California Decision

mikim wrote:
From Palm Springs take the I-10 west to the 210 fwy in Redlands, Ca. Stay on the 210 all they way to the I-5 north to avoid downtown Los Angeles traffic.

Get to experience the Grape Vine! Its pretty dang impressive especially on the North accent/decent when you can see for miles.

Yes, 1320!

While in Palm Springs, you should take time to ride the Tram up the mountain. Pretty good views from up there, but take a coat, as the temps up there are considerably colder than the valley floor. Depending on just how far north you want to go before crossing over towards the coast, there are several routes you can take, just look at a map. I would avoid Highway 36, period. Highway 299 is fairly scenic and the road condition is pretty good for California. There are some up and down grades, just use your mountain driving skills. Watch for the eagles that perch just past Big Bar. Take your time and enjoy the trip. JH

Another option is to take I-10 West from Palm Springs to I-215 North which joins up with I-15 North. At Hesperia shift over to Hwy 395 North to Kramer Junction. Then turn west on Hwy 58 over Tehachapi Pass to Bakersfield. Finally Hwy 99 North to Fresno. There is a Love's Truck Stop at top of Tehachapi Pass if you need fuel. We've used this route many times, mainly because its a good road and by passes all the Pasadena-LA traffic. Good Luck.

I agree with SDbounder and Mikim...skip going through the Los Angeles area. Take Highway 210 in Redlands to I-215 North from I-10 in San Bernardino and take Highway 395 to Highway 58 west over the Tehachapi pass. You'll hit a few traffic lights in Hesperian area but it's a much easier drive than the other way. I just returned from a trip to the Palm Springs area last Thursday. I live off of Highway 101 in Santa Rosa (Northern California). Although, the fires were horrific and devastating for many, they won't affect your trip. Not to minimize the impact of the fires, but the hills are green with grass and your trip will be full of beauty! They've done a great job of clearing debris and there is only a small area that can be viewed closely from highway 101 in the north part of Santa Rosa. It will be a wonderful trip!

Bikendan, we have driven through the fire areas. The road between Calistoga and Santa Rosa (Mark West Springs) was devastated and part of Kenwood and Glen Ellen were affected (mostly adjoining neighborhoods). But all of the quaint towns, wineries (a few were impacted), shops, etc. were spared. In the Napa area it stayed mostly on the hills between Napa and Sonoma. In my opinion, there is no reason to avoid the area.

Lakejumper wrote:


Bikendan, we have driven through the fire areas. The road between Calistoga and Santa Rosa (Mark West Springs) was devastated and part of Kenwood and Glen Ellen were affected (mostly adjoining neighborhoods). But all of the quaint towns, wineries (a few were impacted), shops, etc. were spared. In the Napa area it stayed mostly on the hills between Napa and Sonoma. In my opinion, there is no reason to avoid the area.

That's not the reason why.
As former residents of Napa and me a longtime resident of Sonoma County, it's the pain of seeing our once home region devastated and so many of our friends losing everything.

Don't know if you are still planning on heading that way but we just left palm springs and stayed at a wonderful campground called Catalina Spa & Rv Resort. Was less than $25/night with Passport America. Great facilities. I would also recommend the tram as mentioned early, but there wasn't much snow up there when we were there. Wish we could have stayed longer!
Have Fun