Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum; I joined because of my interest in road trips and scenery. I live in Canby, Oregon (about 20 mi. south of Portland) and am about to take a road trip with my dad and uncle next month. We are planning on hitting Reno and San Francisco on the way and coming back up the coast. Right now our plan is to go I-5 S to Eugene, OR-58 east, US-97 S to Klamath Falls, then hit OR-39 onto CA-139 and down 395 to Reno. After this we'll be taking I-80 to San Fran then going up Hwy. 1 along the California coast (a route I have never taken) to where it intersects US-101 then cutting over somewhere in the central Oregon Coast (probably Florence or Reedsport).
I was just wondering if anyone has suggestions for especially scenic routes we should check out during this trip. I'm especially curious about the Hwy. 1 route in California as I've heard it's an especially scenic drive right along the coast (I've been up 101 on the northern Cali coast but never CA-1). Also, what would be the best route for scenery in the central Oregon Coast (I've been on OR-126 from Florence to Eugene but it's been a long time, and never been on OR-42 or OR-38). Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
-Matt
Since you're asking about scenery, I'd take a route from Reno to San Francisco via Lake Tahoe if you've got the time and have never been before.
There's a couple ways you could go.
(1) US 395 south > NV 431 west > NV/CA 28 west > CA 267 north > return to I-80 @ Truckee. [shortest, gives a glimpse of the lake along north shore.]
(2) US 395 south > NV 431 west > NV/CA 28 west > CA 89 north > return to I-80 @ Truckee. [longer, explores all communities along north shore of lake.]
(3) US 395 south > US 50 west > return to I-80 @ Sacramento. [longest, explores south shore of lake.]
I have been to Tahoe before but it was about 8 years ago and I don't have the pictures anymore...I can't remember if it was the north or south shore. I'd definitely like to visit again though, so I'll have to write these routes down. Thanks!
avoid CA-89 in the Tahoe area. there are very few views of the lake, and even fewer places to stop ... and the road is clogged with traffic. the only time I'd recommend driving it is at night under a full moon.
On a recent trip up to central Oregon, my wife and I came into Portland to visit friends and headed back south on I-5. As of two weeks ago, there were warning signs that OR-58 was closed (might be night only) east of Oakridge.
You may want to go US 20 across the mountains and then south on 97 and rejoin the 5 near Weed. You get some really stunning views of Mt. Shasta that way!
Quote from: OCGuy81 on July 12, 2012, 12:07:30 AM
On a recent trip up to central Oregon, my wife and I came into Portland to visit friends and headed back south on I-5. As of two weeks ago, there were warning signs that OR-58 was closed (might be night only) east of Oakridge.
You may want to go US 20 across the mountains and then south on 97 and rejoin the 5 near Weed. You get some really stunning views of Mt. Shasta that way!
Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that a while ago and totally forgot. I took 58 down to K-Falls a few months back and had to wait about 10 min. to go through the tunnel but now I guess they're doing more extensive construction inside the tunnel. Thanks for the reminder! We'll probably just take 22 and 20 to Bend then and just shoot down 97 to either 39/139 or back to I-5 to CA-89 and go past Shasta to Susanville and down 395..haven't checked the difference in distance yet.
I actually looked up and OR-58 is only closed from 8pm-6am and we would be traveling on it in the morning. However, I did look up alternate routes and according to Google maps, taking I-5 S all the way to Mt. Shasta then cutting over via CA-89 and 44 to Susanville is only 9 minutes longer (this is probably assuming I'm going exactly the speed limit the entire trip), and includes a lot more freeway. As I remember, the OR-58 to 97, then 39-139 route is more scenic than spending the majority of the trip on I-5, and we won't be in a big hurry to get there (although I've never travelled CA-89 or 44 through the Shasta and Lassen forests).
I'd recommend taking CA 89 through Lassen National Park and then head to Susanville via CA 36. Also, McArthur-Burney State Park, just north of the 89-299 junction, is worth checking out (assuming it hasn't become a victim of budget cuts).
As for the northern CA coast, I've only been on CA 1 as far south as Mendocino, but it's gorgeous.
CA-1 is a beautiful route. Not fast, but lovely. Stop often and look around.
It's worth a side trip to Gowan's Oak Tree fruit stand on CA-128 a little bit west of Philo. They have dozens of varieties of apples that they grow on their adjacent land, and the best apple cider in the world. The adjacent state park, Hendy's Woods, is also very pretty and a good place for a picnic lunch.
A little farther north, I've particularly enjoyed Patrick's Point State Park. It's got a nice campground with big spaces and trees and bushes between them for privacy. There's a pebbly beach, redwoods, grasslands, views out to sea.
Gold Beach has a great picturesque bridge over the Rogue as well as a nice beach.
It should be a great trip!
