North from Sacramento to Grants Pass in the Wintertime

wdk450

Well-known member
Gang:
I am considering making a trip to Grants Pass Oregon and Henderson's Line Up for some upgrades in the next couple of months. I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH MOUNTAIN PASSES IN THE SNOW. Do you think that US 101 and CA/OR 199 stays low enough to stay out of the snow, instead of going I-5 and climbing the Sacramento River Canyon to Mt Shasta, then crossing the Sisikyou Pass into Oregon?
 

slmayor

Founding California Northern Chapter Leader
Bill, you'll probably run into snow in a couple places on 199. I might worry more about ice on several places on 199. We use 199 a lot and if it were me, I'd just go 5 and the passes as they're almost always clear unless it's a really bad storm. Just check weather reports for the snow levels and try to cover the ground between Redding and Ashland from around 11:00 am to about 3:00 pm and you should be fine.
There's generally not a ton of snow on 5 as the Siskiyou pass is only about 4500 ft elevation and Anderson grade is about the same. In a bad storm, snow is generally on the ground from Dunsmuir to the other side of Weed, then not much of anything after that until you hit the passes. As long as the snow levels stay high, you should be good to go.

Deb
 

ziggy

Retired Oregon HOC
I concur. If the weather looks like the pass will be beyond what you want to tow, find a site in Redding and wait a couple of days. That is all the pass is usually covered. Use the weather cams and watch for the clear wet pavement during the day. Get off the road if the temp gets down to 35 or so since ice can sometimes start to form on the pavement even at that temp. We are in Klamath Falls. We travel over Mt. Hebron on 97 which cuts over at Weed. Mt. Hebron is higher than the Siskiyous, but further south so the snow levels aren't the same usually. But, if you come up through KF, you still have to get over the Cascades to get to GP.

You might have better luck if you can hold off until Feb.
Kristy
 

Gaffer

Well-known member
Check the traffic cams. Most days the roads are clear. It was sunny on the cams yesterday afternoon from Salem south and the roads were clear. If you can pick your travel day from Redding north by a day or so one way or the other you should have no trouble on I-5.
 
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