Quote: The Silver Falls Tour Route takes visitors to 21 places of interest from Woodburn (north of Salem on I-5), south through Mt. Angel and Silverton to Silver Falls State Park, then west through Sublimity back to I-5. It was an enjoyable drive that took us about 4 hours. We started at 9am, and some places weren’t open yet when we arrived. Other attractions are only open on certain days, and Monday wasn’t one of them!

The first stop is the Woodburn Company Stores—factory outlets. We skipped this, as we did not want to spend time shopping on this day. Stop 2 is the Glatt House Gallery/Woodburn Art Center. A red-slatted building, colorful flower gardens were inviting. However, it wasn’t open yet on this morning. It is closed on Sundays.

Stop 3 is the Jesse Settlemier House. http://www.settlemierhouse.com/ In a neighborhood of well-kept historic homes, I would have loved to tour this Queen Anne Victorian home. However, it is only open 1st Sundays from 1-4. There is a Woodburn Tour of Homes where you can see this and other historic homes.

#4 on the route is supposed to be Steam Locomotive No. 1785. I can’t imagine that we would just miss a big, old steam locomotive, but we truly never saw it. Maybe it’s been moved somewhere for restoration.

#5 is the Woodburn World’s Berry Center Museum. Only open on Friday and Saturday from 11-3, we were not having very good luck on this tour so far!

On to Mt. Angel along Hwy 214, past produce stands and the Marquam vineyards and winery. A very quaint town with a Bavarian feel, Mt. Angel is home to stops 6-8. We aimed the car toward the highly visible huge spire to St. Mary’s (#8), a spectacular old church. The Queen of Angels Monastery (#7) is on beautiful grounds. In the fall, Mt. Angel hosts a popular Oktoberfest , but I think a visitor could easily spend a day touring this little town at any time.

Stop #9 between Mt. Angel and Silverton is the Gallon House Covered Bridge, built in 1917. It is Oregon’s oldest covered bridge. The name comes from the prohibition era when liquor was sold by the gallon in a nearby house.

From journals Sightseeing Salem, Silverton, Sublimity & Beyond