So we pretty much decided to go the 58 to 97 route; we don't want to get down to Reno too late or else I would love to check out Lassen National Park. We'll definitely be going by Lake Tahoe on the route from Reno to SF. We're not quite sure on the route back to Oregon yet though; although I would love to go up Hwy. 1, Google Maps says the route takes around 14+ hours (taking Hwy. 1 all the way from SF to where it hits 101 at Leggett) and we were hoping to make the trip in one day, since we have plans the next day. Seeing some of the reviews though, I would really like to check out this route.
Actually, happy to say we decided to change our plans and go up Hwy. 1 after all, and stay an extra night somewhere on the Oregon coast (probably Coos Bay or Florence) so we don't have to make the whole drive back from SF in one day and have plenty of time to check out the scenery!
So I just got back from the trip...I have to say I was quite impressed with Highway 1. The heavy morning fog was a bit of a disappointment but it cleared up later as we went through Mendocino and Fort Bragg. There was also some good scenery going along I-80 from Reno to Sacramento near Donner Pass. On our way down to Reno on CA-139 outside of Susanville, I was amazed at the heavy screen of smoke in the sky...I assume this was from forest fires in the area, although I didn't see any burnt trees and pretty much the entire sky was covered in smoke until we hit 395 heading down to Reno. On another note, I noticed an earlier post about ODOT being notorius for highway shield errors, and I noticed a few on the way. There was an OR-97 guide sign in Klamath Falls and a US-39 sign from a side road near Merrill. Speaking of the subject, there are also several US-99E detour shields in my hometown of Canby where construction is going on. Anyway, this was a great trip and thanks all for your input. Hopefully I'll be heading out on another scenic road trip soon!
Sounds like a fun trip! If you have the chance, snap some pics of the 99E shield errors. It's great to have a small allusion to its former glory as a US route!
I actually got some pics but not sure how to post them on here...I'm not sure how to use the html code to insert images. Sorry I'm kinda new to these types of message boards. haha
Quote from: Sd_fan2119 on August 29, 2012, 10:52:47 PM
I actually got some pics but not sure how to post them on here...I'm not sure how to use the html code to insert images. Sorry I'm kinda new to these types of message boards. haha
You should upload those pics on Flickr (you should make an account if you don't have one), then go to the "all sizes" page for a picture and choose any size below MediumX800 (that's the largest you can post on here) and copy the link and paste (though he sure to put them in these tags: ) Hope this helps!
http://imgur.com is a simple image sharing site that doesn't require an account. Even generates the message board code for you when you upload.
Quote from: luokou on August 27, 2012, 02:43:48 AM
Sounds like a fun trip! If you have the chance, snap some pics of the 99E shield errors. It's great to have a small allusion to its former glory as a US route!
I second this. One of my bigger road geek regrets is not taking some pix of the US 99E shields that were posted on the northbound lanes of I-5 for about a month several years ago.
There were three US 99 shields in the Rogue Valley a few years back. I haven't had a chance to check if they're still there.
Quote from: xonhulu on August 30, 2012, 08:14:29 PM
There were three US 99 shields in the Rogue Valley a few years back. I haven't had a chance to check if they're still there.
The one near exit 43 is still there as of June 2012 when I last drove through the area.
Too bad this one didn't remain:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1218.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fdd402%2Ft3h_r0cko%2Fi5_exit119_2.jpg&hash=0d46dfda4c6ca186bdce37bbb0700e41f577dd4f)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattsemperboni/page3/
Here's my newly created flickr page. This page at the bottom has the US-99E shield and the rest of the album is from the trip. Enjoy!
These US-99E shields are interesting because there are a few of them in town but they look like they were just printed and laminated, so I'm not sure if ODOT is responsible for them...
Quote from: Sd_fan2119 on September 01, 2012, 01:42:47 AM
Here's my newly created flickr page. This page at the bottom has the US-99E shield and the rest of the album is from the trip. Enjoy!
These US-99E shields are interesting because there are a few of them in town but they look like they were just printed and laminated, so I'm not sure if ODOT is responsible for them...
I saw these yesterday on my way through Canby. They're probably due to the contractor on that street renovation job.
I find it interesting and odd at the same time, that they would use the old US shield instead of the Oregon state shield. What is interesting still is the shape of the shield is a 2-di. Whatever the reason, I'm glad someone cares about the old road.
Quote from: 707 on September 05, 2012, 12:44:17 PM
I find it interesting and odd at the same time, that they would use the old US shield instead of the Oregon state shield. What is interesting still is the shape of the shield is a 2-di. Whatever the reason, I'm glad someone cares about the old road.
that is a proper 30x24 three-digit US shield, shrunk to even narrower than 2di width to fit onto the 8.5x11 form factor.
there is a real old US-99W shield, dating back to the late 60s, at the US-20/OR-99W intersection.