Driving to CD'A from CA

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If you go all the way up I-5 to Portland, east of Portland is Multnomah Falls, which is a must-see. It's right on the highway, so not out of your way, but allow a few extra minutes to look.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

If you go all the way up I-5 to Portland, east of Portland is Multnomah Falls, which is a must-see. It's right on the highway, so not out of your way, but allow a few extra minutes to look.

I like your offering of I-5 to 84 to 395. I personally don’t like driving through the Portland metro, it rivals Seattle for congestion. But it does offer mostly all freeway as 395 from Tri to Ritzville is essentially all freeway except for a few farm crossings. Always good to wake up my driving attention!

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by wylderavens

Sorry about that, starting from Silicon Valley, (South Bay Area)

Yikes! That doesn't sound fun. Thanks for the warning.
Thank you! This is helpful.

Thank you all for the suggestions, sorry I got busy with family and work but we're starting from Silicon Valley (South Bay Area). We're considering I-5 to 97 basically going thru Or and Wa to CD'A. If we leave in the afternoon possibly going towards Reno and spending the night there, then up to SLC and going thru IF and Missoula. Are there better stops to sleep? We'll probably look up parks along the way to give the kids some time out of the car during lunch. But hopefully we can keep the stops to a minimum and only stopping long enough at times for potty breaks. Crossing my fingers!

If you go to Reno, you won't have to go to SLC. I think it would be shorter to go north to Wells and take US 93 to Twin Falls, then east on I-84 to Pocatello and on to I.F. and northward. 93 is a straight shot north, and it's a pretty good 2-lane.

This would avoid the traffic around SLC and N. Utah, and that alone will save a lot of time. Traffic around SLC can bog down as bad as it gets in California, and I've spent a lot of wasted time down there in jams going 15 mph for an hour or more.

Even if the milage was the same, I would still take 93 because of the travel speed.

Don't worry about that stretch on I-15 I mentioned unless the wind is blowing pretty hard. It takes a strong front to kick up the dust, and you'll know how strong the wind is when you reach I.F. or earlier.

The wind storms seldom persist for more than 30 minutes or so in the area, so if it's very windy, it's a good idea to stop in I.F. and ask at the closest service station what the conditions at the moment are.

[wylderavens]

Thank you guys! I'm printing this out and will plan this weekend - I appreciate all the input (esp the SLC - no family and don't want to add miles it was just me quickly looking on google maps).

Oregonwoodsmoke - thanks esp for the tip on stopping at Biggs Junction - that's exactly what I'm concerned about, skipping a stop and then not having anything after for a long time.

[banjomike]

Best wishes for a happy trip, Ravens!

I'm sure no matter what route you choose, there will be something your kids will be boggled by here. Idaho's pretty good at surprising folks who have never been here before in lots of ways.

If possible, I suggest allowing some extra time in your plans to have the time to take some of our scenic loops and by-way attractions.

The Interstates here were all built where the terrain best allowed them. This tends to obscure some of the best stuff we have here, but in many places, most of our really spectacular stuff isn't very far off from them. Most often, it's only just over the hill and out of sight from the freeway.

Shoshone Falls is a good example. The falls are higher than Niagara, and the Snake River canyon is literally gob-stopping awesome when they are first seen. And the falls are only about 10 minutes away from I-84, right on the edge of Twin Falls.

You won't have any sight of them at all, from either the Interstate or the approaches. Missing them would be missing one of life's truly great scenic experiences.

We don't brag very much about our natural wonders here, so most of them are really easy to miss unless you keep your eyes peeled for those scenic by-ways and loops.

I've never been disappointed so far in any of them that I've taken, and the State of Idaho's Tourism Dept. has free maps and guides that are broken down into 4 different regions of the state. I suggest looking that resource over, as it could really help make your cruise special. And memorable.

California is no slouch when it comes to memorable natural scenery, but honestly, I think Idaho takes the cake in our diversity and spectacle. If our scenery could be packaged and sold, we all would be millionaires here.

[pnwguy2]

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[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by dcisive

I used to travel for a living and the West was certainly a significant amount of my travel as it was my territory. I know about every backroad and main road and more. But My take on this is if I were coming out of California heading to Coeur D' Alene there is little doubt I'd head up I-5 but at Weed Ca. I'd switch over to Hwy 97 up through Klamath Falls and Bend Oregon catching up with I-84 along the Columbia River to go East. At Umatilla I'd catch I-82. At the Exit for Kennewick I'd hop onto Hwy 395 as it is rather fast on that Hwy from my experience. Taking 395 up to where it runs into I-90 in Ritzville. Then just hop onto I-90 and be done with it till you get to Coeur d' Alene. That to me is and would be the path of least resistance and not hard to look at either along the way.

This was always the way I loved to go to Spokane/Coeur d'Alene!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Been offline for a few weeks, but all the important points I was going to make have already been made! The SLC/Missoula route only makes sense if coming from SoCal and going through Vegas. From Silicon Valley I'd also recommend I-5 to 97 up to the Columbia Gorge and east to north through Kennewick. One of my favorite little museums is in Kennewick where the whole controversy surrounding the 9000 year old "Kennewick Man" fossil is featured, and that's worth a stop if you're into theories of early human migrations!

I think the OP may have left already, so that's just for the record.