511now / Answers / Is Highway 18 open?
Is Highway 18 over Tiger Mountain open right now?
Updated August 19, 2026 · Pictures refresh every few minutes
Only WSDOT can say. Open the official WSDOT Tiger Mountain page for today’s rule on SR-18. That page is the rule.
Then look at the summit still below to see the road for yourself.
The Tiger Mountain camera
Tiger MountainWSDOT
Official WSDOT still. Check the time printed on the picture — if there is no time, do not trust it.
Why a Puget Sound highway gets a pass report
The SR-18 stretch over Tiger Mountain climbs a few hundred feet above the lowland cities around it. That is enough: it can be snow and ice on top while Auburn and Issaquah are just wet. WSDOT reports it like a mountain pass in winter, chains rules included.
Why the pass can be closed when the picture looks fine
A clear picture does not cancel a posted rule. WSDOT closes and restricts highways for crashes, spun-out vehicles, and winter maintenance — things a still photo may not show. Night glare can look like ice, and an old picture can lie. The posted rule always wins.
What is the alternative?
When SR-18 is closed or chained, the lowland freeways — I-90 across the top, I-5 / I-405 around the west side — are the long way that usually stays open. Check the I-90 cameras before you commit.
Check again before you leave
Lowland snow events change hour to hour. Check the WSDOT page again right before you leave.
Sources
- WSDOT Tiger Mountain report — the posted rule.
- WSDOT mountain passes — every Washington pass.