Suggested large vehicle travel route from Portland

icnivad · Post by **icnivad** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:45 am

hey. We are heading out of Portland, and I was curious if anyone who has traveled from there with a large vehicle has any recommendations on route. We will be in a school bus hauling a trailer and fairly weighted down so I'd rather avoid hills as much as possible. I expect not do about 25 heading up a steep hill, so you can imagine why 55 on a flat freeway out of our way could actually save us time.

Is it better to take 58 out of Eugene over then down to Klamath falls? Or to stay on I5 down to Ashland? Or even to stay on I5 all the way down to sacramento then cut over to Reno and up?

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:07 pm

the trick is to minimize the down hills. the playa is 3900 ft, porkland is 0 ft

eastside of cascades: Bend 3600; LaPine 4200, Lakeview 4700..

you're still gonna go uphill a minimum of 3900 feet

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:34 pm

I have heard CalTrans is repairing I80 and that truckers only drive it during daylight hours. 10 foot lane may be difficult with a bus pulling a trailer.

I would recommend old Hiway 99E to Chico. Then either I70 up the Feather River Canyon, or the Oroville-Quincy Hiway over the narrow ridges. Then over Beckworth Pass to Hallelujah Juntion to 395, then south to Reno. Or you might try cutting across to 395 higher up, I'm not familiar with that route. One fine burner is letting burners stay overnight at his lodge up north of me.

Or you might go down to Sacramento then across by way of Hiway 50 to South Lake Tahoe, then Carson City. There are steep pitches on any route thru the Sierra Nevadas. Interstates are more standard though.

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:33 pm

True about I-80, there's a thread about it, they close it at night and escort larger vehicles through a detour. Avoid it.

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:33 am

This guy has reviewed several routes from Seattle to BRC (not including via ashland or Sac'to) and has very detailed info. They all come thru Portland

http://gwally.com/directions/cat_routes.php

Oops - his Route 4 is added this year and does not go through Portland.

Stickygreen · Post by **Stickygreen** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:59 pm

Eugene over then down to Klamath falls will be fine, I've taken a 5TON truck this way before, and have friends in RV's use that rout, it's not a problem. as for your hill phobia, well that's another thing, you can't get over the mountains at anywhere flatter... it dosen't exist

Skye2kx · Post by **Skye2kx** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 3:44 pm

swampdog wrote:This guy has reviewed several routes from Seattle to BRC (not including via ashland or Sac'to) and has very detailed info. They all come thru Portland http://gwally.com/directions/cat_routes.php

Oops - his Route 4 is added this year and does not go through Portland.

Great link, swampdog. Route 1 is what works for me. And yup, I'm coming from PDX.