Indiana From its terminus at US 20 on the southeast side of
Elkhart, US 33 is a winding road that cuts diagonally from northwest to southeast through Northeast Indiana and serves as
Main Street or a portion of Main Street in several cities and towns, including Elkhart,
Dunlap, and
Churubusco. The road is the main overland link between the
Fort Wayne and
South Bend metropolitan statistical areas. On the west side of Fort Wayne, US 33 joins
US 30 near
Interstate 69 (I-69), then follows the Interstate south, intersecting with
State Road 14 (SR 14) and
US 24 before turning east to follow the
I-469 bypass around the southwest side of Fort Wayne. At the intersection with
SR 1 south of the
Fort Wayne International Airport, I-469/US 33 turns to the northeast until it intersects
US 27 at the Fort Wayne suburb of
Hessen Cassel, where US 33 splits off to the southeast to follow US 27 as a combined highway toward Decatur. At Decatur, US 33/US 27 becomes a north–south road before it intersects with
US 224 and continues as such until US 33 splits from US 27 south of Decatur and heads east toward the Ohio state line, intersecting
SR 101 at
Pleasant Mills along the way.
Ohio In
Ohio, the highway runs at a generally southeast–northwest angle from the west-central to the southeastern part of the state, passing through mostly rural territory except for a significant portion running through downtown
Columbus. Most of the route in the state, particularly east of Columbus, is expressway. The highway crosses over the
Ravenswood Bridge into West Virginia.
West Virginia US 33 extends in West Virginia, from the
Ohio River at
Ravenswood to the Virginia state line atop
Shenandoah Mountain west of
Harrisonburg, Virginia. Shortly after entering West Virginia and crossing the Ohio River, US 33 turns south, joining
I-77 to
Ripley. The route then turns east from I-77, joining
US 119 at
Spencer, then passing through extremely rural areas of
Roane,
Calhoun,
Gilmer, and
Lewis counties. US 33 intersects
I-79 at
Weston. From I-79 east, US 33 is a four-lane highway, part of
Corridor H of the
Appalachian Development Highway System. The four-lane segment continues on through rural areas of
Upshur, and
Randolph counties, to just a couple miles past
Elkins. At Harding,
US 250 joins US 33 for several miles after Elkins, where US 33 joins
West Virginia Route 55 (WV 55) and returns to a two-lane road, except for a section of four-lane across Kelly Mountain between
Canfield and
Bowden. Passing through the
Monongahela National Forest, US 33 crosses the
Eastern Continental Divide between Harman and
Onego at about in elevation, entering
Pendleton County, then descends the
Allegheny Front along
Seneca Creek, skirting the north end of
Spruce Mountain, at the highest point of the
Allegheny Mountains. US 33 then joins
WV 28 at
Seneca Rocks and continues south in the
Potomac River headwaters through scenic forest and farmland landscapes. Turning eastward from WV 28 at
Judy Gap, US 33 crosses
North Fork Mountain at about , with a turnout on the western slope offering a scenic view of the
Germany Valley below and the more distant Allegheny Front from
Spruce Knob to
Dolly Sods.
US 220 joins US 33 for about half a mile in
Franklin. After Franklin, US 33 continues eastward through rural areas, then climbs steeply to cross
Shenandoah Mountain at Dry River Gap at about into
Rockingham County,
Virginia.
Virginia US 33 extends in Virginia from the West Virginia state line west of
Harrisonburg across the
Shenandoah Valley,
Blue Ridge Mountains, and
Atlantic Piedmont to
Richmond. It enters Virginia from West Virginia on
Shenandoah Mountain. After going down the mountain, it passes through the
unincorporated community of
Rawley Springs. After traveling from Rawley Springs, reaches the
independent city of
Harrisonburg and intersects major routes
State Route 42 (SR 42),
US 11, and
I-81 before leaving the city. The four-lane highway passes around the southernmost end of
Massanutten Mountain, towards
Elkton. There, it intersects
US 340. After leaving Elkton, the highway heads towards the
Blue Ridge Mountains, once it gets to the mountains, it reduces to two lanes and becomes three lanes a few times. At
Swift Run Gap it intersects
Skyline Drive and enters
Greene County. After going down the mountains, it goes back to four lanes and heads south of
Stanardsville. After that, the route heads southeast towards
US 29 in
Ruckersville. After that, it heads south east and enters
Orange County. It heads east north of the Albemarle County line and intersects
SR 20 on a concurrency. After that, it goes through a small part of the
Southwest Mountains towards
Gordonsville. It goes on a roundabout with
US 15 and
SR 231. US 33 heads east with US 15 and into
Louisa County. Shortly after, US 33 splits from US 15 and heads southeast towards
Louisa. In
Trevilians, it intersects
SR 22.The route then goes east toward
Montpelier. In Montpelier, the route goes southeast towards
Interstate 295. After I-295, US 33 goes a few miles to an interchange with
I-64. Just after, the route meets
US 250. The two routes head southeast into Downtown
Richmond. Both meet their eastern terminus there. From Richmond, "Route 33" continues east as
SR 33 across the
Atlantic coastal plain through the
Tidewater region of the
Middle Peninsula to reach the
Chesapeake Bay at
Stingray Point just east of
Deltaville. ==History==