We would like to get off the interstate, but......

Hi,

I've only had to back track once in 160,000 miles of RV travel. I hate the interstate highway system with a passion.

Depends on what part of the country you're in. You have to sorta get a "feel" for the roads in your area. Out here in the west we pretty much don't worry about it much at all. Just go. Now one time over in Texas we dropped onto dirt out east of Lubbock working our way up to Caprock Canyons State Park and we though we'd never get outta there and back onto pavement.

But there are also the horror stories of people having had to back up for miles on narrow dead end roads too.

That can either be a story to chuckle about with the grand kids or perhaps something to go over with your psychologist at the next therapy session.

For 7 yrs. of FT travel we rarely used Interstates (Only when absolutely necessary)

We traveled secondary/backwards towing 34' 5vr with quad cab long bed truck.

Only two times did we encounter a problem......one low bridge (turned around and went a different way) and once when we missed the correct turn and road went to a farm house (again turned around).

We hit the road to travel and part of that was seeing the small towns, countryside one does NOT see from Interstates.

If you can maneuver your 5vr into/thru CG roads/sites.........be adventurous and enjoy the trip.
Pay attention to road signage, relax and GO!

The few unusually low bridges I've come across in my travels, there was always AMPLE warning the clearance issue exists, including just how low it is. There were also numerous options for turning off of that road to avoid the bridge and to turn around.

It is helpful to be aware of your actual heigth at RV highest point so in case of a low bridge you can determine in advance with no doubts. Other than that pull over when you can and enjoy the ride.

If you look at your map and all the roads in the area seem to meander strangely and hook together in odd, irregular intervals, chances are good that the roads there are very curvy and narrow with lots of hills or mountains. If you find such roads overly challenging, that's one way to avoid most of them.

Sometimes you just need to be adventurious. If in doubt about a route, I punch up the route on my cell phone using co-pilot and it will notify me of low clearances, but not narrow roads. If I find a road too restrictive, I get off when possible and do a reroute.:B

I'll have to slightly disagree, you can run into low overpasses/bridges. We have a couple within 50 miles of here that I know about. One is on the route to Rainbow springs Park CG. There are books and a plugin for computer navigation software: search for low clearance road on Google.

BK

I have never seen a US designated highway that would be a problem. Same for state designated highways, although some state highways may be a little narrower, or no shoulders, or a little rougher.

Now if you are getting off on farm and ranch roads, it COULD be a problem. But some of those are pretty good roads also.

If I am planning a trip into an area I am not familiar with and plan on getting onto secondary highways I will go to google maps and first do an up close satellite view. Then I will do a street view at points along the way. Between those two you can get a really good idea of what the highway will be like.

where are you looking to go, in what country?

In the USA, it is a pretty safe bet any road will handle an RV, unless otherwise marked... If you don't want the interstates, you'll be looking at the old federal highway / byway system for state to state travel, named US-# or US-## ... these are mostly 2 lane roads, sometimes bigger, and often travel through small towns, having lots of places to stop and take breaks.