California State Route 44

California Route 44 & 89 Intersection

Route 44 starts on Tehama Street in Redding, at the intersection of Route 273 (Market Street), despite what it says in its legal definition. This is because in 1998, Route 299's definition was changed. It previously ran on Tehama St. to I-5, but this portion was transferred to Route 44 in 1998 (44 had ended at I-5 at that time); however, the legislative definition has never changed, so it is unclear as to where Route 44 officially begins. The postmile markers have not been updated, so the Route 44–I-5 interchange is still marked as 0.00.

After a few blocks, it becomes a freeway as it crosses I-5 and changes back to a 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. 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.[2]

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,[3] and is part of the National Highway System,[4] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.[5] SR 44 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System,[6] but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation.[7]

State Route 44 containing a sheet of ice in the winter.

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).[8] 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 [8][9][10]	Exit [11]	Destinations	Notes
Shasta SHA L0.00-71.39	Redding	L0.00		SR 273 north / SR 299 (Market Street, Eureka Way) – Weaverville, Eureka	West end of SR 273 overlap; west end of SR 44
		L0.17		SR 273 south (Tehama Street)	East end of SR 273 overlap
			West end of freeway
		L0.85	1	Sundial Bridge Drive, Park Marina Drive
		L1.81 R0.00	2	I-5 – Red Bluff, Sacramento, Weed, Portland	Signed as exits 2A (south) and 2B (north); I-5 exits 678A-B
		R0.13	2C	Hilltop Drive	Eastbound exit and entrance
		R0.38	3A	Dana Drive	Westbound exit and entrance
		R1.24	3B	Victor Avenue	Signed as exit 3 eastbound
		R2.13	4	Shasta View Drive
		R3.63	5	Old Oregon Trail, Airport Road
	​		East end of freeway
	​	R7.00		Deschutes Road	Interchange
	​	R10.77		Millville Plains Road, Old Forty Four Drive – Millville, Whitmore	Former SR 44
	​	R19.01		CR A17 (Dersch Road) – Cottonwood, Anderson
	​	34.70	Shingletown Rest Area
	​	R49.35		SR 89 south – Lassen National Park	West end of SR 89 overlap
	​	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
	​	19.29		CR A21 (Mooney Road) / FH 21 (Champs Flat Road) – Westwood, Antelope Lookout
	​	37.25		SR 36 – Susanville, Red Bluff	East end of SR 44
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

•  California Roads portal

1.^α Assuming Route 44 ends at SR 299, rather than at SR 273

Wikimedia Commons has media related to California State Route 44.

• Caltrans: Route 44 highway conditions
• California Highways: SR 44