Stockton

Understand

The poem "Casey at the Bat," about the losing baseball team, "the Mudville Nine" may be a reference to Stockton, which was referred to as Mudville in its earlier years.

Climate

Stockton has cool, wet winters, and very hot and arid summers. Summers see average temperatures of around 94°F during the day and 61°F at night. Despite this, there are occasional days with summer temperatures in excess of 103°F with nighttime lows around or above 67°F.

Get in

By car

Stockton is in central California between Interstate 5 and State Highway 99. Stockton is just north of Interstate 205. State Routes 26, 4 and 88 also intersect with Stockton.

• From the San Francisco Bay Area, take Interstate 580 to 205 east then merge north onto Interstate 5.
• From Reno and North Lake Tahoe, take Interstate 80 west to Sacramento and South on Interstate 5.
• From South Lake Tahoe, take US Route 50 west to Sacramento and then south on Interstate 5.
• From Redding and the Pacific Northwest, take Interstate 5 south.
• From the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, take Interstate 5 or State Route 99 north.

By plane

By train

Stockton is relatively well served by rail, by both commuter and intercity trains. The Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) makes four round trips between Stockton and San Jose on weekdays, with a schedule mainly geared towards commuters. Additionally, Amtrak runs its Gold Runner train between Bakersfield and Oakland/Sacramento via Stockton.

It's important to notice that there are two railway stations. ACE and Amtrak trains to and from Sacramento use the Robert J. Cabral Station, located at 949 East Channel Street. The second station San Joaquin Street station is at 735 S San Joaquin St and is used by Amtrak trains to and from Oakland.

By bus

Greyhound has a station here

Get around

Stockton offers regional transit throughout Stockton via the San Joaquin RTD Express buses and the Downtown Trolleys. The best option, however, is to travel by car.

Learn

Stockton is home to University of the Pacific and Delta College, a part of the California Community College system as well as an extension branch of CSU Stanislaus.

Stay safe

Stockton is known to have a very high crime rate and often makes the "most dangerous" list in rankings for cities of its size. Common sense is helpful in determining whether an area is safe to explore on foot or not and the transition between relatively safe areas and relatively dangerous ones are often quite abrupt. It is strongly recommended to avoid most areas at night if you are on foot, with an exception for some large, well lit and heavily trafficked shopping centers. The area also has very high rates of car theft and has at times been called "the car theft capital of the world," so always lock your car and keep valuables out of sight. Its location on I-5 also means there is a substantial potential for drug trafficking through the city. Stockton has a bad reputation for gang violence and for having the U.S.'s first school massacre. However, Stockton has worked very hard at improving its downtown area and its reputation.

Go next

• Yosemite National Park - take Route 99 to Exit #242 and turn left. Take Route 120 all the way to Yosemite.
• San Francisco - take Interstate 5 South to Interstate 205 & 580 all the way to San Francisco.
• Sacramento - take Interstate 5 or Route 99 north.
• Fresno - take Route 99 south.