Randolph Collier Rest Area

This rest area is top notch because you can access it from either northbound or southbound I-​5. The restrooms are clean, and the visitor center was very nice… The center employees were chatting it up with their «customers».
The «critters» everyone seems to be talking about are feral CATS that have been living there for years and years. The reason they look strange is because they are Maine Coon breeds. They will come up to you if you have some food for them. They are NOT DANGEROUS. I’ve never seen any dangerous looking humans at that rest stop either, so I don’t know what all the fuss is about. The place is loaded with surveillance cameras, so one should not feel unsafe at any hour. If you are going to be stopping there, please take some food for the cats and put it on the other side of the fence down by the river. It will help them to survive the winter.

Beautiful Rest Area! We plan our trips from Oregon to California with our picnic stops here. There is a large welcome area with a lot of great features. The bathrooms are always clean, the parking lot is very large and accessible with large trucks and trailers, and it is located along a beautiful river so it doesn’t take much coaxing to get your family out to walk and stretch their legs.

The critter is probably a ring tailed raccoon.
The Ranger in charge of this site tells me it is a good one to pull over and rest your horses while traveling. We will find out in July as it is about 4 hours (mid point) in our travels.

This Rest Stop is Beauty Way to Go! It’s especially pretty as you look down to the left while heading North on I-​5 towards the Oregon border. There’s the Klamath River that flows around a lovely green belt, that throws off a certain sereneness that almost begs you to stop.
Gayle and I have been traveling to Ashland (and back) for 8 straight years and this time around is the first time we actually stopped to «rest». We also looked around the Visitor’s Center (staffed by friendly volunteers) and briefly strolled along the river. The key reason for our absence from this Rest Area is that it’s too close to Ashland. At this point, we’re either keen to arrive (going North) or to head home (going South). That’s too bad, as there’s not a nicer place to stop within a couple hundred miles (or so) in both directions.

Visitor’s center not open? Went by twice on recent road trip to Cali, both times I was disappointed they weren’t open. Also, on the return trip, the front lot and restroom facilities were closed.

Stopped here because it looked so inviting but the anti-​pet signs remind you that you’re still in or just arrived to California — the anti-​travel-​with-​your-​pet State. Otherwise clean, shady, lush grassy.

For over 30 years I have traveled Southern, Central and Northern California. Hands down, this is the cleanest rest area I have ever been to. And for the Ekhart Tolle clan, a perfect place to be present :-)

My husband and I stopped at the rest area to sleep a couple. When we woke up at 4:00 am we saw the same creature as described above rummaging through garbage. It came very close to our truck then took off with a banana peel. We didn’t have the presence of mind to take a picture. What is it? Kinda feline but not. Kinda canine but not. Kinda like a lemur but not. Had a long, striped, straight, pointed tail with the fur narrowing with the point. I looked up images of fox online. Similar but without stripes.

As Terry T. suggests, it isn’t wise to stop at any rest stop once darkness hits. But in daylight hours, there isn’t a nicer rest stop than this one. It’s almost like a park instead of the usual bare-​bones stop. Maintained by handicapped workers out of Yreka on a daily basis, it’s kept manicured and scrupulously clean. Bring a sandwich and soda and you can picnic right by the edge of the Klamath River, absolutely lovely.

This lovely rest stop is a fitting tribute to its namesake, Randolph Collier, who is now known as «The Father of Freeways» for his efforts in1948 to modernize roads. This is the best rest stop on Highway 5 and perhaps the prettiest on any CA state highway. On my annual trip to Ashland, I often stop at this rest stop just because it is so, dare I say, restful. It’s possible to walk to the edge of the area and watch the Klamath River rush by. The highway that runs on the other side of the river is a portion of the VERY old, prior to 1923, portion of Highway 99 that still snakes it way to Yreka
The California Welcome Center gives free maps and booklets on California. There are tables, a pet area, and clean bathroom. With plenty of parking for cars, RVs and big rigs it does not seem to be crowed at all
I would never-​ever stop at any rest stop at night, and this one is no exception. It is a long, lonely stretch of highway from Yreka to Ashland and with no place to stop. So, I plan my liquid intake accordingly. I am surprised that other reviewers didn’t, and they seem to be from the general area.

Collier is a dangerous rest area, to be sure. Again, I live in the area and I don’t even stop there. The few times I have has been in daylight except for when my husband and I stopped at night. I carried my knife and stayed alert even then.

Four red bulls and 3 wineries later, and I was so ready to pee in a bag. One closed rest area and no gas station in sight. It was a dark night and the side of the freeway was not an option.
I pulled in and a huge black guy was leaning against his car, arms crossed and staring in my direction. I had a bad feeling about that, but my bladder and my shaky knees were giving me a worse feeling. I look up to the restrooms and a couple of mexicans were just hanging out at doorway. Who does that shit? I look over to a tree for some relief and a weird creature is standing in front of it. Too big to be a cat or raccoon, and too small to be some kind of mountain lion. I wasn’t about to find out.
One, my ass was going to get jumped; 2, I was gonna get stabbed in the ass; or 3, that unidentified animal was going to eat my ass.
So I got my ass outta there.
Not a good rest area to stop at night. The parking lot is very dim to dark, and you have to walk up a hill to get to the restrooms.