| Country: | USA |
| Type: | US |
| Route: | 26 |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Map Notes: | US 26 highlighted in red |
| Length Mi: | 1479 |
| Established: | 1926 |
| Direction A: | West |
| Direction B: | East |
| Terminus A: | near Seaside, OR |
| Junction: |
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| Terminus B: | at Ogallala, NE |
| States: | Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska |
| Previous Type: | US |
| Previous Route: | 25 |
| Next Type: | US |
| Next Route: | 27 |
U.S. Highway 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon, to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. Numbered Highway System was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho and Oregon. The highway's eastern terminus is in Ogallala at an intersection with Interstate 80 (I-80). Its western terminus is south of Seaside at an intersection with US 101. Prior to 2004, the route's last 20miles were cosigned with US 101 from the highways' junction south of Seaside north to Astoria where its intersection with US 30 was also US 30's western terminus.[1] Long segments of the highway follow the historic Oregon Trail. At its peak, immediately before the establishment of the Interstate Highway System, US 26 was 1557miles in length and terminated in Astoria.
|-|OR|NaNmiles|-|ID|NaNmiles[2] |-|WY|454miles|-|NE|NaNmiles[3] |-|Total|NaNmiles|}
See main article: U.S. Route 26 in Oregon. Starting at a junction with US 101 near Seaside, US 26 heads southeast through the Coast Range to Portland. In the western Portland area, US 26 is a freeway known as the Sunset Highway. After passing through the Vista Ridge Tunnels, heading into Downtown Portland, it intersects with I-405 and runs along the Interstate southbound for about a half-mile (0.5miles) before exiting onto surface streets at the waterfront, meeting Oregon Route 43 (OR 43) at Macadam Avenue before crossing I-5. After crossing the Willamette River and meeting at an incomplete interchange with OR 99E, US 26 then heads east on Powell Boulevard where it crosses I-205 and continues east to Sandy on what is known as the Mount Hood Highway No. 26, a four-lane divided highway that was supposed to be the Mount Hood Freeway, which was never built just south of Division Street.
After passing through Sandy, US 26 (known there as the Mount Hood Highway) continues on toward Government Camp and Bennett Pass, where it eventually meets up with OR 35. The Mount Hood Highway continues north along OR 35, while US 26 heads southeast toward Madras, where it intersects with US 97. It then continues southeast to Prineville, where it meets OR 126 and heads east through John Day where it meets US 20 in Vale. The remainder of US 26 follows US 20 to the Idaho state line.
See main article: U.S. Route 26 in Idaho. From the Oregon state line, US 26 continues to follow US 20 to Boise, with short concurrencies with US 95 near Parma and I-84 at Caldwell. At Boise, US 26/US 20 merges with I-84 for about 40miles until Mountain Home, where US 20 splits from US 26/I-84. About 41miles later in Bliss, US 26 splits from I-84, joining US 93 at Shoshone with the concurrent routes joining US 20 at Carey. US 20/US 26/US 93 skirt the north edge of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and then through Arco where US 93 splits north. Near Idaho National Laboratory, US 26 again splits from US 20 to the southeast, proceeding to Blackfoot, where US 26 joins I-15 for about 20miles before splitting just south of Idaho Falls toward Alpine, Wyoming.
From Alpine, US 26 is cosigned with US 89 east and north to Hoback Junction, then cosigned with US 89, US 189, and US 191 to Jackson. US 189 ends in Jackson, and the other three highways continue their concurrency through Grand Teton National Park up to Moran. At "Glacier View Turnout", a view of Teton Glacier, on the north of Grand Teton, can be seen.[4] At Moran, US 26 turns east, concurrent with US 287. Crossing the Continental Divide at Togwotee Pass, US 26 passes through Dubois, the end of the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway, and at Diversion Dam Junction, US 26 and US 287 separate; US 26 continues southeast to Riverton, then northeast to Shoshoni. From Shoshoni to Casper, US 26 is cosigned with US 20. US 20/US 26 has a bypass north of Casper, the eastern half of which is concurrent with I-25 and US 87. US 20/US 26/US 87 parallels I-25 from Casper to Glenrock; east of Glenrock, US 26 (along with US 20 and US 87) is cosigned on I-25. US 26 follows I-25 to Dwyer Junction, where it turns east to continue along the Old Oregon Trail. US 26 passes through Guernsey, Fort Laramie, Lingle, and Torrington before entering Nebraska. US 85 is concurrent with US 26 between Lingle and Torrington.[5]
See main article: U.S. Route 26 in Nebraska. US 26 runs southeastward parallel to the North Platte River. The largest city US 26 runs through in Nebraska is Scottsbluff, which is just 22 miles (35 km) from the Wyoming border. US 26 also goes past Chimney Rock National Historic Site. US 26 intersects with US 385 in Bridgeport and then continues to its eastern terminus in Ogallala, Nebraska at I-80. All told, there are 150.79miles of US 26 in the state of Nebraska.
U.S. Highway 320 (US 320) was part of the initial 1926 system, connecting US 20 in Shoshoni with US 87W in Riverton, Wyoming. It became Wyoming Highway 320 (WYO 320) in 1938, which was extended southwest to Lander in 1940 when US 287 (which had replaced US 87W) was realigned. The original part of US 320/WYO 320 became part of an extension of US 26 in 1950, and the rest of WYO 320 became part of WYO 789 in 1954.[6]