HWY 97 – Highway 97 goes north from Weed, CA through Oregon, Washington and into Canada! It’s an easy, gradual climb so you hardly notice it until you find yourself above 3000 feet. It travels through confers, high desert areas with grasses and old lava flows and tubes you can walk through.
NEXT TIME: Stop at Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint, between Redmond and Madras, OR on the left-hand side of Hwy 97. It’s a beautiful view of the Crooked River gorge. We keep forgetting about it until we’ve passed it.
About ten miles north of Moro, Highway 97 crosses the great Columbia River then up into Washington state’s Yakima Valley. The first time we saw this river coming in on Highway 97 it took our breath away. It still does with Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams watching guard over it and wind farms lining the ridges above the deep, wide gorge. The constant strong winds and the river’s enormous size remind you that it’s a river you need to take seriously.
Sights along US Hwy 97 heading north through California, Oregon and Washington
Before starting to head east on Highway 2, we will visit the Coulee Dam so we camped nearby. The skies were clear and visibility was great until after we parked then a sudden wind storm blew through with thick dust for several hours hiding all views of the surrounding bluffs, partially lifting off our windshield cover, pulling tent stakes out of the ground and chasing off several camping groups. It stopped as suddenly as it started.
Camping: Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, electricity and water, $45/night (ouch!)
Where we picked up US Highway 2 for the first time on our travels east