Traveling from Mt. Shasta to Redwood NP

[+shannienkitch]

Howdy! Hoping to solicit opinions from folks who have experience traveling some of the lesser-used roads in this part o' the country!

 

We're two Ohioans who are spending a week driving from Reno to Seattle and doing some geocaching along the way. We're renting a standard passenger car (no high clearance and no 4WD) for the trip and most of the route planning has been pretty straightforward to this point but one little stretch has caused us some consternation. We'll be spending the 2nd day in and around the Mount Shasta area and then want to make our way to the coast and some of the redwood spots. Last year we had an unpleasant encounter on a forest road up in the Manistee State Forest (Michigan) and are trying to avoid making the same mistake (getting on roads we have no business being on). I guess you could say we kind of want it both ways - we love scenic drives, we want to see a few new and beautiful places, and we don't want to get stranded in a sand pit trying to get there.

 

In short, can anyone give us some information about specifically:

 

1) Stewart Springs Road/Forest Road 42N17/IP Road which runs from Old Hwy 99 just SW of Edgewood down to meet up with SR3

 

OR

 

2) Salmon River Road/Forest Hwy 93 which runs NW from Forks of Salmon past Somes Bar to meet up with SR96

 

OR

 

3) Both of these options are idiotic and there's a far cooler/superior way to go that we are clueless about.

 

TIA for your assistance!!#!@

 

S&K

[+Mauison]

Try posting in the forums here:

 

http://www.rcgds.net/

 

or here:

 

http://thegba.net/

 

You do have to register to post but more cachers "hang out" in those forums than this one.