The highway enters the state in a corner of Sierra County, entering Lassen County just later. A short segment in Lassen County is a freeway with one exit, SR 70 at the Hallelujah Junction. This exit is numbered 8, even though it resides hundreds of miles from the origin of the highway; the exit number instead uses the distance from the point of re-entry to California. Though SR 70 does not directly serve any major cities, the highway is noted as an all-weather crossing of the Sierras. Just less than from Hallelujah Junction is Beckwourth Pass, the lowest pass in the Sierra, used by both SR 70 and the Feather River Route. SR 70 was at one time numbered U.S. Route 40 Alternate, using US 395 from this junction south to Reno to connect with the mainline US 40 (now Interstate 80). Though driving route 70 and US 395 is a much longer route between Reno and Sacramento than mainline US 40 ( versus ), the alternate route was more likely to be open during winter storms than US 40, which crested the sierra at Donner Pass.