U.S. Route 97 Alternate

US 2 and US 97 travel concurrently through the area on an east–west divided highway, while the roadway itself continues south towards Wenatchee Confluence State Park as Euclid Avenue.

Along this section of the river, US 97A passes Rocky Reach Dam and its visitor center, located opposite Lincoln Rock State Park on US 2 and US 97.

US 97A and the railroad move closer to the riverbank near Tenas George Canyon and gradually turn north, crossing several creeks that empty into the lake.

[5] US 97A travels to the west of several waterfront parks and recreation areas and skirts the east edge of the city's main commercial and residential neighborhoods.

The highway turns north to follow Knapp Coulee, which lies at the eastern edge of the Wenatchee National Forest, and passes through a vineyard and zipline park.

[7] US 97A ascends into the coulee's narrower reaches, gaining a northbound climbing lane, and then descends while turning northeast towards the shore of Lake Chelan near the Bear Mountain Ranch golf course.

US 97A and SR 150 pass through a commercial strip before splitting near the eastern outskirts of the city, with US 97A continuing northeast into the hills overlooking the Columbia River.

The highway crosses part of the Gallagher Flat State Wildlife Recreation Area and travels just south of the Lake Chelan Airport before terminating at a junction with US 97 southwest of Azwell.

[15] The first wagon roads along the Columbia River were built by American settlers in the 1880s and followed earlier routes plotted by indigenous peoples and explorers like George McClellan in the mid-19th century.

[18][19] A wagon road on the west side of the river was added to the state highway system in 1897, connecting Wenatchee to Twisp, and a sum of $15,000 (equivalent to $473,000 in 2023 dollars)[20] was appropriated to Kittitas and Okanogan counties for construction.

The planned reservoir created by the Rocky Reach Dam, located near Orondo, would inundate 20 miles (32 km) of shoreline, including the city of Entiat and sections of PSH 10 and the adjacent Great Northern Railway.

WSDOT tallied more than 400 deer killed in collisions with automobiles from 1991 to 1998 and dozens of sheep and elk, prompting plans to install a wildlife fence on US 97A near the Rocky Reach Dam to deter highway crossings.

[59][60] A two-mile (3.2 km) section of US 97A in Sunnyslope was rebuilt and repaved by WSDOT in 2013 and included the construction of a roundabout at Ohme Garden Road to aid freight traffic.

Looking eastbound from downtown Chelan at a closed section of US 97A during 2015 wildfire season
A reassurance marker for US 97A near Chelan
Aerial view of Lake Entiat , a reservoir created by the Rocky Reach Dam that inundated former sections of US 97