Have you been anywhere amazing between Sacramento and Reno?
 

We will be in Sacramento next week for business and will leave Thursday at 5 and should be in time for dinner Friday night by 7 in Reno.

Any great suggestions? Is Virginia City our best bet? Tahoe for just one night?

Am hoping for a sweet small hotel or bed and breakfast with some personality. We like to hike, swim, horseback ride or just wander through cute towns. (No wine tasting this trip.) I don't mind getting off of the main road as long as we aren't adding more than a few hours of drive time.

Thanks in advance!

Lake Tahoe is very beautiful - even if only for one night.

And driving from Sacto to Reno - if you go the "back" way - north of the freeway - above Grass Valley - (I have to look at a map again) - there is a very pretty drive. We stopped along the way and went swimming in a small river/creek even. :)

I think it is 49 - north/east out of Grass Valley - a longer/more round about way to get to Truckee - but very pretty.

How about Rt. 49 down through the gold country and staying near Placerville? Never stayed there but Eden Vale has very high ratings. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alifornia.html
The Marshall Gold discovery site is worth at least an hour.
Gas is cheaper in Carson City than in California.

Lake Tahoe. Go up 80 and stop off for dinner in downtown Truckee. Not sure if they still do, but they used to have a street fair every Thursday night. You could stay in Truckee or head over for the night in North Tahoe or Incline area. So beautiful. I detest Virginia City. Junk shops and candy stores.

Mini GTG possible?

Try to leave by 3 or after 6. Leaving at 5 hits peak traffic.

No - it isn't hwy 49, it is hwy 20 (However one would need to take hwy 49 north to catch hwy 20)

lynni: Listen to MichelleY - Dinner at Truckee and stay at north shore Lake Tahoe. But do NOT leave Sacramento at 5PM. Wait in town until about 6:30 . . . OR get on the road before 3PM if possible.

http://www.truckeethursdays.com

I actually like Virginia City w/ the Silver Baron mansions, cemetery, opera House etc . . . But it is much too far to drive that night. You'd be another 45 minutes beyond Reno.

oops -- >>No - it isn't hwy 49, it is hwy 20 (However one would need to take hwy 49 north to catch hwy 20)<< was in response to tom.

I wouldn't recommend you take hwy 20 if you are leaving Sac after 3PM - it would add 45 mins to 1 hour to your drive time.

If you have to be in Reno/Truckee by a certain time - than bolt there.

Otherwise - was suggesting a very beaucolic route - and NO - I did NOT mean hiway 20 - but rather 49 out of Grass Valley - actually Nevada City - up thru Downieville and Sierra City - along the North Yuba River and up and over the Yuba pass.

Longer for sure but very pretty - and it eventually drops down into Truckee.

You could spend the entire Friday at Lassen Volcano National Park

Janisj- I am going to have to have you plan a trip for me to VC to see this good stuff. We always had kids with us, so that is why all the junky stuff.

Why do some posters always get nasty. It would take a long time to get from Sacto to Tahoe in "rush hour" - and this other way is a beautiful drive - along 49 - and there is NO rush hour along that route.

So what if it takes 4 hours - leave at 3 PM or so and be in Truckee by 7 PM and it's a beautiful drive.

And sunset in Lake Tahoe is about 8:30 PM.

>>and there is NO rush hour along that route. <<

But they'd first have to drive through the entire Sacramento and Roseville/west Placer county rush hour commute traffic to get to your route.

>> leave at 3 PM or so and be in Truckee by 7 PM<<

The OP says they will leave at 5PM (which is WHY MichelleY and I said they need to leave later if possible)

Tom - I wasn't 'nasty' - I was honest. It is a nutty idea to travel 75 extra (and slow) miles IF one is leaving at 5PM. I 1) live close to I-80 and travel it just about daily, 2) own a condo at north Lake Tahoe and drive there/Truckee VERY often, 3) have family connections to a gold mine/state park in Plumas county and drive the 49/89 route several times a year. I am actually trying to <i>help</i> lynni - I don't have an axe to grind here.

My vote - http://goo.gl/maps/4zk3k

Overnight in Murphys, a nice winery-infested historic town in the Gold Rush country, then the following day meander through the mountains to Lake Tahoe and on into Reno.

Murphy's is great -- my only issue would be, leaving at 5 PM the drive down would take about 2-2.5 hours and the drive from there to Reno would take about 4 hours. So 6+ hours of driving. But the drive up on 88/89 would be beautiful.

Days are long right now and it might depend on where in Sacramento they're starting. But getting to Murphys by 7 or 7:30 wouldn't be the end of the world.

Oh I agree -- just depends on if they want 6+ hours driving over the two days. And the commute south/southeast out of Sacramento is as bad (actually worse) as the drive NE so another reason to leave either a lot earlier or after 6/6:30.

Murphys is nice, but in the opposite direction and they are not interest in wine tasting. Tahoe would be my pick since they need to be in Reno the next night.

The historic Hwy 40 route between Kingvale( I think) and Truckee is a nice little detour on your way. Spectacular. This was the old road before I-80 was built.