Beware "Old Priest Grad Road" - west entry to Yosemite

Favorite part of my drives to Yosemite, but only when in a car.

Having driven a 24C over Beartooth twice, I would never take Old Priest Grade in a 24C.

As to the Long Long Trailer, it was filmed in the eastern Sierras, the "road" is Whitney Portal Road.

Yes, Old climbs straight up, New winds around, and thus isn't as steep.

But on a couple of grades in Idaho, the Old is the slow and curvy one. Model T's did not have that great of a power to weight ratio. In fact if the road got too steep, they had to back up. Reverse was a lower gear. And gravity feed of fuel worked better if the gas tank was higher.

But apparently this grade dates from stage coach days - when the passengers walked up to save the horses.

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/localnews/4523876-151/closures-planned-for-notoriously-steep-old-priest-grade

“With the onset of GPS, people don’t read signs any more,” York said. “You can sit up there on the patio at Priest Station and watch them come up the new grade, then they turn left and go down the old grade. They’re in RVs and buses and they are not even thinking about which way it is to Yosemite. They are just listening to the magic voice coming out of their phones.”

“The reality is we keep seeing head-on and sideswipe collisions,” he said. “People think they can get over out of the way but they can’t. I write tickets for crossing over the yellow lines all the time.”

After looking at Google Earth, Old has less twist & turns than the New.

doxiemom11 wrote:
We never use GPS but rely on maps and google satelite and google earth views to plan our routes. So far it's worked great but we do hear horror stories often from people who use GPS -- and that's why we don't.

A GPS is a tool.

Like any tool, it takes time to learn how to use it properly.

Like any tool, just picking it up and using it without training and practice - they can be incredibly dangerous to use.

I just checked it on google maps. While there are signs that say no RV's or larger vehicles, I towed through more than that on my way to Yellowstone! Even through Yellowstone. Beartooth Highway being one of them.
No I would not recommend taking the road in question here, but there are far worse out there.

paulj wrote:
The horror stories come from people who blindly trust the GPS directions, not from people who use it intelligently, and in conjunction with other tools.

With smart phone data, or downloaded maps, you can get the Google maps info along with a big "You are here" maker from the phone's own GPS receiver. GPS and digital maps are useful even if you don't ask for it for directions. And even if set to give directions, you can ignored them. It's a tool, not a boss.

Rving or not, I always try to review a days route on paper or on a computer before I start driving. State DOT sites and Google Maps can be useful in finding construction and detours. Then I enter the destination into the GPS and look at the route it chooses. Sometimes it chooses a better route, and sometimes it chooses a bad one. Having seen the route on paper, I can either see why the GPS is choosing something or scratch my head and try to figure it out.

A huge advantage of the paper map or computer screen is that I can see everything near the route. A few years ago we were headed for New England and I happened to notice that a town in New York where an old classmate moved was only about 20 miles off the Thruway. Had I not seen the town on the map, I'd have never realized we were going to be so close. Was able to meet him for a wonderful 2 hour lunch.

If I get re-routed along the way by traffic, construction or making a wrong turn, I pull into the first gas station or restaurant I can find and do a little more map reading to make sure I'm not going somewhere I don't want to go. Got detoured by a damaged bridge once, and the official detour was 14 miles. Lady at a Wendy's told us to take a county road 3 miles and there was a 4 lane state highway route that was actually a little shorter than the original route.

One of the biggest advantages of using a GPS isn't routing, but the warning that your turn is coming up and the guidance about which lane to be in. When two lanes exit, but you need to be in the left lane of the two, it's really nice to know that a mile before your exit.

The horror stories come from people who blindly trust the GPS directions, not from people who use it intelligently, and in conjunction with other tools.

With smart phone data, or downloaded maps, you can get the Google maps info along with a big "You are here" maker from the phone's own GPS receiver. GPS and digital maps are useful even if you don't ask for it for directions. And even if set to give directions, you can ignored them. It's a tool, not a boss.

We never use GPS but rely on maps and google satelite and google earth views to plan our routes. So far it's worked great but we do hear horror stories often from people who use GPS -- and that's why we don't.

In April - 17th thru 23rd - we went up that route to the Thousand Trails campground. There was plenty of warning/ signage to not take a 'large' vehicle up Old Priest Grade Road, but to use the longer, easier grade, better road.

One other thing I'd recommend about using a GPS - TURN OFF THE VOICE DIRECTIONS.

They give a false sense of urgency about making a turn if the view out the windshield makes the turn questionable.

A GPS (or Google Maps or any other app) is an ADVISORY tool.

It is always the driver's responsibility to research the day's drive ahead of time, look for potential problem spots and plan the best way past them.

I learned this on my very first RV trip. GPS routing - fastest (not shortest) route.