LA to Portland

[Hbjason]

This fall my wife and i will be taking a trip from OC to Portland to visit our son. 1 st stop will be SF to watch our daughter play soccer at SFSU. From SF to portland we plan on a 2 day trip to get their. Anyone have recommendations formstops on the way? We will also be staying in Portland for 3 days. Any suggestions on where to stay in the portland area ? Thanks for any suggestions Jason

[Caffeinated]

In Once you hit the Calif. OR border, Ashland is the first town of any consequence. Home of S OR University and a world class Shakespeare festival, if you get there early enough you might find tickets for a play that night, if that's your thing. A couple of places to stay in and around Ashland, Google is your friend. If you want to get further N that day, another hour and a half of driving will get you to Canyonville, home of Seven Feathers Casino. Run by the Seven Feathers Indian tribe, they have a very nice rv resort in conjunction with the casino operation. A couple of decent food options in the casino. From there it is about four more hours to Portland. Depending on what area of Portland you want to be close to, there are several options. Pleasent Ridge RV is in Wilsonville, a twenty minute drive from downtown PDX. Usually. If you like being out in the country, and maybe going to wineries and tasting the wares, then Willamette Wine Country Rv Park is in Dayton, and still within about a forty minute drive to Portland.

Mike

[Drathaar]

Caffeinated hit it nicely. Valley of the Rogue SP near Gold Hill is another place to stop in SO. The gold rush town of Jacksonville is another interesting place to visit. It's the home of the Peter Britt music festival.

Pleasant Ridge is nice, and the park near McMinnville has a vintage row.

I-5 is in horrible shape until north of Sacramento. Have your dental work tuned up!

[Stefrobrts]

We love staying at Emmigrant Lake in Ashland, it's a nice county park on a reservoir just outside of town. See a play if you get a chance, they are super high quality.

[Kamiak]

I agree with Drathaar, I-5 is in "horrible" shape...maybe even more so. Two or three years ago they applied a cosmetic slurry which made it look nice, but did absolutely nothing for the the underlying defects, other than making them more difficult to spot. The transitions between the road surface and the concrete beneath every overpass are blowouts waiting to happen. And then there's that section of 580, just south of Tracy to the top of Altamont Pass: "unsafe at any speed", especially in the far right hand lane. Incidentally, if you take 580 toward SF, take the truck "bypass". At least it will merge you into the right hand lane headed up Altamont, not in the far left hand lane.

Happy trails!

[NWRVR]

If you had more time, 101 is a beautiful drive, especially north from the CA/OR border. Many miles along a spectacular coast line but it also has the winding two lane roads over the many capes.

[Bajaexplorer]

Originally Posted by Kamiak

I agree with Drathaar, I-5 is in "horrible" shape...maybe even more so. Two or three years ago they applied a cosmetic slurry which made it look nice, but did absolutely nothing for the the underlying defects, other than making them more difficult to spot. The transitions between the road surface and the concrete beneath every overpass are blowouts waiting to happen. And then there's that section of 580, just south of Tracy to the top of Altamont Pass: "unsafe at any speed", especially in the far right hand lane. Incidentally, if you take 580 toward SF, take the truck "bypass". At least it will merge you into the right hand lane headed up Altamont, not in the far left hand lane.

Happy trails!

Horrible, I will say Uber-Terrible, we jus drove on I 5 a few weeks ago from Bakersfield/Lost Hills to Portland, the section of I 5 To los Banos is a nightmare, you really have to be extra carefull and slow down as much you can each time you drive over the under passes. Caltran did not resurface the section under the over passes and in some sections the road has some big potholes. With care we slowed down as much to 40miles, which it is not recomendable but in some cases you have no choice. Once you pass over Stockton the road turns really nice and even. Driving from SFO we normally stop in Weed, there is an RV park just next to the Pilot truck stop. Have a safe trip

[dprvashon]

We travel this route a lot - Seattle to N Calif. With family just off Hwy 70, in Oroville, we headed down a couple of times a year. We do not use I5 unless time is a factor else we explore the other routes N/S. Someone already recommended the coast route up 101, which takes you through the redwoods and past scenic beach towns. There are lots of state parks along the Oregon coast and private ones too.

The other route which is faster but very scenic is to head toward Klamath Falls from Weed up Hwy 97. We have come to prefer this route through Grass Lake and maybe a side trip to Crater Lake (a must see). This takes you to Bend then cut over to Salem on either Hwy 20 and 22 or to Portland via Hwy 26 (very scenic just south of My Hood). Hwy 20 takes you through Sister's, a quaint town.

In Portland, we like Champoeg SP in the wine region...a good base with quick fwy access to all Portland.

Hope this helps....enjoy the trip

[CaddyGrn]

Lots of good advice on places to stop here... if you happen to head up towards the SF Bay Area and it is in the "fall" (not sure what date range you are looking at...) there are some nice places to stay along the coast. Half Moon Bay has a nice State Park and Beach that has camping... once you go North of that area, campgrounds can be found, but sparse and nothing really near or in SF area. If you are bypassing the SF Bay Area and going up Interstate 5 (it is a deadly drive until past Redding...) you can parallel part of I-5 by going up either the old east or west (recommend the east) Hwy 99 (north of Sacramento)... slower, and only 2 lanes, but much nicer drive and you can avoid many of the large rigs that hog the interstate.

Hwy 97 is nice if you wish to go that route, but if you stay on I-5 there are some fabulous places to camp once past Redding! Let folks know what kind of accommodations you like best (RV parks, or boondocking, or Forest Service type parks?) it will help folks give you the best ideas.

North of Redding, there are some nice campgrounds near Lake Shasta, but in the summer it can be hot... near Dunsmuir is Sims Campground a great place to stay overnight. Yreka has several things to offer (or nearby)... a cute National Historic District, and easy access from the freeway. Lake Siskiyou near Mt. Shasta City is very nice. You might also travel a little off the beaten path and go east on Hwy 89 and McCloud has some really great campgrounds not too far away...

Another thought on your travels, if you avoid the center of California all together, you can drive up 395 on the East side of the state (much of it is very nice and good roads) and once you get to Reno area you can jog over to Hwy 89 from Truckee to Lake Almanor (another great place) or drive through Mt. Lassen...and keep on going until McCloud and then you can pick up Interstate 5 within 50 miles of the Oregon Border. Hwy 89 is our favorite drive with our trailer. Not a lot of services, but much of it is lovely country.

Have fun!