Tualatin Valley

From Schmecken

The Tualatin River meanders through Oregon's scenic agricultural Tualatin Valley, which contains many of Portland's important western suburbs, such as Hillsboro and Beaverton.

The Tualatin River is a tributary of the Willamette River; it empties into the Willamette near the appropriately-named town of Tualatin.

Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, Aloha, and other central-to-eastern Tualatin Valley communities are sometimes collectively known as the "Silicon Forest", due to their high concentration of high-tech companies.

US 26, locally known as the Sunset Highway, is the main freeway through the Tualatin Valley. OR 217, another freeway, traverses the eastern section of the valley.

Other important Tualatin Valley roads are **OR 6** (the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway), which leads into Portland, and OR 8 (the TV Highway, or Tualatin Valley Highway), which goes from the Coast Range through the valley to Beaverton. OR 219 is a rather windy mountain road that leads from Hillsboro over the Chehalem Hills to Newberg in Yamhill County.