Portal:Oregon/Selected article/40

U.S. Route 199 is a U.S. Highway in the states of California and Oregon, numbered as a spur of U.S. Route 99, which no longer exists. It stretches 80 miles (129 km) from Interstate 5 in Grants Pass, Oregon southwest to U.S. Route 101 near Crescent City, California, and is the northern part of the Redwood Highway. In Oregon, US 199 is officially known as the Redwood Highway No. 25 (see Oregon highways and routes). The entire length in California is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System (although it is almost completely a two-lane road), is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, and is defined by Streets and Highways Code section 499. US 199 leaves California at the Elk Valley where it leaves the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and descends into the Illinois Valley. After passing O'Brien and the west end of Oregon Route 46 in Cave Junction, the highway leaves the Illinois River north of Cave Junction, with the river then curving west towards the ocean. US 199 then and follows several small creeks past Selma to Hayes Hill Summit (elevation about 1700 feet/500 m). The highway descends from the summit alongside Slate Creek past Wonder and Wilderville and ends up in the Rogue River Valley, where it enters Grants Pass and terminates at Interstate 5.