best driving route from mt shasta koa, ca to visalia koa, ca ??

[djtraveler]

what is best driving route in CA from mt shasta koa to the visalia/sequoia national park koa? seems there are a few options (part way i-5/then 99) and am unsure of what is best. also, any parts to avoid? thanks for your help. after visalia, heading to kingman, az.---thanks so much for your suggestions for this route of our trip. leaving mid august (startingin vanc wa-ending in suprise, az). -djtraveler

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

As you read around other people's posts and our responses, you'll see over and over again that in our opinion there is simply no single 'best' route for everyone and every trip. As your favorite mapping routine is probably showing you, there are multiple routes, all within about 10-15% of each other in terms of miles and driving time. Mine shows three possible routes. The one I would choose is, as it happens, the shortest and fastest. That's not always the case, but in this instance and since CA-99 is near-Interstate quality, that's the basic route I'd follow. So... I-5 to Sacramento, CA-99 to Visalia and the Sequoia NP KOA. Note that there might be some construction activity on CA-99 in the Sacramento area, but nothing that would stop me from taking that road.

Your choice might be different if you'd like to see any sights along the way, but with having to strike camp in the morning and set up camp in the afternoon/evening, you should probably just take the shortest route.

AZBuck

[djtraveler]

AZ Buck-thank you so very much for your helpful response. this is exactly the kind of information i was looking for. I am unfamiliar w/ CA-99 so now knowing that that road is good quality-i feel more confident in taking your advice. actually the map/directions selector picked this way also so your recommendation 2nd'ing that route helps a great deal. i will be following my husband (he in our ford truck) and me in my rav 4 behind him. moving to surprise, az area and trying to find a way to get both vehicles down there w/ out spending too much $$-koa'ing it all the way seemed a good way. thannks again for your thoughts. appreciate it ! as we travel on ohter trips (once settled) i am sure i'll use this forum often. :-) djtraveler

[AZBuck]

This is another route where knowledge of the road types should alleviate some stress. At 415 miles and with a two vehicle caravan that includes a truck, straight to the point seems the way to go. That would be CA-99 to Bakersfield and CA-58 to Barstow, then I-40 to Kingman. Again, CA-99 and CA-58 are both near-Interstate quality by which I mean that they are four-lane divided highways with exits/entrances rather than at-grade intersections. That should help keep your little caravan together.

AZBuck

[glc]

I would make a minor adjustment - stay on I-5 through Sacramento to Stockton, use the CA-4 freeway over to CA-99. This could save you 15 minutes.

[DonnaR57]

My husband and I just moved halfway across the country, caravanning in two vehicles. We found that a pair of family radios were invaluable for communication between the two vehicles. Phones were rather cumbersome, especially if you're in a vehicle that doesn't have Bluetooth phone capability. Family radios run on batteries and were quick for those "Hey I need the rest area!' type calls.

Donna

[Utahtea]

.... $$-koa'ing it all the way seemed a good way. thannks again for your thoughts. appreciate it ! as we travel on ohter trips (once settled) i am sure i'll use this forum often. :-) djtraveler

If you're camping at the Shasta KOA I'll warn you it's a dusty dirty campground for campers. Roads are dirt and dust flies when people drive over them and they don't go very slow but if you are staying in one of their cabins they looked really, really nice!

Utahtea

[djtraveler]

donna-thanks for the tip. we were of like minds as we got walki talkies on amazon and will use those for just such purposes i'm sure. appreciate the tip. -fellow donna

[djtraveler]

glc-thanks much for your suggestion. will talk to my husband about these options and adjustments and we'll come up with a plan. I want printed copies of directions in BOTH vehicles and want to have gone over them well and feel confident that we have tried to find the best route. these suggestions will help. thanks much. djtraveler

[djtraveler]

AZBuck,
thanks for the additional tips and suggestions-much needed for this portion of the trip. will talk to hubby about this (and we'll look at our recently purchases rand mcnally road atlas) to check out the roads and firm up our driving route. and walkie talkies will be used to help us communicate too. that was a suggestion from someone here too. :-).