Driving from Portland, OR to Phoenix, AZ.

I regularly drive between between Eugene and Phoenix(at least once a year and several times 2x or even 3x), and have done both routes. My take on both below: I-5 to i-10 is safe, ugly, boring and full of traffic. More often than not the stretch between the major turnoff to San Francisco to LA is bumper to bumper and stop and go if you are on a weekend, or coming off a holiday. Midweek is only slightly better. Between Cottage Grove and Stockton is usually pretty good but still a LOT of traffic by middle of nowhere standards. LA is a nightmare no matter when. You can go through Bakersfield and miss that if you don't need to go to LA. You get to see the central valley in all its glory and droughtiness. LA to Phoenix is just as ugly and boring and usually pretty busy. Interstate travel has frequent rest stops, services are not ever impossibly far away and it is predictable. This may matter to you. I don't like this route. The route I like the best (broken down in sections between towns) is Eugene take 58 over the cascades to Klamath Falls. (At this point you leave major State Highways on smaller, sometimes only county roads)Klamath Falls to Alturas. Alturas to Gerlach. Gerlach to Fernley. Fernley to Fallon. At this point you get on US95 which is a major federal highway but NOT an interstate, Fallon to Vegas through a LOT of old nevada gold rush towns that have seen better days. Vegas to Kingman (only stretch of interstate on the trip). Kingman to Phoenix down US93. This puts you into Wickenburg/northwest Phoenix on the 202 and you get anywhere in the metro from there. An alternative is from Fernly go to Reno than cross over the cascades/sierras at Mt Shasta (US89) or go up to Klamath (CA139). Any of these three routes are about the same time. I like middle of nowhere places and Gerlach/enterprise/pyramid Lake are about as remote as you get on a paved road in the US and I like that, ymmv. After 9 years driving this and problaly 15 trips, This route is much more scenic/interesting to me. I have never had ANY traffic problems on this route and never had any kind of slow down or issue. The only narrow winding road problem is the stretch between Alturas to Fernley. Part of this road is narrow, winding two lane that isn't great to do if the weather is bad or there is snow. It is VERY remote and there may be no services available between the two, I always gas up in Alturas or Fernley to be safe. Gerlach may or may NOT have anything open depending on the whims of the locals. The further you are away from burning man the more likely it is to be empty in Gerlach. It typically takes me two 8-9 hour days to make the trip depending on weather and how much we stop to pee and such. Lately we have been doing it by leaving at 4-5 from Eugene get to Alturas in 4-5 hours spend the night at the super 8 (the best western sucks). 9 hours to Vegas spend the night (it's vegas-hotels are great). 4-5 hours to Phoenix and we are fresh enough to do something fun that day with friends/family. Some additional Highlights:Beatty, NV has an AWESOME candy store. You can spend a night/day in Vegas if that is your thing. Susanville (susanville can sub for alturas in my above routes) is a great little Northern California mountain town with good hotels. Some Additional Caveats for the nevada route:Plan your gas stops wisely. It is possible to get out of gas on this trip, there may or may NOT be gas available at the next "town" on the map. Same with food. Potty stops are sometimes turning off the paved road and stopping to get out and pee after you are off a little ways. some of these roads you might see 1 car every 30 minutes. If rural life and highways are not your thing this may not be for you. If seeing someplace that not everyone gets too and maybe being adventurous is your thing visit rural Nevada, it is a whole different world.

Take 5 to 10. Through California 5 avoids all major traffic. Also, it's a very fast road, you can do 80 and people won't blink. Stop at Pea Soup Andersen. There are also plenty of wide spots in that road so that you can stop for hydration, peeing and stretching your legs. The difference in timing could be for fog on 5, or a jackknifed truck. If you're trying for speed you want to eliminate the scenic routes or untried routes. One accident on a two-lane highway can steal hours. One traffic jam around a major metro can cost you hours as well. I would suggest that you time going across the Mojave in the dark. It'll be cooler. Have fun! If you want a list of cool places in Arizona let me know!

Depending on when you hit LA getting through LA on the 5&10 (which meet in downtown LA) could indeed take a couple of hours.

