British Columbia Highway 97

Highway 97 is the longest continuously numbered provincial highway in British Columbia. At 2,081km long, it is actually the longest provincial highway in any Canadian province.

Route Details
Highway 97 over its entirety has multiple different designations.

Okanagan Highway
The Okanagan Highway section of Highway 97 is 269km long. Its name comes from the Okanagan region it passes through.

It starts at the Canada-United States border where it continues as US Route 97. It goes north to the city of Osoyoos, and a junction with Highway 3. It continues north through Oliver to a junction with Highway 3A in Kaleden.

North of Kaleden, Highway 97 reaches the city of Penticton. It then continues north following the Okanagan Lake through Summerland and Peachland to its junction with Highway 97C in Westbank. It then goes east to West Kelowna, and then crosses the William R. Bennett Bridge into the city of Kelowna, where it meets a junction with Highway 33.

The highway then travels north out of Kelowna to Vernon and a junction with Highway 6. It then continues north to a junction with Highway 97A. From here, Highway 97 goes northwest to Monte Creek, where it merges with Highway 1. The highways then go west to Kamloops where they meet Highways 5 and 5A. Highways 1 and 97 go west along the Thompson River to Cache Creek and a junction with Highway 97C, where Highway 1 diverges south.

Cariboo Highway
From Cache Creek, the highway is designated as the Cariboo Highway. It gets its name from the region it goes through. This section of the highway is 441km long.

Highway 97 goes north from Cache Creek to a junction with Highway 99. It then goes north through Clinton and 70 Mile House to a junction with Highway 24 in 93 Mile House. Highway 97 then continues north through 100 Mile House, Tatton, 108 Mile Ranch, Lac la Hache, 122 Mile House, Wright, Enterprise, 141 Mile House, and 150 Mile House to Williams Lake and a junction with Highway 20.

From Williams Lake, Highway 97 travels generally northwest through Pine Valley, Soda Creek, McLeese Lake, Macalister, Marguerite, Alexandria, Australian, Kersley, and Rich Bar to Quesnel, and a junction with Highway 26. From here, the Highway 97 goes north through Strathnaver, Hixon, Stoner, and Red Rock to Prince George, and a junction with Highway 16.

John Hart Highway
Unlike the previous two sections, the John Hart Highway section (named after former premier John Hart) is largely uninhabited. It hardly runs through any towns on its 405km stretch.

From Prince George, Highway 97 goes north through Summit Lake, Crooked River Provincial Park, Bear Lake, and McLeod Lake to a junction with Highway 39 just southwest of Bruce Lake. It then travels northeast to a junction with Highway 29 in Chetwynd. en route to Chetwynd, the highway passes through a time zone boundary, at which the time zone switches from Pacific Time to Mountain Time. Also en route to Chetwynd, the highway passes through the Pine Pass.

East of Chetwynd, Highway 97 arrives in Dawson Creek, where the John Hart section ends.

Alaska Highway
The last 965km of Highway 97 is part of the Alaska Highway. This section of the highway is even lessr populated than the John Hart section, passing through only two major towns on its 965km stretch.

From Dawson Creek, Highway 97 goes northwest to Fort St. John, and then northwest even more to Fort Nelson. Just east of Fort Nelson is Highway 97's junction with Highway 77. On the last long bit of its journey, Highway 97 goes northwest through the Rocky Mountains and several tiny communities (and Muncho Lake and Liard River Corridor Provincial Parks respectively) towards the British Columbia-Yukon border.

When Highway 97 reaches the border, there is a brief moment when it goes into the Yukon Territory, but then comes back out into British Columbia. Just east of here, it goes into the Yukon again, but this time for a far greater distance before coming back into BC. And then, east of here, the highway goes into the Yukon one last time before coming back into BC. It then goes east to the border again, where it continues as Yukon Highway 1 (still the Alaska Highway), thus marking the end of Highway 97.