Roadtrip: Califronia to Idaho

[jola1925]

Hello all, I'll be traveling (April) from So. California to Coeur D' Alene, ID, and was wondering if anyone had any tips or recommendations on places to stop at.

Will be traveling with dogs so the more isolated the better -BLM land would be ideal, but don't want to stray to far from the main highway.

Thanks for any info.

[rickst29]

Going through CA is (of course) less isolated, more developed and more expensive. Going up through Nevada would be pretty wild on smaller roadways, but if you're willing to go fully dispersed - you may "camp" almost anywhere, just slightly off-road. (No water faucets that way, and #2 must be properly buried). There are far fewer developed campgrounds in NV, and those that exist in both ID and NV might not be open until dates after your trip.

Such a route could go from your location to Death Valley NP (regular campgrounds, only 5 hours away for LA) or past Death Valley for dispersed camping a little ways past Rhyolite and Beatty, on the road going north through the tiny town of Kingston and the larger town of Austin. There's probably no cellphone service along this segment. There are FS campgrounds near the end of this route , but they probably won't be open, and they are to far to reach from LA in only one day.

From Austin, you would have two choices going into ID - depending on whether you hate going through Boise and wasting an extra hour on the road. You get on I-80, either go West through Winnemucca, or East through Elko. The "east, then north" takes longer, goes but leaves Boise on a very scenic drive (up ID-55, a lot of it follows the North Fork of the Payette river). Only the "east, then north" actually goes through McCall - the two route choices join slightly north of town.

[jola1925]

Thank you, but due to some changes we will have to take the 5 North into Portland, then East through WA & into ID.

[rickst29]

Thank you, but due to some changes we will have to take the 5 North into Portland, then East through WA & into ID.
That's a fine choice too. You'll be lacking some scenery, but you'll have vastly better support from CHP and etc. if anything goes terribly wrong on while traveling I-5.

I'm usually taking I-80 to cross Nevada myself, when headed for other States.