drawing attention from Seattle news stations that probably never expected a livestock story to outperform their usual traffic coverage.

For anyone in the Wenatchee Valley heading toward Ellensburg during the right week, a brief delay on Blewett is a bonus, not an inconvenience. Watching a couple thousand animals flow across a mountain highway, herded by dogs that know exactly what they're doing, is the kind of thing you don't get to see from a car window very often. Roll the window down and enjoy it.