# Topics > Fall & Winter RoadTrips >  Traveling from Portland to Phoenix 12/22 - 12/24, route advice

## westcoasttravel

Hello,

My SO and I will be driving from Portland to Phoenix in 8 days. I haven't booked overnight accommodation yet because I wanted to be flexible in case of weather. My biggest concern is running into poor weather conditions.

One possible route is I-5 down to LA and then I-10. The biggest concern here in the mountain pass over the California / Oregon border. We would likely stay in Ashland, OR on 12/22 and then drive down to LA on 12/23 which means we would be going over Siskiyou Summit in the early morning. I'm looking at forecasts for Ashland and it seems like it'll be well above freezing around that time. I can't seem to find anything for Siskiyou Summit this far out in advance.

The other option is through southeastern Oregon / central Nevada into Las Vegas. As far as I know, there aren't any mountain passes on this route though it is mostly high elevation and very remote two lane roads which I don't like. We would probably stay in Burns, OR on 12/22 and then drive to Vegas on 12/23.

Which option do you think is better?

Thanks in advance!

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## Mark Sedenquist

Welcome to the Trip Advice Forums.

For Winter travel, it is almost always best to stick to Interstate highways, they get the most service from the highway departments.

I use Weather Underground primarily and if you look at the 10-day forecasts for Ashland, OR and Hornbrook, CA you can get a pretty good idea of weather conditions on the 22nd and 23rd.    Basically showers in Ashland with temps in lower 40's (low) and lower 30's in Hornbrook.  So, you might see some snow flurries on the pass. 

This site tracks the conditions over Siskiyou Pass -- and is pretty accurate   You can get an idea of the conditions by looking at the web cams.

My recommendation is to use I-5 to I-10 although you can divert from the most congested parts of LA by going east on CA-14 to Palmdale and Victorville and dropping back south to I-10 on CA-62.

I live in Las Vegas, so have driven all  (most of them) of the roads between Oregon and Arizona.  This is a basin and range topography and while most of the road will be dry, there will be icy portions and you will not be able to drive as fast as you do on the Interstate highways.  You would need to factor in another  half a day of driving to use the Nevada route to Phoenix. 

From a scenic point of view -- personally I love the route through Nevada.

Mark

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## Southwest Dave

The problem I see is that you are giving yourself too much to do on day 2, both options being over 650 miles.  For any time of year that's a lot and starting to push boundaries of safety, during winter, unless the conditions are anything but perfect, it really is too much !  I would wait and see what the conditions are like a day or 2 before leaving and then decide on what route to take. I too would prefer going through Nevada from a driving experience, but unless there is a reason you can't leave early, aim to get to Winnemucca NV if you want to make it to Vegas, or from Burns look at the old historic mining town of Tonopah or Beatty for night two.

Same using the other route, get as far south as Redding CA to stop over in the Palmdale area as mentioned by Mark, or from Ashland stop around Bakersfield.

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## glc

I would swap over to CA-99 from I-5 at Stockton on CA-4, take CA-99 to Bakersfield.  Then take CA-58 to Kramer Junction, then US-395 to I-15 to I-215 to CA-210 to I-10.  This keeps you out of the majority of LA traffic.

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## Mark Sedenquist

> I would swap over to CA-99 from I-5 at Stockton on CA-4, take CA-99 to Bakersfield.  Then take CA-58 to Kramer Junction, then US-395 to I-15 to I-215 to CA-210 to I-10.


I like this route too--in dry weather.  Just make sure that weather is dry -- that stretch gets real icy in the winter months.

Mark

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## westcoasttravel

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! Figured I would give an update.

On the way to Phoenix, I took I-5 down towards LA, and then bypassed LA through the Antelope Valley and then picked up I-10. The whole journey went really smoothly with very little bad weather. All we had was a little bit of rain in southern Oregon. Thankfully we narrowly missed the awful ice storm in the PNW by a few hours. 

We took the same route on the way back. Aside from the heavy rain and high winds in the Central Valley on Saturday, the route was equally smooth.

I can see how the Siskiyou Summit could get hairy in the winter. It was quite snowy in the side of the road up there even though the roads were clear. We got some dense fog in that section both southbound and northbound. We made sure to check the forecast regularly a few days before.

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## Southwest Dave

Thanks for dropping by with an update.   Pleased you had a good journey in both directions.

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