State Highway 97 (New Zealand)

{{short description|Road in New Zealand}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2015}}

{{refimprove|date=May 2016}}

{{infobox road

|country=NZL

|type=SH

|route=97

|map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|type=line}}

|map_custom=yes

|tourist= Southern Scenic Route 20px

|length_km=19.7

|length_round=1

|direction_a=East

|direction_b=West

|terminus_a={{jct|country=NZL|SH|6|name1=Athol Five Rivers Highway/Five Rivers Lumsden Highway}} at Five Rivers

|terminus_b={{jct|country=NZL|SH|94|name1=Devon Street}} at Mossburn

|previous_type=SH

|previous_route=96

|next_type=SH

|next_route=98

}}

State Highway 97 (SH 97) is a New Zealand State Highway connecting the settlements of Five Rivers (on SH 6) and Mossburn (on SH 94) in the Southland region. The highway was gazetted in 2004 to reflect the increasing amount of traffic between the tourist destinations of Queenstown and Fiordland National Park and provides a bypass of the town of Lumsden, where SH 6 and 94 intersect.{{cite web |url=https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2003-au8244 |title=Revoking Sections of State Highway and Declaring New Sections of State Highway |publisher=NZ Gazette |date=11 December 2003 |accessdate=14 May 2016}}

In 2010, the highway was added to the Southern Scenic Route when it was extended from Te Anau to Queenstown. The road proceeds generally in an east–west direction through dairying farmland and crosses the Ōreti River just north of Mossburn.