California State Route 96

State Route 96
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 396
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	146.519 mi (235.799 km)
Major junctions
West end:	SR 299 at Willow Creek
East end:	I-5 near Yreka
Highway system
State highways in California Interstate U.S. State Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← US 95 US 97 →

State Route 96 (SR 96) follows the Trinity and Klamath Rivers in Northern California. For most of the route it goes through the Karuk Tribal Reservation, the Yurok Tribal Reservation, and the Hoopa Tribal Reservation. Over half of the length is the Bigfoot Scenic Byway, passing through "the region boasting the most sightings of Bigfoot of anywhere in the country" according to the National Forest Scenic Byway Program.

Route description

This route is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. However, it is not a scenic highway as defined by Caltrans.

The route begins at a junction with State Route 299, the Trinity Highway, in Willow Creek. It heads north, following the Trinity River downstream through Hoopa, and exiting the Trinity National Forest near its confluence with the Klamath River at Weitchpec. At Weitchpec, the route intersects State Route 169 and turns northeast into the Six Rivers National Forest. The highway passes through Orleans and turns more northerly after intersecting Salmon River Road. Passing through Happy Camp, SR 96 enters the Klamath National Forest. After passing through Gottsville, the route exits the national forest. It intersects State Route 263, which heads south toward Yreka. Picking up the designation of Interstate 5 Business, SR 96 turns north. Passing the Randolf Collier Safety Roadside Rest Area, the route meets its terminus at Interstate 5.

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile	Destinations	Notes
Humboldt HUM 0.00-R44.98	Willow Creek	0.00	SR 299 – Redding, Eureka	West end of SR 96
	Weitchpec	23.09	SR 169 (Bald Hills Road) – Martins Ferry
Siskiyou SIS R0.00-105.82	Happy Camp	41.10	Main Street
	​	71.33	Scott River Road – Scott Bar, Fort Jones
	​	103.41	SR 263 (I-5 Bus. south) – Yreka	West end of I-5 Bus. overlap
	​	105.82	I-5 – Redding, Portland	Interchange; east end of I-5 Bus. overlap; east end of SR 96
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus