Highway 80 in January

As a resident of Reno I have traveled I80 all times of the year, including crossing Donner Pass in winter towing. Unless you are fixed on a date/time crunch I would suggest watching the weather reports and travel accordingly. If you get to Reno and the roads are bad just stay over until they clear up, and there are plenty of RV parks to stay at while the roads clear up. You will hit a couple of passes getting here but nothing long until you get into California. Unless you are traveling in an extended stormy period the pass is usually not difficult and the roads are often dry. Just in case, I always carry tire chains for both my pickup and trailer as I really don't want to get caught without them.

ivbinconned wrote:
Ok won't do it. We have friends close to Chico. We live in Saskatchewan and would like to see them but don't want to g to the coast from here and then down in January

Saskatchewan to the coast is easy. any time of the year. Just stay off the high mountain passes.

But it is all up to Mother Nature. do weather, do weather.

Ok won't do it. We have friends close to Chico. We live in Saskatchewan and would like to see them but don't want to g to the coast from here and then down in January

Mountan west. Oct 1 to April 30. Carry chains, including chains for at least one trailer axle. Be prepared to hunker down for anywhere from 6 hours to 6 days. If your unsure, just look up the Donner party disaster, and make your plans accordingly. Unless your going to make it in one day plan on freezing temps until you get close to Sacremento.

if you drive that stretch with snow be sure to have drag chains on also.

Any road in winter can be either a headache or easy peasy depending on Mother Nature and her mood at the time. One thing to think about is they are going to keep interstates as free of ice and snow as they can for the truckers and commerce. So if you have a time constraint and don't want to go as far south as I10, I'd certainly plan on taking 40 and just listen to the weather reports and have a plan (Oh and have chains. Our tire store lets us return them if we don't use them)

Donner Pass/Truckee averages around 4 feet of snow every January. Some years it is almost negligible, some years well over 10 feet. What I remember from driving that pass a couple of times is that Chains are Mandatory during weather and when the roads are snowpacked. Personally, towing anything I would take a southern route but any travel in the Mountain West on a schedule in January is rolling the dice.

It is a 4 lane divided highway, good in summer as long as Caltrans maintains it but I would not suggest towing in January. Steep grades and a horrendous amount of snow.