Avoiding I-5 & California 99

[WindsorDave]

We're getting tired of the crumbled pavement of I5 and CA99 when transiting California on the north-south axis. We travel between western Washington and Arizona a couple of times a year and wondered what others like in terms of routes.

Here's our current thinking for the next trip south in a couple of weeks: Carlsborg, WA to Sedona, AZ - Google Maps

What highways do those of you who travel in the same area like?

Redding to Reno/Sparks to Las Vegas looks expeditious but DW fears that there are no "nice" places to stop for the night.

We're not in any particular hurry but prefer to avoid roads that are a "chore" to drive. Two-lanes are fine and often preferred, especially if they are in good condition. The Koni FSD's are great but can only do so much!

TIA

[TW]

Well, we are thinking of going south via I5, I 84, Highway 93, I 17, I 10
Next year a few variations!!!

Have a safe trip
TW

[RoyM]

We traveled 89 from the I-5 to Reno a couple of months ago. It is an easy drive on good surface. Don't know about south of Reno.

[Stillwater]

Diplomat Don, We've traveled that route a few times. It's a good route and not a lot of traffic. One option is to take route 58 from Eugene to Chemult then down through Klamath Falls. Truckers often use this route rather than the Siskyou pass. From Redding to Susanville isn't a good drive, we've done it with a truck and trailer. I wouldn't bother with the MH. It's doable but not desirable.

[OldChief7155]

Over to US 395 and south thru the Owens Valley is gorgeous and light traffic. In Lone Pine take the route thru Death Valley if you haven't been there. You'll be close to Vegas.

[WindsorDave]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. We're looking at each of them.

Best,

[1ciderdog]

I live in SW Oregon and have property near Kingman, AZ. I often take highway 89 off of I-5 a few miles south of the OR CA border. I-89 will take you to US395 (?) and down into Reno. I head east on I-8 to about Fernly or Fallon and then take 95 down to Las Vegas. Traffic is usually light and in my opinion the road surfaces much better than either I-5 or US99 in CA.

[Stanbnv]

I would cross the river at Portland, head east on I84 to Biggs Junction, take US 97 south to La Pine OR, East on OR State Rt 31 to US395 just above Lakeview, and US 395 South. From there, you can follow 395, or cut over on I80 at Reno to US 50A at Fernly and take it to US 95 at Fallon and US 95 will take you to Vegas. I am from Goldendale but have lived in Fallon for 15 years and go this way all the time. You avoid any long steep pulls like on I5 south of Medford.

[Rick Long]

GO UP 95 Through NEVADA!!! I live in Vegas and go to Sacramento and San Francisco all the time... 95 is two lane most of the way but the road is good, smooth and NO TRAFFIC, plus the scenery is actually must nicer.

[Techie]

Another vite for 95 -- we take it 4-5 times year from Pahrump (near Vegas) to Carson.

[bigdog]

We're going down to Las Vegas the last week in Oct and the first week in November and then back home before Thanksgiving.
How about 395 to lone pine and then 136 into Death Valley to 190 to and back out to 95 on 373?
We also looked at I-84 to I-15 and that was the shortest route to Las Vegas except for hitting Bryce,Zion and north and south rims of Grand Canyon.
The other route was Oregon 58 to 97 to K Falls and then down thru Susanville and that was a great trip in the Excursion pulling a 35'TT even down the hill into Susanville. Next time I'll go over to 395 at Alturas and then all the way down. There are some very nice rv praks on that route.

[WindsorDave]

Here's where we are with the route today. We decided to make it a loop of sorts. Everything is subject to revision as we go down the road.

Leaving in a few days and really looking forward to it!

Outbound

Inbound


FWIW

[WindsorDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiplomatDave Here's where we are with the route today. We decided to make it a loop of sorts. Everything is subject to revision as we go down the road. Leaving in a few days and really looking forward to it! Outbound Inbound FWIW

We pretty much followed the "Outbound" link above to get to here - Dead Horse State Park near Cottonwood, AZ. Except for a stretch of road near Boise and another stretch south of Page, AZ, highways were in good repair. Highway 89, south of Page, was bad enough to break the mount on my iWay 500c GPS. Being addicted to GPS we had to stop in the Flagstaff Best Buy and purchase a Garmin nuvi 3750 - cool device.

First night was spent at the Horn Rapids RV Resort, just west of Richland, WA. The Benton County Horn Rapids RV Park was full up so we could not stay there. The commercial park was fine at $35.24. There seemed to be a lot of construction workers staying there. Not a problem but it looked pretty full by the time we got there at around 4:00 PM.

Next night was in Mountain Home, ID, the Mountain Home RV park and it was a great place for an overnight stay with concrete pull-throughs and everything ship-shape. $32.07, all in.

Next night was near Provo, UT. Lakeside RV Park at $29.47. It is on the rustic side with gravel sites and many trees, most of which could use some pruning. No satellite TV in many of the spaces. No hooks in the shower closet either. Lots of road construction between Salt Lake and Provo.

We tried to contact East Bay RV Park in Springville, UT, left two voice mail messages but no call-back. So that's how we wound up at Lakeside.

Next night was at the Wahweap RV Park in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. $38.00 for the site and $15.00 for access to the Park or one of those National Park passes. They had some pull throughs and we lucked into one. Concrete pad, water, 50 AMP, and sewer. Still, I wont spend the $ to stay there again. Though the setting is spectacular, there is a heavy institutional overlay. I can see where boat people would find it appealing being that it's a huge lake situated in the desert southwest.

Here at Dead Horse it's $20.00 per night for the next 3 nights when it goes to $25.00 with a season change. We have water and 50 AMP, but no sewer, though there is a dump station. We've got a great, long pull-through that's paved in asphalt. The heat pumps are going full blast in cool mode, the Norcold is making ice cubes, I'm playing with the nuvi and cruising iRV2 with Verizon MiFi. Life is good!

We'll spend three nights here and then move to Rancho Sedona RV Park and rendezvous with family who will be in town for the weekend.

Love this area. Will hit Jerome tomorrow or the next day.

FWIW

[LindaH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiplomatDave Redding to Reno/Sparks to Las Vegas looks expeditious but DW fears that there are no "nice" places to stop for the night.

What is your wife's definition of "nice?"

Susanville has several nice RV parks...we've stayed at Mountain View on numerous occasions.

On the route between Reno and Las Vegas, we've stayed at the following places:

Reno/Sparks: Nugget Casino (dry camping)

Fernley: Desert Rose RV Resort

Fallon: Churchill County Fairgrounds (choice of dry camping or spaces with water & electric)

Hawthorne: 20-Mile Beach, a free BLM area on the northwestern shores of Walker Lake, strictly dry camping. A little farther south is Tamarack Beach, also a free dry camping BLM area. At the southern end of Walker Lake is another BLM campground, this one a fee area, but still dry camping, Sportsmans Beach. The El Capitan Casino in Hawthorne also has RV overnight parking...free dry camping...and a dump.

Tonopah: Miller's Rest Area. Has a special section for RVs and allows an up to 18-hour stay. Dry camping, but with flush toilets, water, and a dump. Some of the casinos in Tonopah have overnight camping, too.

Henderson: We've always stayed at Las Vegas Bay Campground in Lake Mead NRA. It's convenient to Henderson.