Driver

I am planning on driving across Calif. next week to Redding/Mt. Shasta area. I mentioned I-5 as the quickest route. People started warning me of boredom, fog, police stings, and no place to eat. Are they right? Anyone been there, done that?

Driver Again

Forgot to mention, I will probably want to stop along the way. Any suggestions?
Are there safe motels on the Northern I-5?

Emily

I travel that route between San Diego and San Francisco about three times a year. It's the fastest way to get through the state, if speed is your concern. Otherwise, your friends are correct -- it's a dreadfully boring route and you'd better pack your own provisions because (with the exception of Harris Ranch) your meals will be of the fast food variety. Fog comes in the winter, but I've never had any bad experiences with the CHP.

janis

Where are you driving from? If it is from the Bay area there is no need to stop anywhere on I-5 since it is a fast, straight shot all the way to Redding and up to Siskiyou County.

If you are dirving from LA - again no need to stay over but stop(s) for meals will be warranted. The most boring stretches are between Bakersfield and Tracy but there are rest stops and highway restaurants along the way.

They patrol I-5 from the air so don't go too much over the speed limit. If it is foggy the planes are grounded -- but you should be slowing down in the fog any way.

Susan

We do the drive from the Bay Area to Los Angeles a few times a year and always take I-5 because it gets us there in six hours but it is terribly boring. The best food I can suggest would be In N Out Burger just north of Harris Ranch in Kettleman City. Hold your nose and turn the air in your car to recycle as you pass Harris Ranch or you won't have an appetite for burgers.

xxx

I just drove from Palm Springs to Portland and back last month and didn't find any problems with the drive other than for lack of scenery. I took plenty of cds and a few books on tape to combat boredom. While I did pass an occasional CHP, they were pretty liberal, only pulling over those traveling in excess of 85 mph.

You should have no problem making the entire drive in one day whether you're leaving from Southern or Northern California. I drove solo and managed to make the entire drive in 1-1/2 days and I drove all the way from the top of Oregon down.

Suzie

Don't know where your starting point is but if you look on a map you can see how I-5 heads toward the coastal range after Bakersfield and then heads in toward Sacto and then up to Redding and so forth. That trip westward was usually enough for me to switch to 99 when traveling from S CA to Sacto. The trucks and speeders and lack of services was just just the icing on the cake in the argument to abandon I5. Once drove I5 on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I have never seen a longer tighter traffic jam in my life. Hundreds of miles of bumper to bumper traffic. Ugh never again.

Places that have services on I 5:
Buttonwillow
Harris Ranch (actually this place has a beautiful hotel but don't leave the room because the smell will kill you)
Santa Nella
Stockton
Sacramento
Williams
Corning
Red Bluff
Redding

Doesn't that list just give you the willies.

susie

You have heard no lies my friend i have experienced all of the things you mentioned... greasy truck stop diner food is about all you'll find besides fas food and the cops done hesitate to pull you over or atleast they didnt hesitate to pull me over!!

But the scenery is splendid... after you pass the first grassy field you get to enjoy 1000000 more fields just like it!

enjoy your dirve
susie

lcuy

used to drive from Oregon to San Diego in my college days. It took exactly 24 hours if you stop only for meals. It isn't a bad drive at either end, but the middle is boring. i once was awake, but was awoken by a kindly driver honking at me just before I drove off the road. I survived by eating sunflower seeds and singing along with country radio (rock was my preference, but country keeps you awake!). I enjoyed the drive up in Northern California. I love the back roads of California, but they take waaaay longer, and are often quite dangerous as they aren't divided. If getting there is your priority, use I-5.

Gerry

For the quickest route I-5 is the best. I drive it frequently. There are rest stops about every hour. Some are not bad. Except for the Bakersfield to Santa Nella stretch there are towns nearby where you can find regular and some quite good restaurants. There are also stops about every hour with gas stations and chain type restaurants and motels. I do not recommend it for tourists as the scenery is very dull and you will get a very distorted picture of California. It is all farmland. It's where all of that California produce comes from. But it is the fastest most efficient way to cross the state. As far as the CHP: They will not tag you unless you are going faster that 80 MPH. You will see people driving 100 MPH plus. If you call that a speed trap, then those people need to be trapped. The highway is built mostly above the fog bank which hangs in the valley. Highway 99 is where all of the major fog pile-ups occur, not I-5. From Los Angeles to Redding would take about 8-9 hours. There is no other viable way to go from Sacramento to Redding than I-5.
Enjoy your trip.

Driver

Well, thanks everyone. I will take all your advice to heart. I am driving from Los Angeles to Chico, then overnight there, then on to Weaverville and over to the coast, then back on 101, which I hear is the most scenic.

Daphne

Say hello to Chico for me. Got quite fond of it when our daughter went to college there. My husband got so he could make it from Orange county to Chico in one day but it was a killer as I don't do freeway. I like Harris Ranch [for chicken not beef] but it usually took too long to stop for lunch there.

Hi Ya

Watch out for those I-5 well known speed trap areas such as near Barstow.
I got a ticket there a few year ago for going 71MPH. I-5 is very boring....flat and featureless especially in the north. Williams area is typical ugh. And Willows.

Suzie

Is Barstow on I5? The Barstow near Fresno is off 99 and the Barstow in San Bernadino Co is off.... well it's just way off.

xxx

Maybe Hi Ya was thinking about Bakersfield and not Barstow.

Suzie

Bakersfield in on 99 also. Maybe it was the speedtrap around the lovely Buttonwillow?

Racing

Maybe he meant he was going 91MPH and not 71MPH? Or maybe he was in a school zone in Bakersfield? Or? What is he talking about?
The speed limit on I-5 is generally 70MPH. You won't get a tag unless you are going substantially over that. This is not hard to do as it is a very good flat, straight highway. A lot of people "commute" LA to SF area on here like its a race track. They should be tagged. Just watch to see that you are not the fastest driver on the road.

xxx

Just a question: If the speed traps as so well known how come HIYA doesn't know where they are?

Susan

Since we're giving driving tips on I-5 and since I'll be heading south on it for Christmas, PLEASE move to the right lane after you are done passing! If everyone on I-5 would drive the way they do on the autostrada it would be much safer and faster. Use the left lane for passing slower cars and then move back over to the right.

Suzie

Susan, I know what you mean but many times the right lane is so wrecked up by the trucks that my teeth chatter. Potholes, missing asphalt, pieces of tire etc.

Have a safe trip.