Moving from Portland to Reno January 14th

[sissiweil]

Dear Friends,

We are planning on moving from Portland to Reno next week, driving a 24' moving truck and pulling my car on a trolly behind.
I have been driving through mount shasta and I5 south a number of times and would like to avoid that route.
Is there a route that can be travelled with the least amount of mountain passes and ideally shortest distance?
I am so grateful for your advise!!!
Thanks!!!

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The big challenge is that you've got a major mountain range between points A and points B. If you think I-5 is bad - which is an interstate highway designed specifically to make the trip easy for long haul truckers - I really don't think you'd like trying to go over the mountains on a 2 lane highway.

Just looking at a terrain map, your best bet might be to take I-84 east out of Portland all the way out to US-97. Take that to Klamath Falls, then OR-39/CA-139 to Susanville, and US-395 to Reno.
I have not taken this route myself, so I'd investigate this further, but it looks like it could be your best bet.


You should note that this makes the trip about 630 miles, it is mostly 2 lane roads, and when you factor in the extra time and extra stress from driving a large truck/trailer, you really need to plan on spending the night somewhere along the way.

[sissiweil]

Thank you so much!
In your experience, would you say that it be a better choice to take I5 south and then 80 east to Reno? I remember 80 east to be quite windy and narrow?
It also seems that this would be the route with the most miles?
Sincerely,
Elisabeth

[glc]

If you are driving a truck and towing a car, I would stick to Interstates no matter what the distance. I have driven that whole stretch of US-97 from I-84 to Klamath Falls and I don't think you would like it very much.

I have not driven from there through Susanville, but I don't think that would be very advisable this time of year with your rig. There are frequently chain restrictions along that route, which tells me it can get pretty dicey.

It's 720 miles via I-5 and I-80 and I think that would be your safest bet. Take 2 days to make the trip, spend a night somewhere along I-5 in California. "Windy and narrow" is a relative term - at least on Interstates you have multiple lanes and no cross traffic. The grades and curves are also designed to handle tractor-trailers safely.