Oregon to Las Vegas, the back way...

[mhanneson]

Hi Folks, we are home-based in the Eugene, Oregon area, and have been snow birding the last four years in Las Vegas. We always jump on I-5, make stops in Corning, CA, and Bakersfield, CA on the way down. Boring! Thinking seriously about going a different route, with stops in Burns OR, Winnemucca NV, Elco NV, and Ely NV. I would greatly appreciate any and all thoughts, warnings, advice, etc. about this perhaps silly idea! Thanks in advance! Oh, this would be in late September, for an arrival in Vegas on 1 October.

[rohrmann]

Once you get into Nevada, it will be pretty boring across miles of desert, but it's really much more relaxing not having to deal with all the traffic coming down in California. Just be sure to keep an eye on your fuel gauge.

[ranch560]

A very enjoyable (much less truck traffic) route is to take hwy 58 out of Eugene to hwy 97 and head south through Klamath Falls, making your way to Susanville, Ca. Then take hwy 395 to Lone Pine and head east through Panamint Springs and Death Valley, Pahrump, and to Las Vegas. This route is filled with many RV parks and lots of places to visit and explore. It's a long 3 day or wonderful 6 day trip.

[jetskier]

Street Vibrations (motorcycle event) in Reno and The Candy Dance in Genoa are on the same weekend in late September (28-29) if you're into those kind of things. The wife loves the Candy Dance for the crafts. I'm going on 35 years of not going to that event since I've lived here. I'm trying to keep my record flawless.

[mhanneson]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

Once you get into Nevada, it will be pretty boring across miles of desert, but it's really much more relaxing not having to deal with all the traffic coming down in California. Just be sure to keep an eye on your fuel gauge.

Thanks, rohrmann! Relaxing would be good! Fuel level isn’t normally a problem as I carry almost 100 gallons (stock 48 gal plus 50 gal Transferflow).

[mhanneson]

Originally Posted by ranch560

A very enjoyable (much less truck traffic) route is to take hwy 58 out of Eugene to hwy 97 and head south through Klamath Falls, making your way to Susanville, Ca. Then take hwy 395 to Lone Pine and head east through Panamint Springs and Death Valley, Pahrump, and to Las Vegas. This route is filled with many RV parks and lots of places to visit and explore. It's a long 3 day or wonderful 6 day trip.

Great idea, ranch560! I’ll look hard at that route! We’ve been to Pahrump from LV, and Susanville from home, but never in between!

[mhanneson]

Originally Posted by jetskier

Street Vibrations (motorcycle event) in Reno and The Candy Dance in Genoa are on the same weekend in late September (28-29) if you're into those kind of things. The wife loves the Candy Dance for the crafts. I'm going on 35 years of not going to that event since I've lived here. I'm trying to keep my record flawless.

We’ve never been to either of those events...yet! Hot August Nights, yes! That is always fun! And I did think about coming down through Reno, but I’m just not enamored with the reviews and descriptions of any of the RV parks there! Any insight on any of them?

[jetskier]

Originally Posted by mhanneson

We’ve never been to either of those events...yet! Hot August Nights, yes! That is always fun! And I did think about coming down through Reno, but I’m just not enamored with the reviews and descriptions of any of the RV parks there! Any insight on any of them?

I've never stayed at any of them for obvious reasons, but Silver City RV is both long term and an overnight park that I drive by all the time. It's out of Carson about 10 minutes south and right on Hwy 395. There are new owners in the past year so I don't know what changes they made other closing and removing the fuel station. They have a little convenience store and propane refill on-site. If you're only staying a couple nights, it's probably worth a try.

[adams7806]

We are from Reno, NV, and have made the trip to Eugene numerous times. Going all the way over to the eastern part of Nevada (Elko and Ely) would be way out of the way! We normally take I5 out of Eugene, down to McCloud, take 89 to Old Station, then 44 to 36. 36 takes you in to Susanville. From Susanville you take 395 down to Reno. Once you're in Reno, you will go east on I80 about 30 miles to Fernley. You then take Alt 50 to Fallon, catch 95 and take that all the way to Vegas. It sounds like a lot but it is a pretty easy drive. The stretch on 44 is beautiful. There is a good RV park in McCloud and a very nice one in Susanville. There are a couple in Reno, Fernley has a good one as you are leaving town. 95 has a nice park in Hawthorne and there is a park (just the basics) in Tonopah. If you want any specific info, just let me know and I'd be happy to help.

Winnemucca, Elko and Ely are neat places to visit, but about 300 miles east of Reno and quite a way past where you need to be!

[adams7806]

Being from Reno, the only RV park I would really suggest is Gold Ranch, just a little west of town in Verdi. It's a great park. If you're only staying overnight, the park at Grand Sierra is not bad. It's just a big cement park. Silver City is about 35 miles south of Reno in Carson City. It's a decent place.

[jking]

Ranch560 is correct 395 is a very enjoyable drive. A us93. Out of wells is a really good road also. Or you can cruise across oregon (bend, burns, Ontario) and then over to twin falls Idaho to see the perineal bridge and the Shoshone falls (although the falls have their highest and best flow in spring, now till mid may I think.) then downs us93 to jackpot, Wells, and south .to elk, etc. just a thought

[twindman]

You can also just continue down 395 to Lone Pine and then East thru Death Valley. We often go that way (northbound usually) and stay in June Lake not far from East entrance to Yosemite. A couple of small and nice rv parks there. Death Valley has a fhu park also, but I might have read that it was closed this summer?????

[troutking]

While the Las Vegas Valley contains the largest population in Nevada Northern Nevada is mostly rural and picturesque. Winnemucca, Elko and Ely are all very nice small to medium sized towns with great food, nice RV Parks and lots of scenery. Ely has a very nice KOA with large gravel sites and all of these towns have Basque restaurants with good home cooked Basque food. I think you will enjoy your swing through this part of Nevada.

[chuckh]

Ok, this may not work for you, but here we go.
Go north to get south.
Head up thru Portland and over to Spokane (the Columbia River Gorge is picturesque)
Cross into Idaho and stop for a few days around Coeur d'Alene (beautiful area).
Head south east down to Yellowstone National Park for a few days.
Head south thru Salt Lake City and on down I15. About 15 miles south of Beaver, Ut. turn east on highway 20 to go over to Bryce Canyon National Park.
Backtrack back over to I 15 and head south.
You may want to make another stop at Zion National Park.
Continue south on I 15 on into Las Vegas.

Its a long route, but I guarantee it will not be boring.

What ever you decide to do,,, be safe on the road, and enjoy the trip.

[Mike117]

Just made the trip from Reno to Eugene on my way back from Tucson this past week. Went through Susanville and Kalamath Falls. Had snow and rain but the drive was nice but a long 7 hours. Stayed in Eugene and then up I 5 to home. Roads were good.

[JerrylJ]

Sparks Marina RV park is the nicest in the Reno/Sparks area.