# California State Route 44

State Route 44 (SR 44) is a state highway in the U.S. State of California that travels in an east–west direction from State Routes 273 and 299 in Redding to Lassen Volcanic National Park before ending at State Route 36 west of Susanville. This final portion, between the park and its terminus, is part of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, a National Scenic Byway.

## Route description

Route 44 starts in Redding, at the junction of Route 273 (Market Street) and Route 299. This is because in 1998, Route 299's definition was changed. It previously ran on Tehama Street to I-5, but this portion was transferred to Route 44 in 1998 (SR 44 had ended at I-5 at that time). Existing postmile markers do not normally change, so the Route 44/I-5 interchange is still marked as 0.00, and instead the western extension of Route 44 to Route 299 has postmiles with an "L" prefix to signify an overlap due to a correction or change (see also California postmile § Official postmile definitions).
After running through one-way pairs through Downtown Redding, SR 44 departs SR 273 onto Tehama Street. After a few blocks, it becomes a freeway as it crosses I-5 and changes back to a two-lane highway at the Redding city limits. Heading eastward, Route 44 passes through a number of small, rural communities (Palo Cedro, Millville, Shingletown, to name a few) before it reaches the north-west entrance to Lassen National Park and the southern Cascades. After this, the only community it passes through is Old Station, which is also the only location for travel services until Susanville.
From the Park entrance, Route 44 joins the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway. Route 44 is part of a circular portion of the Scenic Byway, so at the junction with Route 89, the Byway continues along both 89 to the north and on 44 to the east. When Route 44 reaches its terminus at Route 36, the byway heads southwest to continue its circular path.
Between the Route 89 intersection and Route 36 is only one rest area, called Bogard.
SR 44 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. SR 44 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation.

## 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 to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official 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 | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | L0.00 | | SR 273 north / SR 299 east (Market Street north / Historic US 99) | Western terminus of SR 44; west end of SR 273 / Historic US 99 overlap; west end of one-way pair where SR 44 east / SR 273 south traffic heads onto Market Street south and SR 44 west / SR 273 north traffic joins from Eureka Way east |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | L0.00 | | SR 299 west (Eureka Way west) – Weaverville, Eureka | Western terminus of SR 44; west end of SR 273 / Historic US 99 overlap; west end of one-way pair where SR 44 east / SR 273 south traffic heads onto Market Street south and SR 44 west / SR 273 north traffic joins from Eureka Way east |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | L0.16L | | SR 273 (Pine Street) | One-way street, inbound access only; SR 44 west traffic joins SR 273 north traffic along Pine Street north |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | L0.17R | | SR 273 south (Tehama Street west / Historic US 99) | East end of SR 273 / Historic US 99 overlap; SR 44 east traffic splits onto Tehama Street east |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | L0.31L– L0.38R | | Liberty Street | At-grade intersection; west end of freeway; no westbound access to Liberty Street south; east end of one-way pair where westbound traffic splits onto Shasta Street and eastbound traffic joins from Tehama Street |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | L0.85 | 1 | Park Marina Drive / Sundial Bridge Drive | |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | L1.81R0.00 | 2 | I-5 – Sacramento, Portland | Signed as exits 2A (south) and 2B (north); I-5 exits 678A-B |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | R0.13– R0.38 | 3A | Hilltop Drive / Dana Drive | Signed as exit 2C eastbound; Dana Drive not signed eastbound |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | R1.24 | 3B | Victor Avenue | Signed as exit 3 eastbound |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | R2.13 | 4 | Shasta View Drive | |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Redding | R3.63 | 5 | Old Oregon Trail / Airport Road | |
| East end of freeway |||
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | ​ | R4.99 | | Stillwater Road | Interchange |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Palo Cedro | R7.00 | | Deschutes Road | Interchange |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | ​ | 34.70 | | Shingletown Rest Area | Shingletown Rest Area |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | ​ | R49.35 | | SR 89 south – Lassen Volcanic National Park | West end of SR 89 overlap |
| Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39 | Old Station | 62.69 | | SR 89 north – Burney Falls, Mount Shasta | East end of SR 89 overlap |
| Lassen LAS 0.00-37.25 | ​ | 14.50 | | Bogard Rest Area | Bogard Rest Area |
| Lassen LAS 0.00-37.25 | ​ | 37.25 | | SR 36 – Susanville, Red Bluff | Eastern terminus of SR 44 |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access ||||||