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Routes: Our favorite • The Ninety-Nine option • The Feather River Route • Red Bluff • Extreme Overland • 49er Backroads

Our Favorite route:

I-5 to Orland, exit HWY 32 East. HWY 32 to HWY88/HWY32 towards Chester (generally east) and your destination beyond.

Our favorite route takes us from Sacramento, up the most fertile part of the valley which bears its name and thence west through Chico and into the forests beyond.

Starting in Sacramento, drive up Interstate 5 to the town of Orland -- approximately one hour to one hour and a half. Along this leg of the route you will see much of the agriculture that still drives the North State economy.

At one time the principle business of this valley was rice, and you'll still see some farmers growing it out in their fields. Rice is a difficult crop to grow these days, now that they prohibit the open burning of fields that once regularly darkened the autumn skies of Sacramento and the greater valley.

You'll still see rice, corn, and other water-intensive crops grown below the causeway as you exit town.

To the north lie mostly farming communities, though some are growing up quick. Woodland was a fairly sleepy little burgh, but as Sacramento develops to its north and prices in the Bay Area reach terminal insanity Woodland's inexpensive real estate looks like it might be worth the price.

After about fourty-five minutes you'll realize why Northern Californians generally disfavor I-5: it's straight, flat, and generally uninteresting. General Eisenhower ("Ike") thought it would be a good idea if we could build a freeway system that would allow us all to quickly evacuate major metropolitan areas in case of emergency -- at the time, this meant nuclear attack.

These roads were built with the idea that large amounts of people would need to relocate in a panic and so do not take much into consideration beyond that point. Entire communities dried up when the old state routes that once served them so well became "alternate highways" and other such.

Rest assured: "the five" still has plenty of opportunities for breaks along its length. {copyright Bill Pollock, 2006} Just as I-505 joins its larger brother one will find the town of Dunnigan (Gas, Food, Lodging) and just beyond a nicely provisioned rest area.

a half hour past that is the town of Williams where Highway 20 splits off to Clear Lake and the towns of the Norther Costal range: Ukiah, Hopland, Cloverdale, Healdsburg. This is interesting to your journey very little unless you were headed from that direction -- mostly this will be interesting as a large number of fast-food restaurants and gast stations congregate there.

Immediately to the east ou will see the "Sutter Buttes",billed as the world's smallest mountain range. It's a pretty neat drive and if you were feeling very adventuresome you could take the NINETY-NINE route below after crossing the valley on HWY 20 just below the 'Buttes, but we're on "the five" for speed, man -- not because it's particularly interesting.

That being said, just north of Williams is the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, a pit stop for millions of migratory birdgs in the wintertime. It's fairly likely that at this point it's not worth a stop, but those of you from the valley migth want to mark it's location because it's an interesting thing to go see in the fall through the spring.

You won't see much past this until you get to thte town of ORLAND where will we will take a right of the freeway and go eastbound along HWY 32. En route along HWY 32 past Hamiloton City and the halfway mark of our journey from I-5 to Chico you'll see the famous weather carp. At one point the carp advertised for a local fishing pond but its sign and perhaps the pond are long since a memory.

It really does turn in the wind though, or at least used to...

You'll know when you're entering Chico when you see a sign on the left at La Cantanera that reads "IF YOU CAN'T STOP -- HONK!" We'll be heading you past Tacos Cortes, so there's no point stopping here. Honk instead. Really! They are so insistent about this fact that when the sign got knocked down one rainy winter night they salvaged only that sign from the now-removed pole. That guy really couldn't stop.

If you look on the right you'll see the "Penny Ranch" which is a funny name and a Texaco gas station with what looks like a plane crashed into it. Not Stonehenge type scenic, but this is Chico laddies!

If you're hungry, I really recommend Tacos Cortes if a mild amount of grime -- no worse than a typical state fair -- does not offend you. You're both on the road and in a college town now, so lets hope not. Get your grub on:

As you are going down HWY 32, it takes a bend to the left (northeast) where Walnut meets W 9th Street. Go straight through this intersection (you don't have to stop in this direction, past 919 Nord (where my good friends used to live), over the bridge and take the immediate first left which will put you very nearly into TC's parking lot.

If you're really hungry, I suggest the Chicken Chimichanga dinner. It's a ton of food, and still under five dollars.

Head up the hill, waving farewell to civilization as you do.

