mev

I am planning an upcoming ride from Portland, OR to Denver, CO and have a question about choice between two different routes in northern CA: (a) Eureka to Susanville via CA 299 and then CA 44, this goes via Redding or (b) Eureka to Susanville via CA 36, this goes via Red Bluff

They are similar distances and in both I expect some climbing coming from coast and into the central valley. However, don't know if there is particular reason to favor one route over the other.

For other parts of my ride between PDX and DEN I am mostly familiar with routes. There are a wide variety of possibilities but for various reasons the general idea is (a) cycle the Oregon coast and then to Crescent City/Eureka (b) cut across to Reno (see question above) (c) take US 50 across Nevada (d) cut across southern Utah and then up via Moab into Grand Junction CO (e) pick my CO options based on how much time I have remaining.

In any case, the main question concerns cutting across from the coast of Northern California and over to US 50 in Nevada. Will see what folks know here or otherwise ask the locals.

arctos

Although neither 36 or 299/44 would be my first choices, both bracket Lassen NP enroute to Susanville which you target by either route. If you have not ridden through Lassen NP I would recommend that you not miss it. I suggest the Lassen ride from N to S with the runout to Lake Almanor and Chester with the noted Bodfish Bike Shop for resupply.

stevepusser

+1 for Lassen! Manzanita Lake CG has showers, but in August, Summit Lake at 6600 feet was 74 F and fine for swimming. It also puts you closer to the summit if you want to lock your bike and hike to the 10,500 ft summit of Lassen. On the way down from the top, folks headed up mentioned they could see my neon green .jersey at the summit from the parking lot. From that lot, it's then downhill for 15 miles, then generally flat with some minor climbs to Chester, and there's usually a nice tailwind (nice if your legs are a bit tired from the hike)

B. Carfree

Although it has been a few years, I have ridden both 36 and 299 between the coast and the valley. I'm tempted to go all-caps here, but I won't. Don't ride 299. Sure, it's got better scenery than 36 and it has better shoulders, but it also has many, many more trucks and the traffic is horrific. The last time I was on it with my wife, she nearly got pinned to a wall by a bouncing flatbed semi. You'll have a better ride on 36.

Latif

I haven't biked either route but have lived in the Eureka area for 40 years and used to live out on Hi 36 before that. I'd much prefer 36 as B. carfree suggests, and do find it to be quite beautiful. When you cross the south fork of the Trinity river at Forest Glen there's great FS campgrounds and the river will do quite well in lieu of no showers. There's no resupply in Forest Glen so Dinsmore 20m back is the nearest store. I can't remember if there's much of anything beyond FG till you get to Red Bluff so you'll need lot's of water.

mev

Thanks for comments above. I think I'll try 36. Lassen also sounds like a don't miss and will see how things unfold as I'm in the area.

blauger

36 is the way to go. 299 is too dangerous. Although 36 has major ups and downs, once you reach Platina it's a nice, long gradual slope down to Red Bluff. Latif is correct in that your last supply stop is the store in Dinsmore. You can get water at the campground at Forest Glen but there really isn't anything again until the little and sparsely stocked store 5 mi west of Platina.

mev

Just a follow up here. It turns out I left the Pacific Coast a little earlier and hence didn't end up on either of the routes above.

Instead, after crossing the OR/CA border I went across the coast range on US199 also known as the Redwood Highway. This brought me via Cave Junction into Grants Pass. After that followed OR 99 and into Ashland where I'll continue eastwards via Klamath Falls and then south east. US199 was a reasonable route for cycling. The road width varies with perhaps 20 miles of narrow canyon cycling and some of the remainder four lanes with reasonable shoulders. When I came through, there were only a few log trucks and overall all traffic including truck traffic was reasonable. At top of the summit one crosses under the Richard Collier Tunnel which also has flashing bike sign that is activated by push button. OR99 isn't the most exciting road to cycle but did the job in brushing past Grants Pass and going through Medford and Ashland.

Among my reasons for crossing a little earlier than Eureka was that I got on the road a day later than anticipated and also this past week prevailing weather seemed to have SW winds and showers including >1 inch of rain on Monday when I rode from Gold Beach to Brookings. I knew from reports above that CA299 wasn't ideal and figured US199 would give me a motel option in inclement weather. In any case, appreciate the road reviews above even if I ended up going a different way.