Skip to main content

California State Route 147

Back in 2014 I drove a small portion of California State Route 147 along the eastern shore of Lake Almanor.


CA 147 is a 12 mile north/south State Highway which begins near Canyon Dam at CA 89 in Plumas County and ends at CA 36 in Westwood of Lassen County.  CA 147 was originally adopted into the State Highway System in 1961 as Legislative Route Number 183.

CAhighways.org on LRN 183

LRN 183 was adopted onto pre-existing roadways which can be seen by comparing the 1961 State Highway Map to the 1962 Edition.

1961 State Highway Map

1962 State Highway Map 

The roadways now comprising CA 147 are presently part of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway.  The roadways comprising CA 147 are shown on California Division of Highways Maps of Plumas County and Lassen County as major County Highways.

1935 Plumas County Highway Map

1935 Lassen County Highway Map

During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering LRN 183 was reassigned CA 147.  This change can be seen by comparing the 1963 State Highway Map to the 1964 Edition.

1963 State Highway Map

1964 State Highway Map

CA 147 since 1964 has essentially had no significant changes.

CAhighways.org on CA 147

CA 147 begins at Post Mile PLU 0.000 at CA 89 near Canyon Dam.   Canyon Dam is an earthen design that was first completed by 1914.  Upon the completion of Canyon Dam the waters of Lake Almanor began be filled by the impounded North Fork Feather River, Benner Creek, Hamilton Creek and Hamilton Branch.  Canyon Dam is part of the Upper North Fork Feather River Project which was conceived by the Great Western Powerhouse Company in the early 1900s.  Canyon Dam was expanded by 1927 before the entirety of the Great Western Powerhouse Company was acquired by Pacific Gas & Electricity by 1930.  Canyon Dam was expanded to it's present 130 foot height by 1962 and the present Lake Almanor has a maximum capacity of approximately 1,308,000 acre feet of water.  Much of Canyon Dam and it's spillway are within walking distance of the south terminus of CA 147.




At Post Mile PLU 4.585 CA 147 passes through the community of East Shore.  At Post Mile PLU 7.369 CA 147 has a junction with Signed County Route A13 in Hamilton Branch.  At approximately PLU 9.990 CA 147 enters Lassen County.   At Post Mile LAS 1.15 CA 147 enters Westwood and meets Signed County Route A21 at 3rd Street.  Westwood dates back to 1913 when it was founded as a company town for the Red River Lumber County.  At approximately Post Mile LAS 1.786 CA 147 has a north terminus at CA 89.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...