Dirt roads, washboard roads for RV travel?

Keep in mind that the heavier the RV the easier it takes bumps. Ours was loaded for full-time use so it didn't bounce around. If you take a pop-up it will surely bounce. They even do on highways. Not saying don't take a light RV on a rough road - many, many do - but don't have high expectations. :)

Take the dirt/gravel roads at speeds where stuff doesn't shake too much. I can certainly agree that some pavement is worse than some of the dirt roads I've driven. While some areas are located 40+ miles down a dirt road, often the destination is only a few miles off the pavement. Just take it at reasonable speed you'll be fine.

Slower speed stirs up less dust. Higher speed may be necessary if your dirt road journey is long, and it's washboard where higher speeds you can float over it. At least in my case, most of my dirt road use is short, fairly close to pavement, and I go slow to keep it smooth and keep dust down.

If you never get off the paved roads you could sell the rv and pay for a lot of hotel rooms!

wa8yxm wrote:
I will tell you only this.. My First RV (not counting the tent) was a PUP.. Went down a road that should have been named Washboard Road

had to re-assemble much of the plumbing (Which thankfully was the drain line on that Trailer,,, Fresh... I'm not sure it had a fresh water tank).

City water was a potable water hose stuck under the flap and a garden type sprayer on the end.

Sometimes simplicity is better. Less worrying about things and certainly a lot less maintenance involved. :@

I will tell you only this.. My First RV (not counting the tent) was a PUP.. Went down a road that should have been named Washboard Road

had to re-assemble much of the plumbing (Which thankfully was the drain line on that Trailer,,, Fresh... I'm not sure it had a fresh water tank).

City water was a potable water hose stuck under the flap and a garden type sprayer on the end.

Thanks all for the replies.
Looks like I'm going to the backwoods.
:)

We boondocked a lot on forest service roads and BLM lands. We've traveled gravel roads as far as 20 miles in from a paved one. We did it with a 33' 5th wheel and 40' motorhome for 16 years of full-timing. Absolutely no damage to anything...no loose screws...no dust inside. We certainly didn't drive 50 mph - more like 20-25.

If you don't like bouncy roads then don't take a trip to Alaska! :)

It depends on your personal tolerance level and how you feel about the longevity of your RV. We enjoy exploring the back roads which are often unpaved. While we do not deliberately set out to destroy our RV's, we don't let keeping the RV nice stop us from going places that we want to go and doing things that we want to do. This summer we have towed over 800 miles of unpaved road on the Dempster Hwy in Yukon and Northwest Territories, about 200 miles on Top of the World Hwy & out to Eagle in Alaska. In the past we have towed on the Denali Hiway and we drove the Cassier before it was chip sealed. We drive very slowly when necessary and we don't mind pulling off for overnight if roads are too slippery or muddy. When something falls off or breaks, we replace or fix it right away. Trust your instincts. lizzie

stein4 wrote:
Some of the highways is SoCal are worse than a gravel dirt road.

x2. The road into Fountain of youth at Niland is just awful. I'd rather be on a gravel washboard road.

Our Class C survived some amazingly-awful roads through its 10 years with us. Just drive at your comfort level: that might be 45 mph or it might be 5 mph, depending on the road. Some of the best places we've visited were off the paved roads, especially in Alaska!