I5 and/or US101

[VagabondRetiree]

Plan on driving south from BC to LA area in mid December. I know Grants Pass can be trouble but what about the 101? We drive a 32'Class C.

[2gypsies1]

VagabondRetirees wrote:
FYI... we made it to California today. Took I5 through Washington and most of Oregon then 199 to California. No problems other than too much rain. Thanks for all the advice.

Thanks for returning and letting us know how you did....wish more folks would do this. Enjoy your stay!

[mtdew999]

http://tripcheck.com/Pages/RCMap.asp?curRegion=0

[VagabondRetiree]

FYI... we made it to California today. Took I5 through Washington and most of Oregon then 199 to California. No problems other than too much rain. Thanks for all the advice.

[VagabondRetiree]

Thanks for all the advice. I think I will do a bit of each road; I5, US101, and the PCH and keep a close eye on the weather channel.

[donkeydew]

i-5 to 7 feathers,check road conditions if they are requiring you to carry chains or use chains take 199 at grants pass to 101 . you can switch back to i-5 on cal 20 if you desire and be out of snow zone

[amandasgramma]

Grants Pass is a town....you stay on I5 you'll pass it. The visibility may be hard because it's in a valley and inversions are a problem. Your best bet is to wait until you're ready to go....watch the weather conditions and www.tripcheck.com. FYI...we drove I5 from Roseburg down thru Cal.mid December last year. Dry pavement and no snow.You just never know, especially this early. And we had no problem with finding available rv parks.

[VagabondRetiree]

To clarify I had heard the Grants Pass area was a trouble spot in the winter. Also, I know there is US101 and Hwy1 but I also heard either of those are pretty tight especially when driving south, i.e. the nervous passenger seat.

[George_H]

X2 for I5, overnight at 7 Feathers and check road conditions in AM.

[MaverickBBD]

Either way you should keep an eye on the weather systems approaching the coast. Like some one wiser then me said "it's not like you can't see them coming". Time your travels between systems. The coast may add a day of travel time to you trip. At least it does mine. We almost always do an over night at 7 Feathers. They get great road condition reports. We got delayed there a night or two once. Was no big deal. I kind of liked gathering with other Snow Birders in the lounge every morning to get the latest road conditions for the day. Besides they had free coffee and donuts.

As mentioned earlier the coast can get windy. It can also get icy. I have never experienced a freeze on the coast but it can happen and if that fog freezes you are in for a night at least.

[rhagfo]

paulj wrote:
Grants Pass is a town, no worse than any other along the highway!

Are you thinking of Siskiyou Pass, on the OR/CA border?

What about US101? It doesn't climb up over anything, but does wind along the coast, and gets rain, wind, landslides, etc when a storm passes through.

Well 101 is not flat! it does have several short steep climbs over the headlands. most of the climbs have passing lanes.

You said driving, will you be towing?? Most of the State parks are open during the winter along 101, winter storm watching could be a plus!

[4X4Dodger]

Take either. Both can be closed for different reasons. Don't worry so much. Its unlikely that either will be closed when you actually get there.

[n7bsn]

In a nasty storm, park.
Yes 101 gets closed, at least once each winter for slides.
Five gets closed more often with snow.

Me I'd take Five and park in Ashland if it's bad and wait.

[amandasgramma]

As a lifetime Oregonian, I'd recommend I5 in the winter. 101 is notorious for slides.....this may be a dryer winter, but can't guarantee you won't get hung up because of slides.

[JT]

"What about US101? It doesn't climb up over anything, but does wind along the coast, and gets rain, wind, landslides, etc when a storm passes through."
----
I suspect that you're thinking of Hwy. 1, not 101; 101 turns inland a little south of Eureka, CA. From that point, the road is nowhere near the coast until it crosses the GG Bridge.