Tucson, AZ. to Bend, OR.

[lunchbkt1]

Looking for any insight on traveling between Las Vegas, NV. and Bend, OR. Has anyone traveled Hwy 95 North from Las Vegas, thru Tonopah -Hawthorne into Reno area, then out of Reno to US 395 thru Susanville, CA over to I-5 and into Weed, CA., then Hwy 97 to Bend?

Any comments regarding the conditions of the foregoing Highways, any cautions, RV Parks near Reno, fuel locations along this routing or anything of interest etc.

Traveling in 42' Beaver Patriot Thunder, Toad is 2009 Buick Enclave.

[tbutler]

On our way south to Tuscon and on to Texas two years ago, we drove US 95 from Reno south to Las Vegas. I would highly recommend the drive. The road is excellent for the most part, two lane most of the way with a few sections of four lane. Traffic is generally light though you will have a fair number of trucks (no problem finding diesel) on the route. We passed several places that we really enjoyed in past travels. One is Death Valley National Park, a great place to see but not this time of year! The second was a two week stay at Longstreet Casino on Nevada Hwy 373 at the California Border. Diesel is available at the junction of 95 & 373. Longstreet Casino has an RV Park with 57 sites all have full hook-ups. As I recall their rates were fairly low when we were there in 2002. We used the casino as our base for exploring Death Valley. You will go through many small towns and drive miles of nothing but scenery, US 95 is an interesting drive.

We drove US 95 in the fall (late October 2009) and the weather was quite comfortable. In Reno we stayed at the Bordertown Casino and RV Park. They have very nice paved sites and are just north of town on Hwy 395. The first night out of Reno we stayed at an RV Park in Tonopah, NV. We spent one night boondoocking at a rest pull out near the turn off for Scotty's Castle in Death Valley. We were in Las Vegas by noon the next day.

Hwy 395 from Reno through Susanville is good road. Near Susanville is Mt. Lassen Volacanic National Park. The park features many features that you can also see in Yellowstone NP. There are steam pots and boiling lakes. If you want, you can hike to the top of Mt. Lassen, the last active volcano in the US before Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980. As to the connection to I-5, that will be slower as it goes through the Sierra Nevada on smaller winding roads. We have traveled Hwy 36 from Susanville to I-5 and it is good road, small and winding. You could also stay with Hwy 395 into Oregon, reaching Bend via. US 20. West of Hwy 395 in NW California is Lava Beds National Monument. There are many lava caves there that can be explored in addition to the surface volcanic features. We made a short stop here, driving through the park in our motor home and were able to see much of the park that way.

If you stay on Hwy 395 north to US 26, you can head west on US 26 and it will take you by John Day Fossil Beds National Monument with a wonderful visitors center and museum as well as interesting scenery on various hiking trails. US 26 west will take you through Redmond and on to Bend.

We've driven all these with our motor home. Take your time and enjoy the journey.

[Guest BillAdams]

We made a similar trip in the opposite direction. 95 from Vegas to Reno is a good drive and the one that makes the most sense.

From Reno, once you get into CA we took 395 all the way up to Susanville and detoured off the obvious route to take 395 up to Alturas and then back over on 299 to 139 and into Kalamath Falls as we wanted to visit Crater Lake. If you have not made this stop you really might want to consider this route to Bend. It is a one of a kind and absolutely beautiful stop. Good camping there as well. We were still pretty new to motorhoming at the time so I likely avoided a perfectly good road such as 139 out of Susanville might be, but I preferred the "fatter red road".

If Weed is a necessary destination it appears that from Susanville on 44 is a mountain road that turns into a good road heading up 89 to Weed. I have not been on these roads but would not feel uncomfortable on these roads based upon the road legends shown on the maps.

[desertdeals69]

Its a nice way to go. Done it several times,as recently as last summer, up and back.

[lunchbkt1]

Thanks to all for the comments, we really do appreciate your taking the time to share your experiences. We will follow the route as planned and now have some ideas of interesting things to see and do along the way. Happy trails and safe passage to you all.