Oregon Route 47

Oregon Route 47 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the Willamette Valley, near McMinnville, and the city of Clatskanie, along the Columbia River in the northwest part of the state. OR 47 traverses several highways of the Oregon state highway system: part of the Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29, part of the Nehalem Highway No. 102, part of the Sunset Highway No. 47, and the Mist–Clatskanie Highway No. 110.[2]

Oregon Route 47
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length	79.51 mi[1] (127.96 km)
Existed	1932–present
Component highways	Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 Nehalem Highway No. 102 Sunset Highway No. 47 Mist–Clatskanie Highway No. 110
Major junctions
South end	OR 99W near McMinnville
	OR 240 in Yamhill OR 8 in Forest Grove OR 6 in Banks US 26 in Davies US 26 in Staleys Junction OR 202 in Mist
North end	US 30 in Clatskanie
Highway system
Oregon Highways Interstate US State Named Scenic ← OR 46 OR 51 →

Route description

Start of Oregon Route 47 in Clatskanie, Oregon

Oregon Route 47 begins (at its southern terminus) at a junction with Oregon Route 99W between the cities of McMinnville and Lafayette.[3] This stretch is known as the Tualatin Valley Highway. It continues north along the western edge of the Willamette Valley, hugging the Coast Range. It passes through parts of Oregon's wine country (and some prime agricultural land), and through small towns such as Carlton,[3] Yamhill,[3] and Gaston.[3] The first large city encountered is Forest Grove.[3] A bypass around the east side of town avoids the downtown area.

In Forest Grove, OR 47 intersects Oregon Route 8,[3] and the Tualatin Valley Highway leaves Oregon Route 47, and continues east towards Hillsboro and Beaverton on Oregon Route 8. North of the intersection, OR 47 is known as the Nehalem Highway. It continues north, passing through the town of Banks.[3] North of Banks, OR 47 shares an alignment for about 4 miles (6 km) with U.S. Route 26 over the Sunset Highway, which is—a bit confusingly—Highway 47. North of Manning, OR 47 and US 26 part ways. OR 47 continues north, following the North Fork of Dairy Creek to its source and passing L.L. "Stub" Stewart Memorial State Park[4] and shortly thereafter reaching the summit called "Tophill" where the highway departs the Willamette River drainage and enters the Nehalem drainage. From Tophill, the highway quickly winds down to a tributary of the Nehalem River and finds the Nehalem River at the extinct community of Treharne.

Apiary Junction

47 in Banks

Though in the mountainous Northern Oregon Coast Range, the Nehalem Highway itself is just winding, as it follows the banks of the Nehalem River all the way to Jewell,[5] passing through Vernonia[6] and Pittsburg.[6] However, Pittsburg is little more than a road junction where the Scappoose-Vernonia Road breaks off and heads up the East Fork of the Nehalem River for Scappoose, Oregon. A few miles further north, Route 47 reaches the Apiary junction with destinations for Apiary and Rainier. The Apiary road is popular with truckers as it does not have the restrictive length limitations which are applied to OR 47 North of Mist or Oregon Route 202 west of Jewell because of numerous short turns.

After the town of Mist,[6] the Nehalem Highway continues west towards Astoria as Oregon Route 202; OR 47 continues north for 12 miles (19 km) as the Mist-Clatskanie Highway. This stretch of OR 47 is rather mountainous, with many sharp turns and steep grades. Eventually, OR 47 descends out of the mountains into the Columbia River basin, and ends in the city of Clatskanie at an intersection with U.S. Route 30.[6]

Major intersections

Milepoints are as reported by ODOT and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. Z indicates overlapping mileage due to construction longer than established route, and – indicates negative mileage behind established beginning point.[7] Segments that are locally maintained may be omitted. For routes traversing multiple named state highways, each milepoint is preceded by the corresponding state highway number. 

County	Location[1]	Milepoint[1]	Destinations	Notes
Yamhill	Saint Joseph	29 42.46	OR 99W – Newberg, Portland, McMinnville
	Yamhill	29 34.47	OR 240 to Moores Valley Road – Newberg
Washington	Forest Grove	29 17.88 102 90.64	OR 8 (Pacific Avenue) – Forest Grove City Center
	​	102 83.72	OR 6 – North Plains, Portland, Glenwood, Tillamook	Partial interchange
	Davies Junction	102 (2)80.96 47 48.82	US 26 east – North Plains, Portland	Interchange; southern end of concurrency with US 26
	Staleys Junction	47 45.41 102 76.96	US 26 west – Seaside	Northern end of concurrency with US 26
Columbia	Mist	102 46.14 110 11.89	OR 202 – Birkenfeld, Astoria
	​	110 6.43	Clatskanie Mountain summit, elevation 1,347 feet (411 m)
	Clatskanie	110 0.00	US 30 – Rainier, Portland, Astoria
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Road Inventory and Classification Services Unit. "Straightline Charts". Transportation Development Division, Oregon Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
   • Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 (October 2012)
   • Nehalem Highway No. 102 (February 2016)
   • Sunset Highway No. 47 (October 2012)
   • Mist–Clatskanie Highway No. 110 (April 2016)
2. Road Inventory and Classification Services Unit. "2012 Cross Reference Table of Highway Route Number to State Highway Number" (PDF). Transportation Development Division, Oregon Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
3. http://egov.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/rics/docs/NumRouteMap_enl.pdf |Portland Area Enlargement of map of State of Oregon Highway system-2006
4. Official State Parks Fact Sheet
5. The Nehalem River Highway, Jeffrey Butts
6. http://egov.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/rics/docs/NumRouteMap.pdf%7C State of Oregon Highway System Route Map 2006
7. Road Inventory and Classification Services (July 2017). "Straightline Chart Legend" (PDF). Oregon Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 7, 2018.