VA-257 goes from SR-924 and SR-902 near Shenandoah Mountain to I-81 east of Mount Crawford.
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Shenandoah Mtn to Dayton:
VA-257 starts at SR-924 and SR-902 in a rural area around the foot of Shenandoah Mountain, and heads northeastward, before going southeast towards Briery Branch. At Briery Branch, the route intersects, and goes concurrent with SR-731. Shortly after the concurrency begins, VA-257 splits from the concurrency, and heads east towards Ottobine. There, VA-257 turns onto another road.
The route heads east for around 3.5 miles, before passing through Montezuma. Right after leaving the community, VA-257 has a short concurrency with SR-738, before crossing the Dry River. After crossing the river, the route continues east for a while, before passing through the southernmost part of Dayton, followed by an intersection with Business VA-42, just before an intersection with Mainline VA-42, which VA-257 heads south on a concurrency with.
Dayton to Mount Crawford:
VA-257 and VA-42 go south for a while as a 4 lane divided highway, before reaching Bridgewater. The routes shrink into 2 lanes, as they go through the town. In Bridgewater, VA-257 splits from VA-42, and heads east. After splitting, the route goes through Bridgewater College. After leaving the town, VA-257 intersects SR-1310, and continues east.
Not long after, VA-257 meets US 11 just north of Mount Crawford. After US 11, VA-257 widens to a 4 lane divided highway, and goes east, meeting I-81 shortly after, and ending. The road continues east as SR-682.
