Which Route Should I Take?

Driver, my only problem with your route is that if he was scared to death so badly that he vowed to never do that again after only I5 then what do you think Cabbage will do to him? If Grapevine scares you, then Cabbage will make you **** your pants.

Patty, the problem is that Cabbage isn't the only mountain on I84. You also have a 6% downgrade for 4 miles before La Grange, OR. Then you ascent into mountains where its up and down the entire time until Cabbage Pass.

Also, Cabbage Pass is 6% for 6 miles. I'm there weekly.

I'm with Daniel on this. Most of the driving north of redding thru Ashland is up hill. Nobody ever lost brakes and went off a mountain side going UP a hill. Cabbage is one of the worst in the US especially going west. I'd rather go up and down more smaller ones than one even seasoned truck drivers fail on. 6 miles of 6% with switchbacks (or harpoons)

If you take 84 patty, and go down cabbage, put it in a low gear and let the engine do the work as much as possible. If you don't have a CB on then you can't hear the truckers *****. Drive it how YOU feel comfortable, not how another driver wants you to. Slow is safe! Truckers are hard to please lol. There's a truck stop not far from the bottom of the hill off cabbage you can relieve your bladder when you're down too, you'll need it =)

I am driving a 22 foot Penske rental truck full of furniture and towing a car. The one I drove before was a 26 foot truck with the car carrier. It was slow going up the hills of Oregon and California mountains. Took almost 2 days to get thru them. I could only go 25 miles an hour up the hills. I was just hoping to find a shorter route with less mountains and to avoid going thru I5 from CA to WA again. But 6 miles of Cabbage 6% for 6 miles doesnt sound too bad if I can avoid the 2 days of crossing the CA/OR mountain pass. A little bit of knuckle driving opposed to almost 2 days of knuckle driving sounds much better. It's just knowing whether or not as a novice driving a big rental truck like this would be a bad idea tackling the Cabbage area I guess is the big question...

So wow. I'm really in a quandary now as to which route to take. But I appreciate the input.

Going up hills at 25mph is totally normal. Try to really use momentum to get up some of those hills. I try to start my hills at 65mph, the last thing you want is to start a mountain in a slow speed.

My logic is, would you rather tackle a mountain real quick and be over it or would you rather tackle a whole mountain range and still have to do a 6% downgrade? Cabbage is gonna be your quickest route and yes it can be scary to individuals who lack mountain driving experience but so will the other route and its way longer with quite the drive up and down hills and mountains. If my girlfriend ask me this same question I would without a doubt send her through Oregon.

If you're driving a Penske truck and lack the power to climb these hills I would still take Cabbage. Climb that fricken hill for 30 minutes and then tackle the downgrade real quick and it will all be over before you know it. No need to go white knuckles for almost 300 miles from Redding, CA to Eugene, Or.

I completely understand what you're asking and my girlfriend would be feeling the same way you are. That is why I would choose the Oregon route.

In reference to Cabbage someone mentioned "switchbacks". Can you tell me what that means exactly?

In reference to Cabbage someone mentioned "switchbacks". Can you tell me what that means exactly?

Switchbacks is when the road zigzags with curves to climb hills or go down. Its meant to make the drive up and down easier.