California Hiway 58

[MOMIKE]

What is the road like on CA Hiway 58 between Barstow and Bakersfield. I haven't traveled that way before but want the short cut around the grape vine. I pull a 35 ft fifth wheel

[Doug_and_Cassi_]

If you see any I-10 signs you are lost. I-10 is 70 miles south of Barstow. I think he means I-15.

[aerbus32]

msmith1199 wrote:
58 is only closed for a few hundred yards at Sand Canyon Road. I went through it a couple of months ago. The freeway bridge is being rebuilt so what they do is take the traffic off the freeway on the off ramp and then you drive right back up the on ramp past the bridge. They have closed Sand Canyon Road so there is no cross traffic. There was no back up at all when I went through it. I didn't even remember it until I saw this post. The Caltrans website is a little weird the way they have this worded.

Absolutely correct. It is a simple detour. It is nothing to be concerned about. We were there less than 2 weeks ago.

[lanerd]

Haven't been there since May, but I believe the part of 58 that is closed is actually the Business 58 out of Mojave that connects to the main Hwy 58 as it does not go through Mojave any longer.

To the OP, Hwy 58 out of Barstow turns into a two lane highway just a couple of miles off of I-10. It does turn into 4-lane about 10 miles further and then back into a 2-lane about 10 miles from Kramer Junction (intersects with Hwy 395) and stays 2-lane until Boron. It then is 4-lane all the way into Bakersfield. There is a small grade before Tehachapi and then a long downgrade down into the valley with grades of 6% or less.

Should not be any kind of a problem for you with the exception of the construction at the Sand Canyon overpass.

Hope this helps
Ron

[robatthelake]

Great road and much easier on the nerves than dealing with the traffic on I5 and I 10 !

[msmith1199]

58 is only closed for a few hundred yards at Sand Canyon Road. I went through it a couple of months ago. The freeway bridge is being rebuilt so what they do is take the traffic off the freeway on the off ramp and then you drive right back up the on ramp past the bridge. They have closed Sand Canyon Road so there is no cross traffic. There was no back up at all when I went through it. I didn't even remember it until I saw this post. The Caltrans website is a little weird the way they have this worded.

[Habemus_Quattro]

If you are coming from Arizona to Northern California, this is the route to take. I like it much better than the 10 through the Inland Empire.

CalTrans says that the road is closed to westbound traffic between Mojave and Tehachapi for construction until the end of the year. I don't know what the detour is like, but it can't be too bad since this is a well travelled road.

Regarding the CHP comment above, remember that the towing speed limit in California is 55 mph everywhere.

[Stranger]

The wind only blows when those danged fans are on. If they turned them off, there wouldn't be a wind issue.

[deleted-2]

Lots of windmills along 58 around Tehachipi because the wind blows thru there with some force!

Last time thru Mojave to Kramers we got 27 mpg with the tailwind 🙂
Not so good from Barstow to Mojave 😞

[msmith1199]

There are grades, but it is not as steep as the Grapevine. I'm curious about your comment that it is a shortcut around the Grapevine. It's actually a long cut, depending on where you're going. I'll often take 58 out to 395 and then go south and work my way down to San Diego in order to completely bypass Los Angeles. It actually adds about 40 miles to the trip (long cut) but depending on how bad LA traffic was it could knock off time.

[SAR_Tracker]

just watch out for CHP around Mojave. I think it's a training area for the rookies..... they'll nail you for 4-5mph over.....

[TexasShadow]

we take it every year in February and have no problems. good highway.

[2oldman]

58 post

[Two_Hands]

We have driven it many times over the past several years with the coach, a fifth wheel and smaller rvs. Mostly four lane in pretty good condition, the few grades are no problem. Have a great trip.