Beyond Chico you'll find the Chico Buttes where geology lies exposed like few places on this planet: layer upon layer of geologic expansion can be easily plotted. Find one of the many convenient pullouts and peek over the edge at millions of years of planetary history.

You're in the treeline now and you'll unerstand why the town on the next ridge over is called "Paradise" -- they lucked out and got the flatter wide spot on their side.

After a fair drive you'll come across the intersection with HWY36/HWY89 and need to know where your accomodations are.

If you are in Mill Creek, Mineral, or staying at Child's Meadow or the Drakesbad Guest Ranch, you'll turn left here. If you're headed to Chester, Quincy, Indian Falls, Greenville, Westood, Lake Almanor, Clear Creek or nearly anywhere else, take a right.

You'll need to make a similar decision at the next two major intersections.

The next is just outside of Chester: Quincy, Canyondam, Greenville and Indian Falls head south (right). All others continue along until you reach either Chester or the intersection of HWY 147.

The roads in this area are amazingly well signed so you should have no problem finding the town of your choice once you're up here. Just in case, it doesn't hurt to have them give you instructions from Chico or perhaps "just past Chico on HWY 32" to let them know you're with it at least that far.

The NINETY-NINE option:

Rather than taking boring old I-5 up you can take HWY99 along a more rural route. Unfortunately this means two roads and many stops along the way as the road goes through countless little towns, but if you want to experience the way one used to get through the valley, this is it. Probably not worth it for this trip unless you are punking out in Chico or taking the "FEATHER RIVER ROUTE".

HWY 99 deviates from I-5 a few miles past Sacramento. Once upon it you can either rejoin OUR FAVORITE ROUTE in Chico (at the HWY 32 exit(?) or else continue along THE FEATHER RIVER ROUTE.

THE FEATHER RIVER ROUTE Highway 70 will take you to the junction of the intersection of HWY just below Lake Almanor and between it and the town of Quincy. You can join HWY 70 a few miles after joining HWY 99 or else when the two finally split in the town of Marysville. Consider that town your last stop and feed & fuel there.

PAYNES CREEK BY WAY OF RED BLUFF: I'm sure I recall taking this, but its been a long time if we have: Cut out all this navigation and sightseeing nonsense and make a beeline for Red Bluff along I-5 and join HWY 36 which you can take past Mineral and Child's Meadows right into Chester if you like.

THE EXTREME OVERLAND ROUTE: I have taken this one way completely by accident once. It is very wrong and only for those with formidable 4x4s, a knowledge of how to use them in the backcountry and a certain sense of adventure and fortitude.

I am fortunate to know a few souls such as this, so if you don't mind your bleached bones being found years from now, I'll just sketch it out for you and you should have the maps to do the rest of the legwork: From 99 near Chico you can head east into Paradise and beyond as far as the pavement will take you into Stirling City, a town that appears very much as a setting to a Stephen King film.

From there you can take mostly gravel roads up through the semi-wilderness area (under the control of the forest service, campgrounds aplenty) and quite literally to the top of Lake Almanor itself. I only got as far as Butte Meadows when my map gave out (or, I should say, "only escaped to") but my much better map these days shows a good route all the way through, one potentially joined at Butte Meadows where one could talk to locals seeking advice.

THE "I'M GOING TO THROTTLE YOU ALONGSIDE HWY 89 AND LEAVE YOUR BONES TO BE PICKED CLEAN BY WILDLIFE" ROUTE: [experts only]

{Copyright Bill Pollock}

It is possible to journey along highway 49 until it joins HWY 89, though only a madman would try it. The drive in reverse is much prettier and one is calmly reasured that civilization awaits. I'd save this for a "way back" and only for those looking for a fair amount of extra adventure.

Follow 89 south around the Lake (or head south around the Lake until you reach 89, either way) and head south along a number of wonderfull little former logging towns until you reach Calpine whereupon a few miles later you will turn left (south) onto Highway 49 and into the gold country of California -- some areas still quite wooley.

HWY 49 will eventually lead you to the wonderful B&B town of Nevada City which might be worth a stay if you had the time. Beyond that is Grass Valley and the town of Auburn where you can pick up I-80 and civilization beyond.

One can continue down HWY49 to US50 and Placerville or alternately continue along HWY89 until it reaches Lake Tahoe -- a much more reasonable prospect for those wanting to see the state's greatest lake or for whom "Downieville" does not sound like a melody and Deliverance a jolly time to drive past with the doors locked and the windows up.

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