Guide book or website about steep/twisted/rough roads?

lbrjet wrote:
... Traveled yesterday from Wellsboro, PA to Saugerties, NY and Google wanted us to go down a two mile stretch of road at a 13% grade. No thanks.

Bet you are referring to Plate Cove Rd at the Saugerties end.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Wellsboro,+PA+to+Saugerties,+NY&saddr=Wellsboro,+PA&daddr=Saugerties,+NY&hl=en&ll=42.128657,-74.072828&spn=0.015755,0.039096&sll=47.272986,-120.882277&sspn=3.659989,10.008545&geocode=FcwIfQIdznxk-yl1Eke-HyzOiTGIw65l-ztc3g%3BFZcNggIdb5GX-ym70eB58wjdiTHWOmGCny3l1w&t=p&z=15&layer=c&cbll=42.128597,-74.073135&panoid=0Y_vQsGT-4hBaiRozhcskA&cbp=12,270,,0,0.1

That drop is quite obvious when terrain mode is turned on. This looks like the sharpest rim bordering the Hudson Valley.

The alternative route using NY17 and 52 enters the Valley in a gentler way. But you are asking for a route over or around the Catskill Mtns.

Usually asking for the quickest route avoids these minor roads because they are slow. But in this case it was enough shorter going over the mountains that the choice made the top list.

I check my proposed routes with an IPad app called TopoProfiler. I have both mountain directories and they simply don't cover most of the roads I travel. Traveled yesterday from Wellsboro, PA to Saugerties, NY and Google wanted us to go down a two mile stretch of road at a 13% grade. No thanks.

If it is curves that bother you (or your passengers), just zoom in far enough to see them in detail. Or even go to Streetview level.

There are a whole range of difficulties. Some seem to fear anything that is not Interstate. In southern Oregon, US199 to Crescent City gets mixed opinions. It is a Federal #, but the California part along the Smith River is too curvy for some people. For other's that fine, but OR227 north of Shady Grove is too much.

In S Oregon you also have a lot of Forest Service and BLM logging roads. Most are gravel, but some are paved. The most notorious is Bear Camp from Galice to Agness (or Grant's Pass to Gold Beach). Shuttle drivers for river rafters drive it fast, with trailers full of raft. But unprepared people have died on it.

I, personally... also have no fear of twisting mountain roads. However... my girls definitely do.

On a recent trip google maps/navigation put us on a highway... not some fire road, mind you. Our average speed was about 15 mph. It was Hell on my girls.

So the lesson for me is clearly to take the time and plan my trips more carefully. Google Maps does have a good terrain feature that shows contour lines. Had I employed this, I would have seen where google wanted to take me and manually chosen an alternate route.

It would have been nice to have an "RV" option showing alternate routes that are more the straight and... not so narrow. Other than finding this thread, my searching has come up dry. But I'm still holding out hope.

Anyone?

..and reading that description tells me what to expect for the next 20 miles - no surprises. What's wrong with that? If the last entry stated a 10% grade begins in two miles, I would want to know that and perhaps find a different route before I even get on that road.

When we're doing extensive mountain driving we go over our next day's planned route the night before when there still time to make changes. We don't get on a mountain road and THEN begin reading about it.

We have no fear of mountain roads and know that going up and down will be slower for us. But we do appreciate finding this kind of information to let us know what we're getting into.

This is the kind of information that I had in mind:

http wrote:
About 26 miles south of the junction of I-40 and I-17 at Flagstaff there is a sign for southbound traffic—"6% grade 2 miles ahead." About ½ mile later there is another sign—"Trucks—vehicles pulling trailers check brakes and equipment—use scenic view." At milepost 312 a sign warns—"6% grade next 13 miles" and ½ mile later the 6% begins. The first 3 ½ miles are fairly steady 6% grade.

A lot, if not all, of the grade information comes from signs posted by the state DOTs.

I carry both Mountain Directory East and West. They're written for Truckers and RVers that have to deal with the increased weight of their vehicles. They even tell you about places to pull over to check your brakes (before the pedal goes all the way to the floor), how to check them and how to use them. Also the locations of runaway truck ramps. One trip across the Bighorn Mountains will make you a believer. Going up is just slow. Going down can be an "adventure".

paulj...by your post your'e inferring certain things that are largely inaccurate. When I chose to buy his, not their, publications the purchase was made by calling the number supplied.

The publisher/creator answered the phone and the order was placed but not before we talked about how he came by this info. His one man show was benefited from his years spent behind the wheel of a big truck/18 wheeler. Even if he needed to borrow some material the so be it. He asks for input from customers as well.

We use the Mountain Directory all the time and find it very accurate on what to expect mile by mile.

My impression from the online sample of Mountain Guide (for Arizona) is that most of their grade information comes from state DOTs, specifically the grade signs they post at the top of long grades. The purpose of those signs is to warn truckers, giving them a chance to test their brakes (brake test pull offs), and to gear down.

DOTs also warn about curvy sections. Grade warnings at the base of a hill are not common, though I have seen them in California.

California has maps for truckers, buses and RV showing restricted roads - mostly for length. Look up discussions about Calif. highways like 108, 4, 20 (west of US101), CA1 north of Fort Brag, etc.

Many print maps show 'scenic highways'. Since scenery and mountains often go hand in hand, some big RV drivers avoid those.

I'm not aware of books or websites that warn about roads being 'too rough'. Roughness can change with maintenance, or lack there of. The biggest difference in roughness is between paved and gravel roads.