Best Route from Arizona to San Jose ,California

[Don1425]

Hello everyone,
My wife and I are taking a trip out west this September and are looking to go to Arizona and then on to California. I was wondering from Arizona the best route to take to get to the San Jose area in California. Wanting to avoid steep grades if possible.

[jbflag21ds]

Define steep.

There really are no routes that don't go through somewhere with decent grades unless you want to go through LA traffic and craziness to follow the coast and take 5x longer

[CHICKDOE]

Where in AZ?

We took i40 west to Barstow, then CA58 through tehachapi to bakersfield. From there take i5 north to San Jose.

There are a couple of grades around tehachapi but nothing major.

[Don1425]

I was looking at that as well and looks to be a decent route to take.

[moose074]

Where in AZ is the key interstate 10 or 40 which is closer.

I used to go on I-10 to Blythe then to needles. Thru Bakersfield up

[boatcat AH6NR]

To OP, from where in AZ would you go to CA?

[robo44]

I travel this regularly as I do live in San Jose. I just traveled it yesterday 7/26/2021

Start or get to
HWY 40 West
On to
HWY 58 West
On to
HWY 99 North
On to
HWY 46 West Stay o HWY 46 West (go over HWY 5 in Lost Hills, CA)
On to HWY 101 North (Paso Robles)
Stay on HWY 101 North Cruise into San Jose, CA

The benefit of HWY 46 to HWY 101 is you do not have to drive a crowded HWY 5 and some downhill grades on HWY 152 that is my preferred route. Hwy 152 is not a hard grade but in the dark and if you want to avoid them (like me) this is the way to go

Time wise if you go HWY 5 & HWY 152 is about 10 Min so not a big deal

[robo44]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

Where in AZ?

We took i40 west to Barstow, then CA58 through tehachapi to bakersfield. From there take i5 north to San Jose.

There are a couple of grades around tehachapi but nothing major.

HWY 5 does not get OP into SJ, he would have to take HWY 152 into Gilroy & SJ, 152 does have some 6% or 7% grades. Not awful, but he wants to avoid the grades. It is also to me a difficult downhill grade in the dark. Sweeping curves and if not familiar with the road, Id take CA58 - HWY 99 to HWY 46 to 101.

[rvflyer57]

As others have said, it depends on where you start your trip in AZ. That said, I would avoid the LA basin. You can circumvent much of it by taking the eastern interstates. If you are in a hurry, take I-40/I-15 to CA 58, then your choice of CA-99 or I-5. It does have a climb over the Tehachipis, but very manageable. If you aren't in a hurry and want a coastal route, take I-40/I-15 to I-5, then cross over on any of 3 routes to the 1/101 and follow the coast to San Jose. It will take you much longer, however.