Great Tool For Planning Trips & Avoiding Mtns.

[RKanehl]

We are planning trips to upper Indiana and out west during the summer and fall, but dislike the thought of towing my Rockwood 8280sw though the mountains of Tenn. and the mountains out west.
I came across an article about how to avoid towing through high and/or dangerous high elevations highways, that may be of help.
Go to Google Maps and enter your proposed route. Then change the routing planner to "Bike Routes" which is a little icon on the route planner. It will then show the elevation at every point along your planned route. You can then drag the route guide to other potential routes and it will show you the elevation along your new route plan at all points.

Hope it helps you as it has helped me.

Regards,
Rich Kanehl
The Villages Fl.

[Darrell]

If you're going to be traveling out west, I strongly recommend you buying a copy of the "Mountain Directory West". It shows the location and describes the length and grade of the mountain passes. Works great and relatively cheap. I think my used copy from Amazon was only about $10.00. Well worth it.


I wasn't familiar with the bike route option you describe. Thanks, that will be very useful as well.

[BamaBob]

If you have a Apple/droid phone or tablet, the Allstays app is a great app for any RV'er (not just for elevations). Extending the app, the Allstays website (www.allstays.com) is a *great* resource.

Allstays offers a "Pro" membership (which I do not have) which would probably be a good thing for a mostly or full-timer to have. Allstays maps have elevation data + more filters than google maps has (although they use the google map, they have custom RV-specific layers for the google maps.) They also have custom download layers that you can apply to google earth and use off-line.

[Blaster 84]

I wonder if the bike route would keep you from low bridges or tunnels.

[Oakman]

Originally Posted by Darrell

If you're going to be traveling out west, I strongly recommend you buying a copy of the "Mountain Directory West". It shows the location and describes the length and grade of the mountain passes. Works great and relatively cheap. I think my used copy from Amazon was only about $10.00. Well worth it.


I wasn't familiar with the bike route option you describe. Thanks, that will be very useful as well.

I have to ditto this. I reference my Mountain Directory every time I travel. I have both the West and the East directories.

[frozen]

We all have different likes and dislikes, and we need to do what we're comfortable with, but many of us drive thousands of miles for the pleasure of being in (and towing in) mountains. Although knowing what's ahead is prudent, most major highways through the mountains are suitable for large RVs. Having adequate equipment for high elevations, keeping downhill speeds under control, and generally using good driving practices should yield a pleasant experience for folks who want to see some of the best that America has to offer. Having said that, I can think of a few highways where I would be reluctant to tow a trailer, and another few where larger units aren't allowed--and for good reason .