Planning Mid January Trip to Portland Oregon. (Redding, Chico: buy, price)

[Themitchellfour]

I am planning a trip in Mid January to Portland OR, from Chico CA.

I will have two teenage boys, one husband and a little dog.

Can anyone tell me how bad the conditions tend to be? I have driven in snow before, and do fine. However Ice driving isn't a talent of mine, and I don't like cliffs that suddenly appear without railings. How wide or narrow does that I-5 get. Is it like 32 from the lake Almanor area anywhere? Does any one know just how twisty this road can be? None of us get car sick in the summer but winter can be a different story with the heater and such.

Any advice for I-5 from northern CA to Portland Or in Mid January would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Snort]

I used to drive up that way in winter. I preferred taking the coast road all the way up. I-5 can be fine, but when there's snow and ice and idiots on the road, it's not a pleasant experience. You're much less apt to get snow and ice along the coast and there will be much less traffic.

[jjpop]

My sister got stuck in Weed for hours while CalTrans and ODOT were busy clearing snow from the area around Siskiyou summit. I've also known people to get stuck overnight.

[Themitchellfour]

I would be coming from Chico so I would have to cut over using Cal 299 w. Is that road any better in January?

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by Themitchellfour

I am planning a trip in Mid January to Portland OR, from Chico CA.

I will have two teenage boys, one husband and a little dog.

Can anyone tell me how bad the conditions tend to be? I have driven in snow before, and do fine. However Ice driving isn't a talent of mine, and I don't like cliffs that suddenly appear without railings. How wide or narrow does that I-5 get. Is it like 32 from the lake Almanor area anywhere? Does any one know just how twisty this road can be? None of us get car sick in the summer but winter can be a different story with the heater and such.

Any advice for I-5 from northern CA to Portland Or in Mid January would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I-5 is a much bigger road than Highway 32, although it does have a few steep stretches, but it's not a super-winding mountain road even over most of the mountainous parts. I used to drive from Ashland to the Bay Area pretty frequently, and unless you travel right during a big storm the road is usually fine.

Although the road gets curvier once you climb up around Shasta Lake north of Redding--on through Dunsmuir, it's usually not until around Mt. Shasta that weather conditions are usually a factor. But, I've never had a problem with the road being icy in the winter for the most part. I've driven over it in snow and it can get pretty slow, but driving Highway 89 was always icier and more dangerous than I-5. The part that can really slow one up is if there's a blizzard at Siskiyou Pass at the border. If it's closed there's nothing you can do. But it descends so steeply from the pass to Ashland that if there is snow and it's passable, you're not driving very long in those conditions. Ashland is usually snowfree at 1,800 feet elevation. Once you get over Siskiyou Pass, there's one other stretch of mountains, north of Grants Pass--but it's low enought that it's usually snow-free. After that it's as flat as the Central Valley.

As far as going to the coastal route, I wouldn't recomend that unless you really want to see the coast. I'm not even really sure of the conditions of 299 in January, but that road takes forever to get to the coast in the summertime. Once you get to the coast, you're looking at a couple extra hours minimum--as you're going to have to take on of the slower highways over the coast range to get back to Portland. Plus the weather on the Oregon Coast in January is likely to be rainy and foggy. You could also loop around from 299 back over to Grants Pass, Oregon and I-5 via 199 cutting off from Crescent City, but honestly that road can be shutdown frequently due to landslides and is actually twistier and more narrow than most of I-5.

[Hawk J]

In the winter there are breaks in the weather. That's when it's best to travel north.
TripCheck - Road Cams, Road & Weather Conditions in Oregon - ODOT

Carry chains. (Get chains that are easier to put on,type.) That is the law to carry chains in winter . Have winter tires with good tread.
There are places you can buy chains like Les Schwab. Buy the chains, if you don't use them. You can sell them back to Les at your purchase price.

Drive Safely.

Be Safe...

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by Themitchellfour

I would be coming from Chico so I would have to cut over using Cal 299 w. Is that road any better in January?

I wouldn't recommend 299 in the winter. There are at least 4 passes, the road is very steep, twisty and narrow in spots.

I've heard that when Siskiyou Summit is snowed in during winter, truckers use a route that takes them on Hwy 97 out of Weed toward Klamath Falls to OR Hwy 58 which drops down into Eugene where you connect back up with I-5. The advantage is that there's fewer steep grades along this route, it's fairly straight (at least until the Hwy 58 part), and it's on the leeward side of the Cascades, so there's less snowfall than at Siskiyou Summit. However it can be very cold, so ice might be an issue.

[ColoNative]

I5 is a fine freeway, no unprotected cliffs lol A couple of the passes in southern Oregon have been known to get snowed in. There are a couple areas where it gets windy but nothing terrible. You are warned ahead of time, drive slow. Keep an eye on the weather before you leave at the link Hawk J posted. and chains...yes. You might not even need the chains, but will have to have them just in case, snow tires you definitely should have. Once you get to Eugene you're in the Willamette Valley and the road is fairly straight and flat. Maybe some snow, but would probably be more rain (that can freeze so be careful).

Not a lot of traffic on the coast, and snow is rare, but is could be raining a LOT, it's an extremely winding road and will slow you down a lot. If it isn't raining too much, it is beautiful, but in January it could be more hassle than anything.

I-5 will be fine. Drive slow. Enjoy the trip, I think the Willamette Valley is beautiful in the winter, especially when it freezes.