11 Great Road Trips to Take in Northern California

In Northern California, the mountain ranges run in long walls parallel to the coast, and the rivers are about the only things that cut through them. So the best drives are easy to find: follow the water. The Pit River even shoulders clear across the Cascade Range, and the road goes right along with it. What follows are eleven road trips, each tied to the river or creek that carves it, lined up north to south, first the ones racing for the Pacific, then the ones headed inland for the Sacramento Valley.

Smith River Via US 199: Hiouchi To Collier Tunnel

Dam count on the Smith River: zero. The Forest Service calls it the only major undammed river left in California, and US 199 gets to tag along upstream from Hiouchi through Del Norte County. The 28 miles to the Randolph Collier Tunnel take roughly 40 minutes if you resist the urge to stop, which you will not.

Much of the route threads the Smith River National Recreation Area, which Congress set up in 1990, and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) files this stretch of 199 under Forest Service Scenic Byway. The visitor center sits right on US 199 in Gasquet, so it is an easy first pit stop.

East of town, the road latches onto the Middle Fork. Panther Flat Campground, 2.5 miles past the visitor center, perches on a bench about 50 feet above the water and stays open all year. Five miles on, Patrick Creek Campground still has the rock walls and steps the Civilian Conservation Corps laid down in the 1930s, with Patrick Creek slipping into the Middle Fork right alongside.

A heads-up before you commit: Caltrans work to widen the corridor for trucks means flagging and signals on and off through 2029, and midday closures of up to 4 hours are penciled in starting January 2027. Pack patience for the wet months, too. The Forest Service pegs the rainy season at October through April, with average annual precipitation of a frankly soggy 92.55 inches.

Trinity River Via State Route 3: Weaverville To Callahan

Scott Mountain Summit sits just over 53 miles of State Route 3 away from Weaverville, and the whole run is built for dawdling. The road carries the Forest Service's Trinity Heritage Scenic Byway north out of the old mining town, through Trinity County, and up into Siskiyou County. Callahan arrives at the 62.6-mile mark, about an hour and 26 minutes of actual driving.

The first long stretch hugs Trinity Lake, the reservoir backed up behind Trinity Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation notes the dam was the highest embankment dam in the world when it was finished in 1961, a title it held until Oroville Dam on the Feather River came along and took it. Trinity Center sits near the lake's north end.

Above the water, the highway falls in step with the Trinity River itself. Trinity River Campground, 2 miles north of Coffee Creek, sits right on the bank. Coffee Creek is also a doorway into the Trinity Alps Wilderness, named for a subrange of the Klamath Mountains. At more than 500,000 acres, it is the second largest Forest Service wilderness in California, and winter snow has a habit of sealing off a lot of its trailheads.

Near the top, at Scott Mountain Summit around 5,400 feet, the Pacific Crest Trail strolls across the highway beside a tiny five-site campground. From there it is all downhill into Callahan.

Trinity And Klamath Rivers Via State Route 96: Willow Creek To Happy Camp

Here is a two-rivers-for-one deal. The only all-weather road into the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation also moonlights as the Bigfoot Scenic Byway, and State Route 96 needs about 1 hour and 50 minutes to cover its 81.7 miles. It chases one river downstream and then turns and chases another one up.

The first leg trails the Trinity downstream through Hoopa Valley in Humboldt County, well below the stretch the last drive followed. At Weitchpec the Trinity empties into the Klamath River, and the road wheels around to head upstream.

In Orleans, the Orleans Bar access sits just below the bridge over the Klamath, with a gravel road dropping to the water for drift boats. Farther up at Somes Bar, the Mouth of the Salmon River Access waits a half-mile down Ishi Pishi Road, where anglers work the water for salmon and steelhead and rafters shove off toward Orleans.

A few practicalities: Caltrans warns that slides have closed the road before between Willow Creek and Hoopa. In summer the Forest Service sets temporary limits on river use along sections of the Klamath below Happy Camp for Karuk tribal ceremonies, so plan around them. The Happy Camp District Office and Visitor Center in Siskiyou County keeps weekday hours, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Van Duzen River Via State Route 36: Alton To Mad River

If you like a road that keeps you honest, State Route 36 is signed at 25 mph or less through its tightest curves. Caltrans even caps it to shorter trucks because of all the wriggling, and its own corridor report admits motorcycle riders have turned the route into a bit of a pilgrimage. Alton to the community of Mad River is 48.1 miles, about 1 hour and 15 minutes of steering.

