US Route 197 is one of America's shortest, splitting from US Route 97 in north-central Oregon to head north for The Dalles, Oregon and that city's bridge crossing of the Columbia River into Washington State.  US Route 197's northern end is just two miles into Washington at Washington State Route 14.  Yes, this US highway ends at a state highway, but that state highway used to be US Route 830.  Thus, this arrangement used to make sense until US Route 830, with the highest number ever used to mark a US highway, was decommissioned. For most of US Route 197's length, it parallels its parent route of US Route 97 to the west by about ten miles.  Besides the two miles in Washington State, the remaining 68 miles of US Route 197 lie entirely within one county: Wasco County, Oregon.  The southern end in southern Wasco County is at US Route 97, as previously stated, but the fork in the road is in a rural spot not associated with any towns.

My photo for US Route 197 shows a sign assembly facing east for westbound traffic on US Route 197 approaching US Route 30; these two routes share a short concurrency at The Dalles, Oregon.  Ahead, into the photo, US Route 197 turns right along a new street, as US Route 30 comes from the west and turns north along the same street as US Route 197. This was one of the few places in The Dalles's immediate vicinity home to a functioning sign assembly and a safe place to pull off the road (you can see my car parked behind the orange sign).  I took this photo as we began the return trip from Astoria, Oregon, as part of the August, 2018 drive to the Pacific Ocean.  Interstate 84 is just to the north on US Route 197 from this spot.
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