Route planning re mountain passes/curvy roads etc.

[CountryB]

I bought the Mountain Directory East a few weeks ago, I'm a little disappointed in it. Maybe its the best (or only) guide available of its kind.

My dislike is that the whole state is shown on one page (a 8-1/2 x 11 or smaller) map. Some states even less - like Massachusetts map is about the size of a post card (the full page indudes . The major routes (interstate and State hwys are shown) but nothing below that level. Perhaps a big MH shouldn't be on any road smaller.

There are pages of text describing road those roads show on the map.

For example, in TN it reads "US 41 (north of Jasper): US 41 includes 3-1/2 mile 7% southbound descent into Jasper that ends right at the edge of town in a 15 mph school zone. This is a good two lane road with 40 mph curves."

For the Blue Ridge Parkway description (in text) is a couple of pages but the map section is too small to see/find the BRP route.

It's not a visually helpful as I had hoped. But i suppose its better than nothing.

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by LennyC

I found this while looking for someone to drive an RV from Phoenix to Rhode Island. Click on the state or province and it links to the road condition reports for that area... very handy with current conditions.
Motorized Newscenter

THIS needs to be made a "sticky" !!!!

[ArgoPilot]

Can TOTALLY appreciate your concern as far as driving...I believe there are some resources available online regarding truck driving etiquette and the like, as well as tips to remember when climbing a hill and (more importantly) navigating DOWN the hill.

Driving your land battleship for grocery runs and stuff around town was suggested to me; I would highly recommend it. Driving an unfamiliar vehicle on familiar streets is probably one of the BEST way to improve your comfort level. And, you can strut your new baby!

By the by, you didn't say what you're lumbering around in. Whatcha got?

[TonyL]

We have been RV Trip Wizard. It does a pretty good job finding campgrounds and then suggests a route. We also have a Magellan Roadmate that's supposed to know that we're 34' long and 13'6" or so high - I say supposed to since it has gotten us on very narrow and winding roads on the 2 month trip that we're about to complete. The more that we've done this the more we've found that double and triple checking is essential. We have a bad tendency to default to the Magellan but our maps are 4 yrs old and that's been a source of problems with new roads. We have tried to contact Magellan twice to download updates but they aren't all that customer friendly.
Best advice I'd have is use a recent gps that is made for an RV and maybe check out RV Trip Wizard.
Hope this may help.
Tony

[Belgique]

Flattest Route is handy: www.flattestroute.com

[jzlarson]

Thanks all--I love the idea of driving it around town (unfamiliar vehicle on familiar routes) and that flattest route looks helpful too. And to answer your question--we have a 2006 National Sea Breeze 8341 and are absolutely loving it! (still nervous on windy, mountain passes and narrow 2 line highways though!)

[Rkesselus]

My Magellan Road Master GPS has a profile to enter everything about my RV Weight length height etc as well as things I want to avoid.and it will preview any route I put in and give a warning if it recognizes possible problems. Might look into some of the RV specific GPS's.

[ArgoPilot]

I LOVE it!! Your land battleship was christened after the WHALE in a seafaring story; ours after a SHIP from similar lore! That is too awesome!

I hate to show my ignorance, but does your mh have a generator set in the nose or no? If wind buffets and the wakes off of semis are skipping you around, and you DON'T have that weight in your mh nose AND tail, I would see what you can do to redistribute weight over both axles. That SHOULD give you some respite.

See you out on the seas of asphalt!

[twojayhawks]

Another vote for the Mountain Directory set (East & West). There is more written content than maps but I find it completely adequate. I like that I can plan a rout, look it up in the directory, tells me what passes I'll need to cross, as well as how high. Works great for me.

[BoDu]

You can get the mountain directory for the ipad and it is handy and out of sight until you need it. I recommend you get both east and west. There are actually a few places in the east as steep as any in the west.

[brabono]

[QUOTE=twojayhawks;3883249]Another vote for the Mountain Directory set (East & West). There is more written content than maps but I find it completely adequate. I like that I can plan a rout, look it up in the directory, tells me what passes I'll need to cross, as well as how high. Works great for

Ditto. If it doesn't have the Smokies in it which I would like.

[Ludmilla]

+3 on the Mountain Directory. It is very useful. We look at it before we consider a route.

[beenthere]

I see brakes ect mentioned, good. I was at the charlotte race in oct and when is the mountains in west NC I forgot to turn down sensitivity on my toad which has a brake buddy.. in the mountains and curves the engine brake and the brakes used on coach make for the toad brakes to overwork. at first stop to check things my front tires and wheels were plenty warm[not hurt] so I turned sensitivity down and next stop all was good. I know this wasn't subject but thought might be usefull if new to mountains..

[Jimg]

I got a Good Sam/ Rand Mcnalley GPS specifically for RV's. It has a setting for the length and weight of the rv. I have a 35 ft rv pulling a pickup truck and run a lot of mountain and back roads, so I bump the length setting up a little bit to be safe. With my former Garmin GPS it would want to send me down gravel roads. So far the RV gps has done well at knowing which 2 lane roads are o.k. and which ones are too narrow. So far so good.