Through Humboldt County the road keeps the Van Duzen River close for most of its miles. The Van Duzen feeds the Eel, and the Forest Service rates it a major branch of that river. State Parks lists swimming and kayaking on it, plus steelhead and salmon fishing in late fall and early winter.

Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park turns up 17 miles in, its day-use area open from 8 a.m. to sunset, and its campground running summers only, with some of its 28 sites parked right on the river. About 4 miles west of the visitor center, movie buffs can nerd out at Cheatham Grove, which stood in as the backdrop for a chase scene in Return of the Jedi.

Caltrans warns that Humboldt County winters leave this road open to slides and storm damage, so check conditions. Past Dinsmore, State Route 36 crosses into Trinity County. Off Mad River Road, Ruth Lake spreads across 7 miles of the dammed Mad River at an elevation of 2,654 feet.

Eel River Via State Route 162: Longvale To Covelo

Outlet Creek and the Eel River keep State Route 162 company on the leg between Longvale and Dos Rios, and Caltrans describes the river views along there as common and wide open. The full 28.9 miles out of US 101 to Covelo, all of it in Mendocino County, take about 50 minutes.

About 8 miles in, the highway hops the Eel on a bridge built in 1938, right where Outlet Creek joins the party. Caltrans is swapping that bridge out through fall 2027, so one-way traffic control runs at the crossing until the work wraps. This is also where the Eel carries both national and state wild and scenic status.

At Dos Rios the Middle Fork meets the main Eel, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) tags it as the put-in for a 4-day float through the Eel River canyon down to Alderpoint. Bring a boat and a plan.

Round Valley and Covelo close things out. Covelo, part of the Round Valley Indian Reservation, also holds a ranger district office for the Mendocino National Forest, which has a quirky claim to fame: by the agency's own account, it is the only national forest in California not crossed by a paved road or highway.

Navarro River Via State Route 128: Cloverdale To The Coast

Anderson Valley once spoke its own homegrown slang, and State Route 128 runs the full length of the valley that invented it. The road leaves Cloverdale in Sonoma County, slips into Mendocino County, and tails the Navarro River through its final miles to the Pacific. The whole thing covers 52.6 miles in about 74 minutes.

In Boonville, the Anderson Valley Historical Society Museum fills the 1891 Con Creek Schoolhouse and digs deep into Boontling, that local lingo. Fun bit of trivia: the registry that hands out internet language tags actually lists the jargon as en-boont. The museum opens weekends, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., February through November.

Eight miles northwest of Boonville, Hendy Woods State Park guards two old-growth groves with trees that can top 300 feet. Swimmers should read the fine print, though: the park has posted a toxic algae warning for the Navarro near its picnic area.

Downriver, Navarro River Redwoods State Park turns the home stretch into what it fondly calls an eleven-mile-long redwood tunnel to the sea. That lowest stretch also floods with gusto. The highway closed near the coast when the Navarro rose in November 2024, and then did the whole thing again in December 2025.

Pit River Via State Route 299: Burney To Bieber

The Pit River belongs to a very short club. By the Forest Service's count, only three rivers cross the entire Cascade Range, and the Pit is one of them. It also happens to be the Sacramento River's longest tributary. State Route 299 meets up with it east of Burney and again in Big Valley, and Burney to Bieber clocks in at 39 miles, about 49 minutes.

About 12 miles east of Burney, the signed Pit Power House road drops down to the BLM's Pit River Campground, where eight first-come, first-served sites come with a kayak launch and an accessible fishing pier. Just west of Fall River Mills, a highway vista point looks down on Pit River Falls and the old Pit River Bridge, a nice excuse to stretch your legs.

One more patience test: the Pit One Grade west of Fall River Mills has been a Caltrans rockfall work zone through 2026. The BLM has warned of delays of up to 89 minutes, with the project set to finish in November.

In Fall River Mills, the Fort Crook Museum keeps a seasonal schedule, open May 1 and closing October 31. Past town, State Route 299 carries on into Lassen County and finishes at Bieber, sitting in Big Valley on the Pit.

Feather River Via State Route 70: Oroville To Quincy

State Route 70 does not always cooperate. Slides shut it down in the Feather River Canyon in January 2024, and another closed it near the Greenville Wye in September 2026, so a conditions check is non-negotiable. When the canyon is clear, Oroville to Quincy runs 77.5 miles and roughly 1 hour and 39 minutes.

