Northern California
Highway 3

Having left Highway 3 on Deerlick Springs Rd, as soon as you hit the valley floor, the road opens up into a bucolic green meadow, stay left (3 times total) at the Y-Intersection onto Blanchards Flat Rd, there is a sign, but it’s small and easy to miss. Blanchards Flat Rd narrows at first into single lane across a cattle grate. The road welcomes you with big open arms and barrels right down the middle of what is essentially a cow pasture before hurtling into a hard left at the far end of the meadow, then s-curves over Reading Creek, stay left again at the Y-intersection onto Reading Creek Rd and then stay left again at the third Y-intersection (with Indian Creek Rd). Overall, this is a short  7-mile paved loop off the main highway.

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Easy to get turned around in here with the Y-intersections. Study a map or satellite map to get a sense of direction before you ride this detour off the main highway. But, it’s well worth it and barrel-good-fun to take this quick detour off Hayfork Pass.

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A broad pullout against a sheer rock face announces the end of Hayfork Pass and the road T-intersects Highway 299 at Douglas City (on the other side of the river via Steiner Flat Rd. Highway 299 is a busy thoroughfare and truck route connecting Eureka along the Pacific Coast with Redding along Interstate 5. Continue the ride on Highway 299 west towards Weaverville for gas & eats or to continue north on Highway 3 to Scott Mountain Summit.

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There isn't much going on in Douglas City, but it does have a motel; the Timber Lodge, a small store with one gas pump (the proprietor, Liam Gogan also offers guided fishing trips on the Trinity River and is the brother of Super Bowl and Pro Bowl champion Kevin Gogan, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers. 

Otherwise, plan to continue the ride northward over the Highway 3 - Scott Mountain Summit on the northern portion of Highway 3 up to Yreka.

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At the Highway  3 / Highway 299 junction, five miles to the east is Lewiston Rd over to Lewiston, a tiny mountain community at the base of Lewiston Dam. Combined with Rush Creek Rd and a short portion of Highway 3, you can add a bit of mileage to your route by adding in Lewiston, try the Lewiston Turnpike over the one-lane 1901 historic bridge. The Trinity River flows through the heart of Lewiston, directly under the Old Lewiston Bridge. Reach the northern edge of Weaverville a few miles later and gas up on the north edge of Weaverville along Highway 3. If you want to skip Weaverville altogether, you're able to join back up with Highway 3- Scott Mountain Pass by riding around Weaverville via Lewiston Rd to Rush Rd or Trinity Dam Rd and pop out on the south side of Trinity Lake.

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Back at the Highway 3 / Highway 299 junction, for lunch in Weaverville, just six miles to the northwest, try the Mama Lama Restaurant, especially if you love comic books. Walls are full of framed issues of comics ranging from Spiderman to Batman to Archie comics. Many more are for sale on racks. This place is small with just a walk-up counter but quick service and they have great sandwiches. We've told them to name all their sandwiches after superheroes but no one has taken our advice yet.  We have brought many Pashnit Motorcycle Tour groups here through the years as our lunch stop.

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Downtown Weaverville isn't to be missed either, short enough to park and walk. Take in the double spiral staircases on either side of Main Street. Visit the historic Chinese temple known as the Joss House, the oldest (still) operating Chinese Temple in California built in 1874. This is California's best-preserved example of a Gold Rush-era Chinese place of worship. The temple is now the Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park, and its interior, including an intricately carved wooden altar, can be viewed close-up by visitors. A small museum sits adjacent to the temple, and the park guides have always been knowledgeable and exceedingly eager to provide a hands-on tour of the temple and its history. There is another Joss House Temple in Mendocino, and another in Marysville.

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A few hundred yards to the south of the Joss House on Main Street is the Jake Jackson Museum and the History Center (780 Main St) which has the fascinating Paymaster Mine Two Stamp Mill replica, the only working steam stamp mill on the West Coast. You can find original gold rush era Stamp Mills all over Northern California, especially in Gold Rush parks along Highway 49 , but it's rare to be able to see one operating in person. The museum is easily passed by as its façade is labelled Blacksmith Tin Shop on the exterior and has an façade that's blended into downtown buildings.

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Continue the ride north on Highway 3 along the edges of Trinity Lake over 5400 ft Scott Mountain Summit to Callahan through Etna (gas) to Fort Jim and over to Yreka.

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The full length of Highway 3 is 145 miles from The Triangle on Highway 36 to Yreka at Interstate 5 and it's one of the few north-south roads in northwestern California. The full length rides over Hayfork Pass, el 3645 ft., through Hayfork & Weaverville, along the banks of Trinity Lake, and over the 5401 ft Scott Mountain Summit.

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It's also worth noting Highway 3 parallels Interstate 5 and if time constraints allow, this is a wonderful detour for the north or south bound motorcyclist or sports car pilot and easily accessed at Yreka and connecting back to I-5 at Red Bluff via Highway 36. For the RV traveler, this is a very twisty route with three mountain passes and the full 145 mile length of Highway 3 is not advisable, especially the Scott Mountain Summit which includes several very sharp and steep hairpins.