It serves two major population centers (Klamath Falls and Bend), and is the main corridor east of the Cascade Mountains.

This section of Highway 97 has been identified as an important alternative to I-5 for traffic in the Medford area in the event of a major earthquake in the region.

Continuing north, near the town of Chemult is an interchange with Oregon Route 58, which heads northwest to Eugene and the Willamette Valley.

North of La Pine, the highway becomes an expressway as it passes by the resort community of Sunriver and heads towards the city of Bend.

Towns along the route include Terrebonne, which provides access to Smith Rock State Park, a climbing mecca, and Culver.

[5] It was one of several options studied to address increased through traffic in Bend, including full bypasses and a one-way couplet on various streets.

[7] The expressway was extended towards Sunriver with the construction of additional interchanges and a four-lane highway that opened through the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in 2011.

[8] The parkway has a signed speed limit of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), narrow shoulders that serve as bicycle lanes, pedestrian crossings, and several right-in, right-out and signalized intersections.

[13][14] Plans for other bypasses in La Pine and Madras, as well as four-laning the entire highway in Oregon, have been proposed but not funded by the state government.

A four-lane overpass at Wickiup Junction would replace the last remaining at-grade railroad crossing on US 97 and was approved by ODOT in 2014 with $17 million in funding.

[17] Construction began in March 2016 and was delayed for several months during the installation of steel beams for the overpass in August, which fell while being lifted into place.

A geotechnical survey found that the overpass site was over a layer of unstable soil created by a lake formed 10,000 years before present by a volcanic eruption that dammed the Deschutes River.

[20] The Oregon Transportation Commission shut down the project in October 2017 and redirected $3 million of the unspent funds to other safety improvements for US 97 in La Pine.