The route makes up the western part of the Forest Service's 130-mile Feather River Scenic Byway. Past Jarbo Gap it climbs along the North Fork of the Feather through Butte and Plumas counties. At Pulga, the highway and the railroad cross over each other on separate bridges, then show off and do it all again at Tobin.

Two highway tunnels, Grizzly Dome and Elephant Butte, sit within 1.2 miles of the Butte County line on the Plumas side. Cyclists riding through either one can trip flashing beacons that warn drivers someone is inside, which is a clever touch. Belden has supplies, and State Route 89 peels away at the Greenville Wye before the road finally reaches Quincy.

History buffs, take note: miners struck gold at Rich Bar, now a California Historical Landmark 4 miles southeast of Belden, in July 1850. Louise Clappe wrote her Letters From the California Mines there under the pen name Dame Shirley.

Cache Creek Via State Route 16: Esparto To Rumsey

Cache Creek bottoms out near 600 feet at the eastern edge of the BLM's Cache Creek Natural Area, right along State Route 16. The approach climbs up the Capay Valley in Yolo County, and the highway knocks out the 21.6 miles between Esparto and Rumsey in about 26 minutes.

Caltrans lists Brooks, Guinda, and Rumsey among the communities the highway serves above Esparto. The agency also points out, somewhat formally, that Capay Valley is only an informal name.

Cache Creek Regional Park waits about 6 miles north of Rumsey along the highway, with 45 campsites and easy access to the creek. Commercial outfitters run its Class II and III rapids in summer, so there is a splashy option if you want one, and the campground usually shutters from late fall through early spring.

Above the park, the BLM looks after more than 70,000 acres around the creek, including 27,245 acres set aside as wilderness in 2006. The Cowboy Camp Loop Trail heads out straight from Highway 16.

Putah Creek Via State Route 128: Winters To Lake Berryessa

Meet the drain plug of the valley. A spillway 72 feet across swallows Lake Berryessa's overflow at Monticello Dam before narrowing to 28 feet, and Reclamation says the water starts pouring in once the lake climbs past 440 feet. State Route 128 reaches the dam by climbing Putah Creek's canyon west out of Winters, and Moskowite Corner, the finish line, sits 20 miles and 27 minutes out.

The lower canyon belongs to the Putah Creek Wildlife Area, which runs along Highway 128 to just east of the dam. Its roadside parking peels off on a sharp turn, so slow down before you miss it.

Just over the Putah Creek bridge, where the road crosses out of Yolo into Solano County, is the trailhead lot for Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve. The University of California, Davis keeps it open in daylight year-round, but summer is the season to respect. The reserve warns that heat, scarce shade, and steep climbs make hiking genuinely dangerous in the hottest months.

The concrete arch dam itself rises 304 feet, built between 1953 and 1957. Behind it, Lake Berryessa holds a hefty 1,602,000 acre-feet. The highway rolls on into Napa County and ends at Moskowite Corner, the junction with State Route 121.

Sacramento River Via State Route 45: Colusa To Knights Landing

Levees run the show on the last drive. State Route 45 follows the west bank of the Sacramento River, the very river the Pit eventually pours into, and the 37.9 miles out of Colusa down to Knights Landing take about 47 minutes.

In Colusa, the Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area keeps cottonwoods and willows standing along the bank. State Parks calls it one of the finest fishing stretches in California, stocked with king salmon, steelhead, and striped bass, and the park also records that John Muir camped nearby in 1872.

Look across the river to the east and the Sutter Buttes rise almost 2,000 feet over the pancake-flat fields. NASA describes them as old volcanic domes, which is a satisfying thing to know while you are staring at them.

The highway passes through Grimes in Colusa County, set in behind the Sacramento River's west-bank levee, and finishes in Yolo County at Knights Landing. Nearby, waterfowl pack the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge from September through March, with the crowds peaking in December and January.

Where The Water Leads

None of these roads takes the short way, and that is exactly the point. The Smith runs free of dams, while the Pit bullies its way across the Cascade Range long before it ever reaches the Sacramento. Slides keep closing State Route 70 in the Feather River Canyon. The Navarro floods its own highway near the coast, and Monticello Dam only spills when Lake Berryessa runs high enough to feed that 72-foot drain. Follow any of them and you are really just following the water, right down to the Sacramento, fed in part by the Pit, carrying the last drive south into Yolo County.