Towing a camper trailer during January
 

This January I will be towing (13' Ford F-150 eco-boost) a 30 foot camper trailer from Las Vegas to Portland. I'm aware that the OR/Cali area is some what dangerous during the winter but is there a safe and efficient route?! I have no real time line to get there. But I do want to see as much scenery as possible! Any advice worth mentioning!? Thanks! Jeremy

To be mostly sure/safe you'll want to head up the coast -- but it is a long LONG haul)

The Central Valley is often fine - but that is the foggiest month and that can mean hundreds of miles of pea soup or worse. Plus after getting all the way up the valley, you'd then have the Siskiyous/Cascades which can be snowy.

So just take your time and use 101.

Make sure all the tires are in good shape with plenty of tread and are not heat damaged.
The tongue weight of the trailer must be a minimum of 10% of the total trailer weight.
Plan on 3 days. If you get to Redding CA and the weather turns bad, stay there until the plows take care of I-5 and the temp is over 35.
This is not a sightseeing trip. I-15 south to Barstow and Rt. 58 up over the Tehatchapi Pass to Bakersfield and then north on CA 99 ending the first day in Fresno or maybe Merced.
Day 2 north on 99 to Stockton where you cross over to I-5.
Once you get past the Sacramento airport, the travel on I-5 is pretty easy until you get to Mt. Shasta.
ODoT takes good care of I-5 when it snows.

All of tom's suggestions up the valley are where I was warning re the fog. Unless you live here you can't imagine what it is like.

This isn't your regular, run of the mill fog. It is tule fog.

This entry from the wiki entry may explain the problem better than I have:

<i><blue>Visibility in tule fog is usually less than an eighth of a mile (about 600 ft or 200 m), but can be much lower. Visibility can vary rapidly; in only a few feet, visibility can go from 10 feet (3.0 m) to near zero.

The variability in visibility is the cause of many chain-reaction pile-ups on roads and freeways. In one such accident on Interstate 5 near Elk Grove south of Sacramento, 25 cars and 12 big-rig trucks collided inside a fog bank in December 1997. Five people died and 28 were injured. In February 2002, two people were killed in an 80-plus-car pile-up on State Route 99 between Kingsburg and Selma. On the morning of November 3, 2007, heavy tule fog caused a massive pile-up that included 108 passenger vehicles and 18 big-rig trucks on northbound State Route 99 between Fowler and Fresno. Visibility was about 200 feet at the time of the accident. There were two fatalities and 39 injuries in the crash.</i></blue>

So All the way from Bakersfield to north of Chico can have close to zero visibility -- all the way, in patches . . . or none. But you can't plan ahead for it. So I personally would never plan a road trip through the Central Valley in dead of winter.

(And just because it only lists accident in 3 or 4 different years . . . they happen multiple times every winter)

Going up I-5 we had to use chains twice, once by Shasta and again at the Oregon Border. Not fun. Watch the weather forecast.

Thanks everyone! Your feedback is much appreciated. I definitely have to check the weather very frequently. I'm moving to Portland so unfortunately I can't pick different move dates. I could make the move in October if I absolutely had to.

I might take your advice and hit the 101 from Redding.

Do you think it's safe to connect back to the I-5 using the 199? I ask because Grant's Pass does not sound fun during the winter months either!

>>I might take your advice and hit the 101 from Redding. <<

That makes no sense at all.

>> I definitely have to check the weather very frequently.<<

The problem is if the fog happens there is no place you can go to avoid it.

Either take 101 all the way from SoCal to Oregon and across to Portland . . . or take your chances all the way on I-5.

>>I could make the move in October if I absolutely had to. <<

If you could do it in October that would solve all the problems.

The last time I went from central Oregon to Las Vegas, I went through Klamath Falls, Susanville, Reno to Tonopah (Clown Motel). From Tonopah I went through Las Vegas on my way to Yuma.
There is a lot less traffic and little chance of fog going that way.
Has the trailer been moved within the last year?
We have plenty of camping trailers available in Oregon without you bringing another one.

I just bought the trailer 4 months ago. I plan on replacing the tires, redoing the roof and greasing the bearings. It's in fairly good condition for being 18 years old. The last owners didn't use it much apparently.

Hey Tom. Was your trip during the winter. I ask because Klamath Falls seems a bit close to Cascade National Park and people have said it snows a lot around that area in January. I want to afford snow at all cost. I have chains but still. I'm a novice tower!

You do NOT want to be towing a travel trailer through K Falls and Susanville in dead of winter -- trust me . . . or not.

Don't just worry about snow or fog. Black ice can be MUCH more dangerous.

On the other hand, lots of people (thousands?) use I-5, US 101, and even the inland US 95-395-97 route every day during winter.

Just watch the weather and adjust time and route accordingly, take your time, and if the going gets bad stay where you are for a day or two.

To avoid the *possibility* of tule fog betwteen Bakersfield and Red Bluff for you'd have to take 101 all the way from LA. Especially in OR it is very curvey and slow and most likely will be rainy. And even it can have snow at various places at times. It will be a very long and slow drive, but is *least likely* to have snow or black ice.

I-5 is the most heavily trafficked route by far, is the quickest, and has good maintenance. Yes, you could run into fog in the central valley between Bakersfield and Red Bluff, but I've driven that dozens of times incl. in the winter, and have only run into fog a few of those times, and only bad 0-visibility fog once. It is very possible that you could run into snow and/or black ice *on* the road (very likely snow will be beside the road) between Redding & Weed and between Yreka & Medford and between Grants Pass & Cottage Grove ... much less likely but also possible you could run into snow anywhere north of Redding clear into Portland. But major snow events usually last only a day or two before the roads are cleared.

The inland US 95-395-97 route is the most likely to be drier (and colder) and if it does snow its likely to be drier snow, easier to drive in. But it can also have periodic major storms. But you will be forced at some point to cross the Cascades to get to Portland. Almost all of those routes are quite *probable* to have snow on the road. One could go all the way to I-84, the major freeway east of Portland and probably have good clear roads. But even it gets hit with major ice storms several times a winter - no one, including experienced truckers, tries to drive through those.

In any case, take it slow, watch the weather, and be prepared to stop for a few days as fog/snow/black ice may dictate.

PS
Absolutely make sure you don't have just summer radials .. make sure you have good mud & snow tires.

If this were the Trip Advisor forum you would be told that there is no "Cali," only California.

Yes, "Cali" is an annoying nickname, but it looks like it is here to stay, no matter how much Californians protest. I guess it's our fault really - having such a long state name and all ;)

I also have Ford F-150 which we are using for blocked driveway towing Manhattan. can you please tell me which trailer are you using with this?

Martin, this thread is nearly 3 years old. Get pro advice from a travel trailer dealer on how much weight your F150 can safely haul.
Welcome to Fodors!