Community Forums

Budsm64 · 03-30-2015, 01:13 PM

planning a trip out east first of june going to stay at the cherry hill rv park in Maryland. have anyone of you navigated the mountains and did you enjoy it or did it stress you out . is braking a big issue what is safest way to handle the hills. thanks

mricet1005 · 03-30-2015, 01:33 PM

I have driven the mountains in Maryland and West Virginia (I-64, I-79, I-68 ) several times with no problems. Some of the secondary roads in West Virginia could be scary so if you will be off the main roads check the Google satellite images carefully.

Also, Cherry Hill Park is great for visiting the D.C. area. Use the public transportation instead of your towed. Parking and traffic is a challenge in D.C. Bus picks you up every half hour or so at RV park and takes you to the College Park Metro stop. Subway is clean, safe, and easy to navigate.

JFXG · 03-30-2015, 02:10 PM

Smbuddy...... Low stress. Are you wandering around on the way, or are you coming straight east on I-70? On the interstates you generally won't have any big surprises.

One suggestion I'll make-- coming east I-70 southeast of Pittsburgh will colocate and feed you into I-76, the PA Turnpike for about 85 miles. This is a fairly pricey toll road that often has construction slowdowns. As an alternative going to Washington, just south of Pittsburgh take I-79 south toward Morgantown WV, where you pick up I-68 east. This is fine road all the way, toll free, and will bring you back to I-70 just north of DC.

Enjoy your trip!

sbahrns · 03-30-2015, 07:18 PM

You might take a look at the Mountain Directory. There is an East and West. Lots of info.

Mountain Driving Guide for Truckers, RV and Motorhome Drivers

Safe Travels
Steve

Deny · 03-30-2015, 07:57 PM

We did WVA last October. It is every bit as pretty as North Carolina-and then some. We stayed at State Parks, and, they are beautiful. Several have lodges & Restaurants.

Some of the State Parks are remote, but they are all Nice, & have lots of Wildlife.

We have a 25 Diesel Winnebago-and the mountains were no challenge for our little coach. Look in the WVA Parks website for accommodations that will fit your rig-you will be thrilled with the view

tim myers · 04-02-2015, 07:41 PM

Just drove I68 from Hagertown to Morgantown and I found it to be non stop climbs and descents. I had no issues with the motor home but did try to take it easy on the engine. I kept the engine below 3500 RPM (gas) and never saw the coolant temperature rise at all. I don't have a transmission temperature gauge but would have been interesting to see what it would have indicated.

On most of the downgrades I just used the Tow/Haul setting even though I wasn't towing anything. I didn't have to use the breaks much at all.

The one challenge I did have was with respect to the wind. I was fighting 30 to 40 mph gusts both Monday and Tuesday. Not a lot of fun and my arms got quite a workout but we made it home safely.

JiminJersey · 04-03-2015, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFXG

Smbuddy...... Low stress. Are you wandering around on the way, or are you coming straight east on I-70? On the interstates you generally won't have any big surprises.

One suggestion I'll make-- coming east I-70 southeast of Pittsburgh will colocate and feed you into I-76, the PA Turnpike for about 85 miles. This is a fairly pricey toll road that often has construction slowdowns. As an alternative going to Washington, just south of Pittsburgh take I-79 south toward Morgantown WV, where you pick up I-68 east. This is fine road all the way, toll free, and will bring you back to I-70 just north of DC.

Enjoy your trip!

+1 on this route. It's how we went west back in 2012 from here in South Jersey. The hills in western MD and WV are trivial compared to the Rockies, etc. However there are some 7% grades on I-68, I think it was, around Cheat Lake. But they are SHORT, maybe a mile at most.

The only thing to be more careful about are the secondary roads. Less-traveled state and county roads in the east tend to be smaller and tighter than similar roads in the west. Not as much room to roam, so to speak.

You should have no problems in the top half of the east - I am not as familiar with the hills south of the Virginia/NC state line, but I'm sure someone who is will chime in.

JFXG · 04-03-2015, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JiminJersey 2494819

........ Less-traveled state and county roads in the east tend to be smaller and tighter than similar roads in the west. Not as much room to roam, .........

Yes, and they sometimes have those 150-year-old stone arch RR underpasses with 11 ft clearance that don't show up on your GPS and have no posted clearance signs until you're within a half mile. Or so I've heard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JiminJersey 2494819

....I am not as familiar with the hills south of the Virginia/NC state line, but I'm sure someone who is will chime in.

Yeah, there're a few hills in the mountains of NC and TN. As far as interstates go, I-81 is civilized, I-77 has some fair grades around Fancy Gap and working up into VA and WV, and I-26 is supposed to have a summit between Asheville and Johnson City that is about 6 miles of 8-10% each side of the summit, according to one guide I read. I'm driving that next week, so we'll see. And of course I-40 through the gorge from NC into TN has both up and down and twisty. But all these roads meet Interstate standards and are used regularly by routine traffic, so there are clearly no major difficulties.

cj23andout · 04-03-2015, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JiminJersey

+1 on this route. It's how we went west back in 2012 from here in South Jersey. The hills in western MD and WV are trivial compared to the Rockies, etc. However there are some 7% grades on I-68, I think it was, around Cheat Lake. But they are SHORT, maybe a mile at most.

The only thing to be more careful about are the secondary roads. Less-traveled state and county roads in the east tend to be smaller and tighter than similar roads in the west. Not as much room to roam, so to speak.

You should have no problems in the top half of the east - I am not as familiar with the hills south of the Virginia/NC state line, but I'm sure someone who is will chime in.

Hey, that's my exit!

Just take it easy and you'll be fine. We have a 35-foot gasser and pull a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4-door) and have no problems. I-68 is a fine drive. You will have some hills. We have no problems maintaining speed up hills and regularly just use engine breaking to slow us on the down hills.

Also, Cumberland, MD has a tight stretch of interstate with 45MPH sections. You will want to slow down through there. Enjoy the view and try to stop by and see some of the MD, PA WV area. Lot's to see and do through here.