Soon after, it enters the valley of the Nehalem River, and continues southeast towards the community of Jewell.

Leaving Jewell, it then continues east-northeast to the town of Mist, where OR 202 ends.

Though in the mountainous Northern Oregon Coast Range, the Nehalem Highway itself is a winding road, as it follows the banks of the Nehalem River from Jewell while passing through Vernonia and Pittsburg.

The two highways run concurrently for about four miles (6.4 km).

[2] In the early part of the 20th century, it followed the Nehalem River all the way to Timber, crossing the divide of the Northern Oregon Coast Range there and then going down Gales Creek to Forest Grove, instead of going down Dairy Creek as it has since about 1940.