Driving CA 120 from the west up the New Priest Grade.

[Retired_Sailor]

I plan on driving east on CA 120 from CA 49 to Groveland with my 40' coach and a toad. I see its a very winding road and I'm looking for advice/suggestions. I'll be driving it this week.

[Retired_Sailor]

Made the drive yesterday with no issues. We did disconnect the toad and although I think we could have made it fine with it in tow it was one less thing to worry about and was glad we did. Now if we can just get the fires out in the park.

[msmith1199]

reasley wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
It's not that bad and the tailgators will hopefully go up Old Priest Grade. 45 foot tour buses go up New Priest Grade all day long. Semi-trucks go up Old Priest Grade. There are quite a few turnouts along the route. Just use them to let people pass. No reason to unhook the toad unless you want to. I never have unhooked.

I don't think you'll find Semi's or even many delivery trucks on Old Priest. The road has a 7200 lb max weight limit. That includes the vehicle and whatever you're towing.

Opps, my mistake when I said semi's go up old Priest. I meant to say new Priest just like the tour buses. Nothing but cars and pickups pretty much allowed on the old road.

[reasley]

msmith1199 wrote:
It's not that bad and the tailgators will hopefully go up Old Priest Grade. 45 foot tour buses go up New Priest Grade all day long. Semi-trucks go up Old Priest Grade. There are quite a few turnouts along the route. Just use them to let people pass. No reason to unhook the toad unless you want to. I never have unhooked.

I don't think you'll find Semi's or even many delivery trucks on Old Priest. The road has a 7200 lb max weight limit. That includes the vehicle and whatever you're towing.

[msmith1199]

smkettner wrote:
Allow an extra hour to go slow and another couple hours to stop and see some sights along the way.
Relax and enjoy the ride. A few spots are 8% but you are going slow so it is not a huge big deal.

New Priest Grade is only five miles long. You don't need an extra hour for that.

[msmith1199]

It's not that bad and the tailgators will hopefully go up New Priest Grade. 45 foot tour buses go up New Priest Grade all day long. Semi-trucks go up Old Priest Grade. There are quite a few turnouts along the route. Just use them to let people pass. No reason to unhook the toad unless you want to. I never have unhooked.

[Travelon]

Retired Sailor wrote:
Thanks all. Heading the way tomorrow. Thinking of disconnecting the toad at the bottom and having my wife keep the tailgaters away with it.

Smart move, enjoy the drive.

Travelon

[Retired_Sailor]

Thanks all. Heading the way tomorrow. Thinking of disconnecting the toad at the bottom and having my wife keep the tailgaters away with it.

[time2roll]

Allow an extra hour to go slow and another couple hours to stop and see some sights along the way.
Relax and enjoy the ride. A few spots are 8% but you are going slow so it is not a huge big deal.

[Marv_Hoag]

Been there done that several times. It's a little bit of work, but not all that long a stretch of road.

[jmtandem]

This is not for those that don't like curves and mountain grades.

[paulj]

It's windy because it's grade is a half of that of the Old Priest Grade.
http://www.pinemountainlake.com/Page/21389~335619/ErrorNotFoundhttpwwwpinemountainlakecom80Priest-Grade-Grizzly-Gulch

[othertonka]

You should be OK since the alternative Hwy to get to groveland is many miles further. 120 is indeed steep and windy but it is doable. Because it is steep and has tight turns you won't have to obtain a lot of speed. one thing that I find helpful going up east is you or your co pilot can look up the mountain and see the traffic coming down. That gives you a heads up on when you might meet that vehicle coming around a turn. Take your time around those tight turns and try to keep in your lane and you should be OK.