End of US highway 97

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Chris Elbert

Approx. time period North terminus South terminus
1926-1934 (near Oroville, WA) (near Ashland, OR)
1934-present (near Oroville, WA) Weed, CA

US 97 was an original 1926 route. However, back then the US 97 designation diverged from its modern route at Klamath Falls OR, following instead today's OR hwy. 66 to the west, and ending at US 99 just south of Ashland. This junction is no longer visible (except maybe during periods of extreme drought), because it's submerged beneath the waters of Emigrant Lake (a reservoir). Nevertheless, Chris Elbert did some research and took some photos that should explain the situation quite well.

Originally US 99 followed what is now OR 66 south and east out of Ashland. At the entrance to Emigrant Lake Park, OR 66 traffic now uses a newer road that skirts the reservoir, but old 99 continued down into the valley, following what is now the main entrance road (Emigrant Lake Road). Chris sent a scan of a park brochure, which I doctored up with the approximate routes of the old highways:

You can't travel far on that old segment of US 99 today, because it soon disappears underneath the "highway saddle dike" - one of several earthen impoundments that hold back the reservoir. But on the other side of the dike, you can still find segments of the old roads - particularly when the water level is low, as it was when Chris last visited the area. The photo below is looking along what was once southbound US 99:

Elbert, Oct. 2006

The road used to continue ahead, and somewhere under the water lies the historic junction with US 97 - you can see that old road rising out of the lake at far left (that's now known as "Old Green Springs Highway"). The car parked over there is also visible in the photo below:

Elbert, Oct. 2006

That's looking along what used to be US 97 - its original south end was straight ahead, but the junction is underwater now. Below we're looking north on old US 99:

Elbert, Oct. 2006

You can see the continuation of the old highway on the far side of the lake. Down in the depths was the junction with US 97, which began off to the right. From there, Chris turned around (so that he was looking south on old US 99), and shot the photo below:

Elbert, Oct. 2006

You can still see the old highway quite well there, although as you get lower, it gets more obscured by silt deposits. Ahead, that connects with what is now OR 273 (also called "Old Siskiyou Highway"), which in turn leads to the town of Siskiyou at I-5's exit 6.

That endpoint lasted only about 8 years; in 1934 the south end of US 97 was shifted to its modern route: south from Klamath, ending at US 99 in Weed CA (you can view photos from there on this page).

The north terminus of US 97 has always been at the Canada border north of Oroville WA. I obtained the photos below from SRweb (WA DoT's web-based state route viewer).

Above: the last northbound US 97 sign - just out of Oroville, about 4 miles south of the border.

Above: further north, a mileage sign. Osoyoos is the first town on British Columbia provincial highway 97.

Above: approaching the north end of US 97. Below is a closer look at the area right on the Canada boundary:

Below: the north beginning of US 97, viewed from the Canada border:

After clearing customs, you're greeted by the first US 97 sign:

Below: as you make that right turn, there's a "Welcome to Washington" sign.

Below: the first southbound US 97 sign.

Below: note that the speed limits are given in kilometers as well.

Below: mileage to Oroville, the northernmost town on US 97.

The original US 97 ran entirely along the west bank of the Okanogan and Columbia rivers, all the way from Oroville to Wenatchee WA. The highway has been upgraded over the years, and in three different stretches US 97 has been rerouted onto newer segments along the east banks of each valley. The old segments are still driveable, and one of them - the stretch between Chelan and Wenatchee - is now signed as Alternate US 97.