I-5 Sacramento North

[NevadaNick]

Do you mind curvy roads ? I have driven 299 in my mh a few times and its not a problem for me. When i said not to worry about 36 i was thinking from I5 going east, not sure i have been on 36 leaving the coast. 199 is ok as well and puts you on I5 back in Oregon. I guess it really matters where you want to end up and what kind of roads might bother you.

[bigchick]

all routes subject to whatever fires might be burning that time of the year.

[KCFDCapt]

I prefer the 299 over the 199. YMMV.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by bigchick

all routes subject to whatever fires might be burning that time of the year.

Very true. This year you'd probably have to scrap your trip!

Keep this site handy as you travel to see where fires are. You don't want to be in any smoke... horrible on your lungs.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/?state=3

[Smitty77]

Within the last 3-4 weeks, we travel down I5 from Oregon. Agree North os Sacramento it's fine, with the end nearing of a multiple years of work from Shasta South.

We do truly hate I5 thru Sacramento, Stockton. But this year thought we'd give it a try, and cutover at the end to Bakersfield, before the Grapevine. It beat the heck our of our coaches suspension. Very unpleasant and in some 'jolts', certainly not good for the coach. We elected to cutover from I5 to 99 just North of Fresno - adding 30-40 mins to that days travels. I99 has construction going on, and can be rough in the small to large towns/cities. But many new stretches of recently completed expansion to 3 lanes...

That's my recent experience on I5 South of Sacramento. And if we had not turned off of it, cutting over the Los Banos to I99 - perhaps it would have got better... But we'd had enough...

Best to all,
Smitty

OP - It's a pretty drive from Oregon to Redding/Corning area on I5. But, if you're going to cutover to 395. And it is October... Check running down thru Susanville, CA - and take 395 int Reno... It too has some beautiful stretches...

[udidwht]

Another good alternate route (~10 miles shorter) is take the Willamette highway (58) from Eugene to (97) then south to Weed, Ca. Often when the Ashland Pass is closed you can get thru via this route. Many trucks use it as an alternate route during winter.

[RoadEyePie]

Originally Posted by udidwht

Another good alternate route (~10 miles shorter) is take the Willamette highway (58) from Eugene to (97) then south to Weed, Ca. Often when the Ashland Pass is closed you can get thru via this route. Many trucks use it as an alternate route during winter.

Alternate to what? My current route has me using I-5 from Grant's Pass to Mt. Shasta, then Rt. 89 down to Old Station and taking Rt. 44 over to Susanville, then down Rt. 395.

[RoadEyePie]

Originally Posted by KCFDCapt

I prefer the 299 over the 199. YMMV.

If I'm looking at the map correctly, 199 runs from Crescent City (Rt. 101) over to I-5 back up through Oregon. It looks much less curvy than Rt. 299. Might I ask why you prefer 299, and is it ok for a 40' FW?

[bam565]

Both 299 and 36 east from 101 are “Iffy” for a 40’ MH. 299 is the better option but it is a mountain road with lots of curves. Additionally it’s a major route between Redding and the coast with lots of traffic . Highway 36 between Red Bluff on the west and Fortuna on the east makes 299 look like a freeway. It’s 140 miles of curvy, twisty, lonely road. If you “google” Highway 36 you’ll get some interesting descriptions. Right now it’s closed to general traffic until December for emergency repairs. It looks like there is escorted one way traffic at specific times (CalTrans).

[RoadEyePie]

Originally Posted by bam565

Both 299 and 36 east from 101 are “Iffy” for a 40’ MH. 299 is the better option but it is a mountain road with lots of curves. Additionally it’s a major route between Redding and the coast with lots of traffic . Highway 36 between Red Bluff on the west and Fortuna on the east makes 299 look like a freeway. It’s 140 miles of curvy, twisty, lonely road. If you “google” Highway 36 you’ll get some interesting descriptions. Right now it’s closed to general traffic until December for emergency repairs. It looks like there is escorted one way traffic at specific times (CalTrans).

How about Rt. 199 from 101 back up to Oregon to I-5 and then south to Mt. Shasta?

[NevadaNick]

199 is an easier drive than 299.

[biosensai]

Hate to be one of those guys who responds to posts without reading all the responses, but . . .
I-5 is not a problem anywhere north of the San Fernando Valley.
299 from the coast to Redding is a full days drive. Last time, we took our 37f Adventurer towing a CR-V. 36 out of Red Bluff is not an RV road. Period. Experienced RV’ers use 20 from the coast to 5.
I also noticed a post where I believe you were inquiring about Yosemite for next October. Here’s my suggestion. From 101 on the coast, come down 20 to
I-5. Go up 120 to Black Oak RV Resort- that’s where we are now. Day trip to Yosemite from there. Go back down 99 to 58 over Tehachapi. It crosses 395.

[Our05Winneba]

Why? Not sure what you have heard but the worst threat to driving your RV either North or South from Sacramento is severe boredom! For the most part entirely flat and very typical interstate highways.

In the last few weeks we came south (driving our 38' Class A towing a Honda CRV) from Redding, CA --> Sacramento --> LA --> Riverside, CA. 2 years ago we drove North on I-5 from Sacramento right into Oregon. Yes - some mountains at northern end but not bad at all and very scenic!

The worst part of our recent I-5 trip south thru LA was the section over the mountains just North of LA (Tejon pass). Pretty much unavoidable if heading south but luckily temps were cool (for that area) and traffic not bad (it was on a Sunday AM).

If you travel through the West at all then mountain driving is inevitable for most areas people want to visit. But have found that they have tried to build interstate highways with gradual grades if at all possible. Have also found that many local state highways are amazingly good roads in many areas. For example - we found that driving north from Cortez, CO --> Telluride on Rte. 145 was not only spectactular! but grades were not bad - enabling us to tow right up to Lizard Head Pass at 10,233' - something we never thought we could do.

[Wdallas]

The Donner party was trapped in the Sierras by blizzard conditions in October. You can get snow any day of the year up there. Pay attention to the weather. The grade from Donner summit to Reno is long and steep. Just pay attention and don’t test it. Lived most of my life in northern CA, I would stay to the interstate over the passes and avoid secondary highways.