Highway 197 Oregon - A Visual Tour (37 photos)
Join me as I share some pictures I've taken over the years while traveling Highway 197 in Oregon. It stretches almost 70 miles north to south from Shaniko Jct NE of Madras to The Dalles in the Columbia River Gorge. It then extends a couple more miles into the state of Washington where it junctions with SR 14. There are many things to see along this route these are just a few of the sights. 😀
Leaving The Dalles
As you begin traveling south from The Dalles you are very quickly into the rolling wheat fields. Below you can see the contrast in the landscape from spring to summer
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A little further down the road you are greeted with a magnificent view of Mt Hood. Another spring time shot.
Some of the grain storage on the edge of town.
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The Balch Hotel inside the town of Dufur. A boutique hotel that is even rumored to be haunted. 😱 👻
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Of course just down the street are some more modest accommodations. 😁
Shots of a rain storm in the Cascade mountain range as you drive up the road out of Dufur.
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Mt Hood as you approach the Tygh Grade Summit.
Decending into Tygh Valley you are treated to some "roadside" artwork up on the hill
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Very creative I must say.
A llama at the bottom of the hill.
A stone farm house.
A spring time look at the valley as you climb out the other side.
As you reach the top of the hill you are treated to this view of Mt Hood behind an old homestead.
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A view looking down river that also shows the old abandon power station
A view of White River Falls from the old power station.
A full blooming lilac above the falls.
Maupin is probably best known for its rafting culture during the spring and summer. I can attest to how much fun it is as I am the one in the green/yellow shirt. 😄
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Most of the time when I pass through though I use the little boat launch/camping/picnic area as a rest stop. On this occasion I was lucky enough to catch a train on the way through.
The Mountain Finder at Criterion Summit provides spectacular views of the Central Oregon Cascades...
As well as a view back to Mt Adams in Washington some 90 miles away.
Hope you enjoyed this little visual tour along Highway 197 in Oregon. It is a lightly traveled route with a lot of incredible scenery.
Please feel free to make comments or ask me any questions about this post.
Photos taken by me, @oldmans, with a Nikon D3300 and some Lightroom post processing.
Please visit Pinmapple to see the locations of some of my other posts.
Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!
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You lucked out with the train! The freight train makes for brilliant shots.
I remember when my father went to Florida, my wife made sure he was able to see a freight train. He grew up with steam trains and was a train fanatic. That made his trip!
I definitely did luck out. I have probably been to that spot some 50 times and only seen 1 train. 🙂
very nice backgrounds and nature at its best.
I have always wanted to go rafting, there are many places to practice it here, but I was recommended to start with a calm water river, since you have to learn certain maneuvers that I don't know.
My most recent trips (including this one) have been guided. The lady in the back is the guide and they will shout out directions at times to get you lined up for a run at the rapids. You can tell by her somewhat stoic face that she has done this a few times. 😀
Beautiful landscapes that we can appreciate through your photos. Thank you for sharing. 😃
You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
Very nice place.
I've driven all over Oregon but I don't think I've caught the 197 yet. Thanks for the inspiration!
You're welcome! It is a beautiful drive and I've only shown a little bit of the sights to see. The traffic always seems to be pretty light also. 🙂
I always like this drive as a kid the views are nice. Thank you for taking me down memory lane. When going to Bend from La Grande it was always going to be something fun and to look forward to.
Yeah, It's very scenic and I love the less traveled highway. 🙂
It is the most direct route when traveling from La Grande. I think there is another way through Baker and Canyon City but it is a lot more time on two-lane roads and I remember my mom always hated those because they are statistically higher for head-on collisions.
Yeah, I don't blame your mom. I hate the two lane stretch of 97 between Terrebonne and Madras. So much traffic and so many impatient people trying to pass.