Spanning 18.175 miles (29.250 km), it connects West Mountain and Benjamin in western Utah Valley with Interstate 15 (I-15), Spanish Fork, and Mapleton on the east side of the valley.

[1] State Route 147 was established on June 26, 1933[2] along an alignment similar to the current one, with two key differences.

It originally started in Payson, travelling west along Utah Ave/10400 South until turning north at its current starting point at McBeth Corner, and it originally ended on Main Street in Mapleton.

[5] In 1939, the state legislature designated State Route 203 as an extension of SR-147 from its Mapleton end, travelling 1 mile (1.6 km) east and 1 mile (1.6 km) north to SR-167.

[7] SR-147 remained unchanged until 1969, when the section of SR-167 along Maple Street was redesignated as part of SR-147.