Planning a trip that will take us from Southern California to Sacramento, and looking at US 395 as the way to go. I remember driving it many years ago when I had a primitive motorhome but don't recall many details. Is it a pretty drive? Is the road okay? Any recommendations as to RV Parks along the way? Thanks.

Craig....395 is a little out of the way to go, but is okay with a motor home. It's a lot of desert, but is pretty as you get farther north. Campgrounds in that area are often closed until spring or early summer, so check before you go. There are some grades and curves near June Lake.Do you not want to take I-5 or 99, the most direct routes?

Craig95005 wrote:Planning a trip that will take us from Southern California to Sacramento, and looking at US 395 as the way to go. I remember driving it many years ago when I had a primitive motorhome but don't recall many details. Is it a pretty drive? Is the road okay? Any recommendations as to RV Parks along the way? Thanks.Craig, We've done it several times. There's some things to think about here. One, and in my opinion, the most important one. L.A. traffic is now and has been bad at just about all times of the day. And that includes the middle of the night. Some who live in that area may differ but, I can only speak from the times we've been through L.A. at various times and have stopped, completely dead stopped, in the middle of the freeway, for what appears to be no reason at all, several times. Two, I don't know about I-5 now but, for years both it and 99 have been in seriously bad shape. I'm talking some major sized pot holes and bad concrete. Again, it's been a while but, I've not heard too much about "how nice the I-5 or 99" drive is now". I can speak directly from experience in the 395. First off, basically from the Temecula on I-15 area, all the way through the San Bernadino area, and up to the split of 15 and 395, there's very little to see but freeways, residential and, commercial buildings. Once your in the split area, around Adelanto, it get's even more boring. From that point, all the way to about, Independence, plus or minus a few miles, it's nothing but desert. Now, this is what we do but, not many would take this approach. I'm not EVER going to go through L.A. again, as long as I live, if I have any choice in the matter. And, you have to, to get to even 99. So, what we do is, since we live in Ramona, we pack up, get the coach and toad ready and park it in our street at home. At straight up midnight, we fire it up and head down to 15. Once on 15, there's absolutely no traffic, coming or going and, I'm not jockeying for position with a zillion trucks, School busses, rice burners trying to zip in and out of lanes and all that. It's seriously peaceful. We climb the Cajon Pass in complete calmness. Once at the top, where the split is, we're almost completely alone, all the way up the baron 395 all the way to Independence, Big Pine, lone Pine and Bishop, where we've broken into daylight. Doing it that way is so phenomenally peaceful, it's incredible. There's no competition for lanes, no one's pushing us and we're not pushing anyone. We've done it that way for the last two Eastern Sierra trips and, as far as I'm concerned, I'll not do it any other way. Now, as for the road, it's flawless. Your motorhome will love it. It's been good pavement for about 95% of it. And the bad parts, are still light years better than I-5. Now, again, not many guys would do this. Some, have bad eyesight at night, some loose judgment, some get sleepy and more. And that's fine. I wouldn't want anyone out there, at that time of night, that's not enjoying his/her trip. And, like stated, in my opinion, between Temecula CA and, Lone Pine/Big Pine/Bishop/Independence etc. there's absolutely nothing you're going to miss. From those towns on, that's a whole different story. And, when coming home, we depart Bishop at the same exact time, MIDNIGHT! We fight no traffic, all the way home until we get to around Escondido at about 6:00-6:30 A.M. Even then, it's not bad 'cause we cut off of 15 at Camino Del Norte. Good luck on what ever route you choose. Have a safe trip.Scott

We're based in Northern California and will probably take 101 down south, which is much more interesting than I-5. One of the things we want to visit in Southern California is the two presidential libraries there - Nixon and Reagan - and you have to brave the traffic if you're going to see them. In fact, presidential libraries are a good theme for a motorhome trip. We toured the LBJ and FDR libraries on previous trips and I suspect they are all fascinating; the ones we saw certainly were. The next time we go on a circuit around the US we'll catch as many as possible, along with other historical museums. One that I highly recommend is the George H.W. Bush WWII museum in Fredericksburg, Texas. Outstanding.As bad as the traffic can be in LA, I've had reasonably good luck at times as long as I got there before 3 PM.Thanks for the information on 395.

