Steep Grades Colorado Springs to Moab
Hey all, Visiting a friend in Colorado Springs then headed to Moab area. Looking for route suggestions that avoid switchbacks, steep grades, and bad roads. We leave in 3 weeks. It's not that my ...
Forum Discussion
2oldman wrote:Brent and Gina wrote:oops. Using google maps I have seen the grades displayed when choosing to walk a route. Try that!
"Due to Google Map's new pricing, I have taken the site offline.
It's the bicycle routing that shows elevation profiles. For local rides around Seattle that's proving to be quite useful.
But it doesn't show grades, so don't expect it to help you choose between a highway that has max 4% and one with max 6%.
If you can read contour lines, then you can calculate the grade for specific segment. Just select a route between two contour lines, divide the elevation change by the distance (adjusting miles to feet). That works best for a climb 3-15 miles long with a relatively steady gradient.
But it sounds like the OP is bothered more by the visual factors - curves, guardrails (or not) and drop offs. For that streetview images might be most useful. Use sat view or terrain view to identify curvey hillside segments, and then zoom in to see what it looks like when driving.