Another good route is taking I-84 east to Twin Falls, Idaho and then south on U.S. 93 to Phoenix. You will have absolutely no traffic anywhere on this entire route except for maybe Las Vegas if you hit it at rush hour. The route is about the same mileage as the I-5 and I-10 route. I would prefer this route simply to avoid hour after hour of traffic on I-5.

Okay, one thing you MUST do is eat Mexican food at http://www.ponchosaz.com/ This isn't the shitty buffet place at Los Arcos mall, it's a little joint in the Barrio.

I drive the southern bit of your trip a couple times a year. Out of fear of traffic and habit I https://www.google.com/maps/dir/34.7714113,-118.8043258/34.5460829,-118.034883/34.0639555,-117.2842627/@34.5104379,-117.9152352,10z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0 If I'm traveling in the winter I try to get out of the California central valley by sundown to avoid fog.

My partner and I made this trip (on a vacation) a few years ago. I think we took @bartonlong's route thru Klamath Falls and US395 but we went thru San Bernardino and cut over to I-10 and hit Joshua Tree National Park. (We were on vacation). There is a lot to see and do along that route and due to the lack of traffic, it is actually pretty fast.

Interesting, I have a lot to consider right now. I'm somewhat surprised to see the 5 get such a turnout. I'm super worried about getting stuck in traffic on there. I like Snacks' idea of leaving at noon and taking that route, but unfortunately one of my companions is busy so we can't leave at that time. We settled for leaving at 4 AM (which really means not leaving until 5 AM...) but I am under the impression means we'll hit Sacramento traffic around 4 or so, which could be really bad. LA isn't what I'm worried about at that point. bartonlong: The route I like the best (broken down in sections between towns) is Eugene take 58 over the cascades to Klamath Falls. (At this point you leave major State Highways on smaller, sometimes only county roads)Klamath Falls to Alturas. Alturas to Gerlach. Gerlach to Fernley. Fernley to Fallon. At this point you get on US95 which is a major federal highway but NOT an interstate, Fallon to Vegas through a LOT of old nevada gold rush towns that have seen better days. Vegas to Kingman (only stretch of interstate on the trip). Kingman to Phoenix down US93. This puts you into Wickenburg/northwest Phoenix on the 202 and you get anywhere in the metro from there. An alternative is from Fernly go to Reno than cross over the cascades/sierras at Mt Shasta (US89) or go up to Klamath (CA139). Any of these three routes are about the same time. I like middle of nowhere places and Gerlach/enterprise/pyramid Lake are about as remote as you get on a paved road in the US and I like that, ymmv. This is roughly what Google Maps is telling me to do. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Portland,+OR/Phoenix,+AZ/@39.1150446,-127.2515216,5z/data=!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x54950b0b7da97427:0x1c36b9e6f6d18591!2m2!1d-122.6764816!2d45.5230622!1m5!1m1!1s0x872b12ed50a179cb:0x8c69c7f8354a1bac!2m2!1d-112.0740373!2d33.4483771!3e0!5i1 I'll keep yours in mind since it sounds interesting and is only a 1 mile difference. Awesome, thanks. JackFlash: Another good route is taking I-84 east to Twin Falls, Idaho and then south on U.S. 93 to Phoenix. You will have absolutely no traffic anywhere on this entire route except for maybe Las Vegas if you hit it at rush hour. The route is about the same mileage as the I-5 and I-10 route. I would prefer this route simply to avoid hour after hour of traffic on I-5. This is a great idea as well and I'd never have thought of this. I believe my parents took this route once on the way back from a trip up the west coast when I was younger. How is it with police? If I am going 10 over for most of the time are they going to ticket me? Thanks!

How is it with police? Police? What police? You might be a little careful around Ontario and Boise but otherwise you are unlikely to see police at all. 93 through Nevada is wide, flat and arrow straight with hardly another car for minutes at a time. It's like having your own private highway. You'll be tempted to set the cruise control and climb in the back seat for at nap. Tastes differ, but I think it is quite scenic. You are driving through John McPhee's classic basin and range desert with 10,000-foot mountains on either side.