Craig95005 wrote:Planning a trip that will take us from Southern California to Sacramento, and looking at US 395 as the way to go. I remember driving it many years ago when I had a primitive motorhome but don't recall many details. Is it a pretty drive? Is the road okay? Any recommendations as to RV Parks along the way? Thanks.All road lead to fun in a RV.

Craig.....I can see the Reagan library from my backyard. If you plan to visit, there are really NO campgrounds near by, but there is a Walmart that allows parking in Simi Valley. It's about 3 miles from the library. There is a small County Park, called Oak Park, that has RV sites nearby. It's safe, but kind of a dive.PM me if you need more info about the ins and outs of the Reagan library.

US Highway 395 - good to travel in a motorhome?

30 Replies

TechWriter
Explorer
Jul 11, 2016
Jabrad's Papa wrote:
If you do go 395, don't forget to check out Bodie. It's a ghost town just a few miles east of the 395. Very interesting and worth the time.

x2 -- Bodie pics
Jabrad_s_Papa
Explorer
Jul 11, 2016
If you do go 395, don't forget to check out Bodie. It's a ghost town just a few miles east of the 395. Very interesting and worth the time.
Crespro
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
We have driven 395 in our RV and the road is good. One caution -- check the winds. One night the winds on the peak at Lone Pine were 100 mph and even in the valley they were gusting to 50 to 60 mph.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Jul 10, 2016
I'd take 395 over I-5 any day. It's a gorgeous highway with many campgrounds along the way.

I wouldn't recommend Lone Pine and boondocking this time of year - too hot. We've been there multiple times but in much cooler weather.
msmith1199
Explorer II
Jul 10, 2016
smkettner wrote:
395 is a good road. Just don't try to shortcut to Sacramento over Ebbett's Pass (CA4) or Sonora Pass (CA108) as these a very steep and narrow. Go all the way to CA50 or I80.

Only place I know to stay is in Mammoth. http://www.mammothrv.com/

There are RV parks along the route, lots of them. To the OP, if you like Boondocking, go into Lone Pine and take a left on Whitney Portal Road. About five miles down puts you in the Alabama Hills. You'll recognize the place when you get there because half of all the old Western movies were filmed there as well as scene from many modern movies. Lots of commercials too. It's all BLM land with some good dirt roads to let you get a little way off the main road and just boondock. You'll be at the base of Mt Whitney in a very scenic area.
time2roll
Nomad
Jul 10, 2016
HoudaFamily wrote:
We are planning a trip up to South Lake Tahoe and I'm hauling a pop up trailer and my brother a 17ft trailer. I am wondering if it would be easier to go up the 395 or the 5?
Fast is 5 to 50. Nice is 15, 395, 50.
JMHO
time2roll
Nomad
Jul 10, 2016
395 is a good road. Just don't try to shortcut to Sacramento over Ebbett's Pass (CA4) or Sonora Pass (CA108) as these a very steep and narrow. Go all the way to CA50 or I80.

Only place I know to stay is in Mammoth. http://www.mammothrv.com/
msmith1199
Explorer II
Jul 10, 2016
jaxd153 wrote:
Hwy 395 is way out the way. While LA has its traffic problems if you travel between 10:00am and 2:00pm you will encounter the lightest traffic. Another point is to use the 210 Freeway which has the lightest traffic load. It will take you to the I-5 N of LA. When you transition from the 210 to the 5 stay in the truck lanes and that will get you an easy transition to 5. If you take the car route you will have to deal with 3 lanes of merging traffic. Note: the 210 takes a quick right exit. When you see the trains in the center of the 210 get in the right lane and look for San Francisco signs

I think you're missing the concept here. The six lane super slab may be the fastest, but it's not always the nicest route to take in the RV.
J-Rooster
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
Craig, I've never had any difficulties traveling on Hwy. #395 with my 36' RV towing a car.
HoudaFamily
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
We are planning a trip up to South Lake Tahoe and I'm hauling a pop up trailer and my brother a 17ft trailer. I am wondering if it would be easier to go up the 395 or the 5?