San Francisco to Seattle in a day (fires in Oregon)
 

Hi! I'm driving to Seattle at the end of September and am wondering about the current fires in Oregon. I plan on taking 101 to I-80 to I-5 (I'm using Google maps as my guide). I know there are fires in Oregon and am wondering if my route is in the fire's path? My geography isn't great, so forgive me if this is a silly question.

Thank you!
Joan

You won't be delayed by fires anywhere, but at the end of September trying to do this in one day is quite an undertaking. You're looking at a minimum of 12 - 14 hours wheels turning, which means some part of the trip will be in the dark, and possibly in the wet. Can't you spend the night somewhere en route?

That's my thought as well. Regardless of the route you choose (or the month you do it in really) that's a LONG drive to try to do in a single day!

Is there a reason you can't stop somewhere?

Or do you need your car? Is a flight an option (even that is 2 hours!) the cities aren't exactly close.

Understand That 12 to 14 hours is without a single stop. So really 15-20 hours if you need anything more than gas stops.

6 hours worth of stopping?? That's called overnight, lol.

Where did I say 6 hours of stops?? There are <i>ranges</i>.

12hrs in the car + 3hours of stops = 15 hours; 14 hrs in the car + 3 or 4 hours of stops = 17 or 18 hours.

It is really easy for an 18 hour journey to end up 20 hrs with traffic, or weather, or exhaustion. Especially IF the OP needs more than just leg stretching and gas stops.

Hence the 12- 14 hours butts in seats and 15 - 20 hours total.

So can you offer some actual advice, or just snark?

Not to mention that 12-14 hours is true "minimum" estimate.

As in zero traffic jams, no slow downs of any kind, no accidents on the road, no rain or fog to slow traffic down, and no stops for any reason.

Anyone driving that distance is going to need at least a couple stops for gas. And most people would also stop to use the rest room and get something to eat now and then.

A wet cold front came ashore from the Pacific yesterday.
I left my fire tower in Oregon at noon today when it started snowing. I know.. Fall starts on Friday. You can leave from Emeryville in the evening and get on the Coast Starlight and be in Eugene OR about 12:30 the next day and Seattle late in the day. (sometimes late but at least you're not driving).

I agree with suze and Janis on this one. Google maps says 13 hours and 17 minutes. 14 hours is optimistic, 12 is an impossibility.

In my car, just eating fast food, and stopping for gas, I could do it in about 15. That's going 5-10 miles over the speed limit. The trouble is, that patch between Portland and Seattle can be very slow. And in October, both bad weather and road construction can be a problem. I think the real time range is 15-18 hours. For one driver, that's not a smart choice.

Either do Tom's suggestion, or fly or stop overnight. I would stay overnight in Eugene or Salem for that drive.

I did offer advice, just not explicitly: don't listen to people who tell you that a 13 hour drive will actually be 20.

(<That 12 to 14 hours is without a single stop. So really 15-20 hours>)

A 12 hour drive could easily take significantly longer, and I wouldn't recommend even a 12 hour one as that's just too long in one go. So I basically agree with all of the posts on this thread.

But for the life of me, I can't understand attempting to terrify the OP with wild exaggerations.

Well -- the last time I drove it (shorter -- just from Sacramento to Tacoma) driving well over the speed limit where I could . . . it took 19 hours. That was the actual drive time though I did it over two days and slept in Ashland.

You really are showing your stripes -- no one else has been nasty. But you can't help yourself.

Excuse me, where was I nasty? All I did was disagree with you, and as usual, you turn it into a personal confrontation.

<driving well over the speed limit where I could >
Btw, this is ill advised behavior, especially on a long drive when fatigue becomes a factor.

Oh, c'mon, Newbe. No one drives the speed limit on the interstate. I don't want anyone on the road at all if they're tired. Which is the whole point of this thread. It's not a safe or practical drive to make in one day, no matter how long it takes.

<i>It's not a safe or practical drive to make in one day, no matter how long it takes.</i>

C'mon. Lots of people have done this drive in one sitting, including me on several occasions. It's long and quite boring in bits, but it's far from impossible. Maybe Joan is 25 and needs to get herself and her car to Seattle because she has no alternative, and the timing is dictated by other factors. We don't know. So we urge caution and let it go at that. This was the OP's first post on Fodor's and she hasn't returned, so our advice is probably vanishing into the ether.

Here's how I'd do it:

Depart SF 6 AM to get out of the Bay area before rush hour peaks.

Coffee and top the tank somewhere in the central valley, probably around Redding, say 9:30 AM

Lunch near Ashland, around noon.

Coffee and top the tank around Eugene, around 3:30 PM

Dinner north of Portland someplace, around 6 PM depending on evening traffic.

Arrive Seattle 8:30 - 9 PM. Sunset is around 7, so she'll be in the dark through Olympia and Tacoma, but it's easy driving.

It's not exactly grueling but it's a long day.

If she has to do it, she'll do it anyway. But I don't think it's a smart choice for most people.

Hi, everyone! Sorry I didn't respond before. I'm new to this and just figured I would've been notified via my email that I had responses.

Thank you for all your advice. It really warms my heart that so many people took the time to respond.

Perhaps I was being overly optimistic about the total number of hours. (And I was hoping to save myself hotel costs.) While the idea of 14 hours seems doable, the idea of 17 hours seems grueling. So, I think I will heed almost everyone's advice and make this a two-day trip. (Although I must confess that I am tempted to explore Gardyloo's itinerary.)

Thanks again! I will write again after I've arrived in Seattle!

Best wishes,
Joan

Yay! I'm happy that you can do so; and thanks for the update! Would love to know how your trip goes!

Look, go as far as you can the first day, and stop when you feel tired or you think it might be hazardous to go on. Chances are you'll end up a few hours short of Seattle, but you'll be in town early the next day, really not much later than if you'd pushed through and slept in the city. There are hundreds of cheap hotels and motels all along the I-5 corridor, so all things being equal we're talking about a difference of $80 or $100 tops.

Hello from Seattle! I left the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday morning and arrived in Seattle on Sunday evening. And yes, you were right: Google Map's 14-hour estimate was not realistic.

In retrospect, the drive was not that bad at all. Though I must admit that crossing Grants Pass, Oregon, was rather grueling for me. Mountainous and curvy. I tried to distract myself with the gorgeous vistas.

I spent Saturday night in the coastal town of Newport, Oregon. (Yes, I took a little detour off of I-5.)

So I'm here and I very pleased. Seattle is lovely. The long ride was worth it.

Once again, thanks for everything!