State Route 247 (SR 247) is a state highway in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The road passes through the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

, connecting SR 62 in

Yucca Valley Yucca Valley is an incorporated town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 21,738 as of the 2020 census. Yucca Valley lies north of Palm Springs, and east of San Bernardino. Bordered to the south by the Joshu ...

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

(I-15) in Barstow. SR 247 runs along Old Woman Springs Road between Yucca Valley to

Lucerne Valley Lucerne Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) and valley landform in the southern Mojave Desert, in western San Bernardino County, California. Geography The geographic valley is defined by the surrounding Granite Mountains, Ord Mountains ...

, and Barstow Road between Lucerne Valley and Barstow. SR 247 was designated by the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

in 1969; the county roads along that route were given to the state in 1972.

Route description

SR 247 begins at a junction with SR 62 in the town of

, where it is signed as Old Woman Springs Road. From Yucca Valley, the two-lane highway heads northwestward through desert, much of it through Johnson Valley, briefly passing through Flamingo Heights and the western tip of Landers. In the town of

, SR 18 and SR 247 do not actually intersect, but the highways are less than apart, connected by the continuation of Old Woman Springs Road to extend SR 18 to SR 247. A right turn at this intersection instead changes SR 247's path due north as Barstow Road towards Barstow and its northern terminus at

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band), a band * , of the Imperial Japanese Navy * Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ...

, passing by

Barstow Community College Barstow Community College is a public community college in Barstow, California. It is an open-admission college serving more than 3,700 students in degree and certificate programs with approximately 120 faculty. It provides the first two years ...

. However, continuing straight on Old Woman Springs Road, instead of turning right at this intersection, leads to SR 18, heading west by northwest to Apple Valley and

Victorville Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. Victorville is the principal city of a Victor Valley–based urban area defined by the United States Census Bureau: ...

. SR 247 is part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both state highways and federal highways in California. It was defined by Article 2 (comme ...

, but is not part of the National Highway System. The route is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

. In 2013, SR 247 had an

annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...

(AADT) of 1,700 between Stoddard Wells Road and the Barstow city limits, and 18,000 at the northern terminus with I-15, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway.

History

The name "Old Woman Springs" dates back to 1856 when a government survey party discovered elderly native American women camping near what is now called Cottonwood Springs in present-day Lucerne Valley. They would remain in camp, while the young went into the mountains to collect pinion nuts, which are similar to

pine nuts Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locall ...

. Cattleman Albert Swarthout then established what he called "Old Woman Springs Ranch" in 1907, which still remains on private property (this is commemorated by historical marker along SR 247, placed by the Morongo Basin Historical Society in 2004). The

defined Route 26 as a route from Lucerne Valley to Morongo Valley in 1959. SR 247 was designated in the 1964 state highway renumbering as a route from SR 62 in Yucca Valley to SR 18 near Lucerne Valley, and then from there to I-15 in Barstow. That year, the Lucerne Valley Chamber of Commerce began an effort to have a state highway designated from Lucerne Valley to Yucca Valley along Old Woman Springs Road. By 1969, county roads had been constructed from Barstow to Lucerne Valley, and from there to Yucca Valley. Barstow Road and Old Woman Springs Road were given to the state by San Bernardino County in 1972, although the county had agreed to perform some improvements on the two roads after the state began to maintain them. Parts of the SR 247 roadway buckled in the Landers earthquake of 1992, and of the highway was closed while repairs took place. In 2001, Caltrans indicated that most of the highway was considered "maintain only" until 2020, except for the portions in Yucca Valley and Barstow, which were to be widened to six lanes.

Major intersections

References

External links

California @ AARoads.com - State Route 247
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247 __NOTOC__ Year 247 ( CCXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Philippus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 1000 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

State Route 247 Mojave Desert Yucca Valley, California Barstow, California

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links