Winter Drive to Bend, OR from San Francisco (Klamath: college, to live)

[odie123]

Hello,

Two 18 yr male teenagers and I are planning to drive to Bend, OR next week after x-mas. What do you think? Take I-5 to Corvallis and then cut across Santiam pass (11 hrs on Google Maps) or via US 97 (9 hrs). The concern is mountain passes in the winter.

Good news is we have a new 4WD, new tires, antifreeze, two sets of chains. And, both teenagers can drive and help putting on/off chains.

Also, what's a good place to spend the night on the way to Bend via US 97? Klamath Falls? Prefer to get past the mountain passes.

Thank you for all your help

Best rgds

[gizmo980]

I'd recommend staying on I-5, and then cutting across on 20 or 126/242... might be a few more miles than the Klamath route, but you'll probably hit less snow/ice that way. Then you could also spend the night in Eugene, which is a pretty fun college town (I used to live there).