State Route 97 (SR 97) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Known as Pipers Gap Road, the state highway runs from SR 89 in

Galax ''Galax'', the wandplant, wandflower, or beetleweed, is a genus in the flowering plant family Diapensiaceae, containing a single species, ''Galax urceolata'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''G. rotundifolia'', ''G. aphylla''). It is native to the sou ...

east to SR 608 and SR 620 next to the

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenand ...

Route description

SR 97 begins at an intersection with SR 89 (Main Street) in the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Galax. The state highway heads east and immediately exits the city limits and enters Grayson County. SR 97 parallels

Chestnut Creek Chestnut Creek is a river in the state of Virginia. See also *List of rivers of Virginia This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Virginia. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries, arranged in ...

until the highway enters Carroll County, then follows Wards Mill Branch to its source near the hamlet of Pipers Gap. The state highway continues southeast to the hamlet of Drenn adjacent to Pipers Gap, the wind gap of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

at the

Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a hydrographic divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico watershed. The divide nearly span ...

. There, SR 775 (Chances Creek Road) continues straight while SR 97 turns south to its eastern terminus at the intersection of SR 608 (Mt. Carroll Road) and SR 620 (Lambsburg Road). SR 620 continues southeast under the Blue Ridge Parkway overpass to descend the eastern side of the Blue Ridge. SR 608 heads southwest to an intersection with the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Major intersections

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 97
{{s-end 097 State Route 097 State Route 097 State Route 097