Northern California

[DeanRavencroft]

Post moved - Don't post in root forums

To the American Truck Simulator Map Development Team,
SCS Software

I am writing to provide feedback on the current representation of Northern California in American Truck Simulator, specifically regarding the absence of Yreka as a marked or scenic city along the I‑5 corridor. My intention is not to criticize the tremendous work your team has done, but to offer constructive, freight‑based reasoning that I believe supports the inclusion of Yreka in a future phase of the California rework.

Yreka is a significant real‑world freight hub in Siskiyou County, and its omission stands out given the city’s location, industry, and highway infrastructure. I would like to outline several points that demonstrate why Yreka is a strong candidate for inclusion.

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1. Yreka Has Active, Real Freight Industry Today

Yreka is home to a functioning veneer mill that produces inbound and outbound freight on a daily basis. This facility handles:

• inbound logs and raw materials
• outbound veneer sheets and plywood components
• specialized loads suitable for flatbeds, curtain‑siders, and other ATS trailer types


This mill is one of the few remaining active wood‑product facilities in the region. It represents exactly the kind of real‑world freight ATS strives to model.

By contrast, the former Roseburg lumber mill in Weed — historically the justification for Weed’s inclusion as a marked city — has been closed for almost one year, with no plans to reopen. The freight profile of Weed has changed significantly, while Yreka’s has remained active.

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2. Yreka Is the Siskiyou County Seat and a Regional Commercial Hub

With a population of over 7,000 residents, Yreka is the largest city in the northernmost part of California. It contains:

• multiple grocery distribution points
• fuel depots
• construction supply yards
• truck stops
• a rail spur
• county government facilities
• commercial zones with consistent freight movement


These are all industries that ATS commonly represents in marked cities.

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3. Yreka Has Three I‑5 Interchanges and Sits Directly on the Highway

Interstate 5 runs directly through Yreka, with Exits 773, 775, and 776 providing access to commercial and industrial areas. Even if only one interchange were modeled — as is common in ATS — the city would still be easy to represent within the game’s scale.

This makes Yreka a natural candidate for a marked or scenic city, especially given its role as the last major California community before the Oregon border.

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4. The Current Use of Hilt Is Not Representative of Real Freight

Hilt, which appears in ATS as a marked location with two depots, is not a functioning freight town in reality. It has fewer than 200 residents and contains no commercial or industrial facilities that generate freight.

The depots present in Hilt are fictional, while Yreka’s freight is real. This creates an unusual situation where a non‑industrial community is represented as a freight hub, while the actual regional freight center is absent.

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5. ATS Already Places Cities Close Together in Other States

One of the common explanations for Yreka’s omission is its proximity to Weed. However, ATS already includes multiple city pairs that are closer together than Weed and Yreka, such as:

• Tyler and Longview, Texas
• Dallas and Fort Worth
• Waco and Temple
• Austin and Round Rock
• San Antonio and New Braunfels


These examples demonstrate that ATS is fully capable of representing cities that are close together when it benefits gameplay and realism. The Weed–Yreka distance is not an obstacle within ATS’s design philosophy.

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6. Yreka Would Improve Realism and Gameplay Along the I‑5 Corridor

Adding Yreka would:

• provide a realistic final California delivery point before Oregon
• add a genuine freight industry (the veneer mill)
• enhance immersion for players familiar with the region
• correct outdated assumptions about Weed’s industrial profile
• replace fictional depots with real ones
• improve the overall flow and authenticity of Northern California


Yreka is a city that truckers actually pass through and deliver to. Its inclusion would strengthen the accuracy of one of ATS’s most important highways.

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7. A Practical, Scaled Implementation Is Easy to Achieve

A realistic ATS‑scale version of Yreka could be implemented with:

• one simplified interchange
• a compressed downtown corridor
• the veneer mill as a primary depot
• a truck stop
• one or two additional commercial depots
• scenic representation of the courthouse and historic district


This would fit comfortably between Weed and the Oregon border without overcrowding the map.

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Closing Thoughts

I want to emphasize that this feedback comes from a place of appreciation for the work your team has done. The California rework has been impressive, and I understand the challenges of balancing realism with scale and gameplay.

However, Yreka’s freight relevance, highway placement, and regional importance make it one of the strongest candidates for inclusion in a future update. Its absence is noticeable, especially given the fictional representation of Hilt and the closure of Weed’s former lumber mill.

I hope you will consider Yreka for a future phase of the California rework. It would add authenticity, improve freight realism, and better reflect the true nature of Northern California’s trucking landscape.

Thank you for your time and for your continued dedication to American Truck Simulator.

Respectfully,
Dean Ravencroft
Yreka, California

[robty96]

I just checked and Yreka is exactly at the location the agricultural station going south I-5 is on the map. In theory, space would be there but I guess SCS would want to keep the station?
It would be located just next to Hilt but probably Hilt would be in the way. I quite like Hilt. It's an exemption to SCS's map standards to place depots only in or around bigger cities.
But I think Yreka would have made more sense than Hilt knowing Yreka now.