Route from Vancouver WA to Furnace Creek CA

[Ted Couch]

We are planning our trip south and will be leaving Vancouver around November 22nd. Our final destination is Hemet, CA, but we want to see Death Valley on our trip down this year. We are wondering the best route to follow from Vancouver WA. Good Sam trip planner suggests going through Canyonville to Shasta on I5 and then turning east. Another option on another trip planner was to go highway 26 over Mount Hood and head south that way. We have some worries about altitude and the slow climb in our 3208 CAT powered Marquis. Since we have the rebuilt engine it is much fresher than our old one but towing our Saab up mountain passes will add some time to the trip we know. Does anyone have some advice on the best route to take which minimizes the climbs a little? We also are hoping the winter snows don't come in too soon, but are really excited for the new road trip to come. Thanks for any input.

Ted Couch

[Lee Welbanks]

Ted,

Living in the west you always have mountains, you could head east and down 97 to K Falls then over the 395 down to Lone Pine and east on 190 to Death Valley. Once you get up to the high country/high desert you do not have many big climbs. The only part of this I have not been on is 190. Late in Nov. depending on the climate you might find a bit of snow.

[Jerry Carr]

I have driven the route 395 many times from Las Vegas to Bend, last year we cut over to I-5 at Alturas using 140 that was not a bad road for late summer but November could be a problem if the have had snow you could have issues. I do plan to head up 395 next week to do some service work in bend. I think the route to Mt Shasta may be a little better but may have the same problem with snow watch the weather.

[David T. Richelderfer]

From Eastern Oregon the key is to get to Fallon, NV which is near Reno, NV.

My brother likes to go from Biggs on US97 to La Pine, OR, 30 miles south of Bend, then onto OR31 going southeast to Valley Falls, OR to join US395 and on south to Reno, NV.  Don't forget to take the Standish shortcut to avoid Susanville, CA. From Reno go straight east on I80 to Fernley, NV, then take US50 to Fallon, NV.  The problem with this route is the Oregon High Desert can get cold.

Leslie and I live further east in Eastern Oregon.  We take I84 southeast to a few miles past Ontario, OR and turn south onto US95 in Idaho.  US95 goes south and back a little west to Jordan Valley, OR, to Burns Junction, OR, to McDermitt, NV, and to Winnemucca, NV where we get on I80 going East.  Well before getting to Fernley, NV (east of Reno, NV), we take US95 going south to Fallon, NV.  The problem with this route is the weather and steepness going up Cabbage Hill just east of Pendleton, OR.  My coach with toad can go up Cabbage only 47.5 mph.  Also a potential problem is the weather in extreme SouthEast Oregon due to the High Desert.

From Fallon, NV just go south on US95.  We turned right 60 miles south of Tonopah, NV at Scotty's Junction, NV onto NV267.  From Scotty's Junction it's only 27 miles to Scotty's Castle (which is on the Eastern edge of Death Valley).