One of the Alternate Routes in Nevada and Placer Counties, is the old US 40 Highway. In the 1960’s, the CA 40 portion of the highway was realigned to the new Interstate 80. In 1934, this highway became part of the state and federal highway system and was assigned the following numbers starting at the west end. In the early days, highways had names such as the Lincoln Highway, Yellowstone Trail and the Ukiah-Tahoe Highway. This section was completed in 1932 and shortened the trip by several miles. By the mid 1920’s, most of the road was completed except the portion on the north side of Clear Lake. This new road would be called the Ukiah-Tahoe Highway. In November of 1920, a new road was proposed from Ukiah to Tahoe City. Some sections of this early road were privately owned toll roads. Prior to November 1920, there was a mostly passable dirt and gravel road connecting Ukiah and Nevada City that went around the south side of Clear Lake, this section of road was not always passable in wet weather.

The maps in this Travel Guide show driving from West to East, but it is easy to go the other direction. So if you don’t want to take the entire trip at one time, it can easily be divided into smaller sections. The Ukiah-Tahoe Highway crosses 4 major highways, US 101, Interstate 5, US 99 and Interstate 80. After the snow starts in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, some of the Alternate Routes may not be passable The best time of year for this ride is from April until late September. So get in your car, RV, motorcycle or collector car and take a ride. This drive is a great way to see one of the very historic back roads of California and small town America. Starting at Ukiah at the western end in the Coastal Range, driving through the Sacramento Valley and ending high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at Tahoe City. The highway crosses Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, Sutter, Yuba, Nevada and Placer Counties. The current route of the Ukiah-Tahoe Highway is approximately 222 miles long on mostly 2 lane back road. You also will by-pass some of the more interesting towns along the way. What you will miss is the alternate older alignments of the road, side trips and many of the points of Interest that are included in this book. You can set your GPS to drive from Ukiah to Tahoe City and it will likely take you on the current route shown on the included maps. This book is designed to be a Travel Guide.

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