Road conditions are a lot like beauty, it is all in the eye of the beholder. I have driven the Top of the World, 8 or 10 times in the past, and have to admit it is one of my favorite drives. It is one of the few roads in the north that is built on ridges, so you can see for miles, the views are spectacular to say the least. Most northern roads run in the valleys, often between mountains, so you look left and there is a mountain, look right and there is another mountain. The Top allows a visitor to see.
The perspective most people have to road conditions is tied to their personal experiences. For those of us that grew up and learned to drive on back country gravel roads, the Top of the world is not all that intimidating to us, but many of the northern travelers, by RV, may be experiencing their first time driving on a gravel road without shoulders, or painted lines or even guard rails.
But if a person thinks it is dangerous, then to them it is, as perceived dangers are just as concerning to them as if they were real dangers. So the Top highway, probably isn't for everyone. Folks planning to drive it for the first time need to take an honest internal look at their driving experience on secondary roads, especially hilly/mountain type roads and also how well they know their RVs. Just like I tell people asking about driving their RVs on some of the shelf road highways in western Colorado, how well do they know their RVs. Do they know where their passenger side front tire is within a foot or less? If not, stay off those roads and I would say the same about the Top Highway. Know when to stop, allow plenty of time for the drive, don't hesitate to pull over at a pull off to wait out a rain or snow storm. They run 18 wheelers, pulling fuel trailers over the road several times a day, the commercial tour buses run it often and both are driven by skilled drivers that tend to be very courteous, IMHO.
Most of the horror stories told about the Top are usually second hand and they get better every time they are repeated, it seems. Sure people get hurt in accidents on the TOP, they also do here in Florida on Interstate 95. Driving vehicles is inherently dangerous, killing approx 4,000 people a year in Florida alone.
So all this verbiage is the Top is a great drive, if care is used, along with good judgement. A couple of years back a US Customs officer was killed on the Top, when his vehicle ran off the road and ended up in the creek/river below. I never did hear what caused the tragic accidents, a bad road, a heart attack, a stroke, who knows.
I am enough of a Calvinist by by religious beliefs, that when it is my time to go, it is my time to go. Nothing I can do to change that. My only thought is when it is my time to go, you may not want to be standing too close to me, riding in a vehicle with me or as a passenger in an airplane I am flying. LOL
Lots of pixels to say, if you are comfortable driving on gravel roads, with sharp turns, no shoulders in places, dust or mud depending, sharing the road with trucks, buses, cars and other RVers, go for it, as it is a very memorable drive.
joe b.
Stuart Florida
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
2016 Fleetwood Flair 31 B Class A w/bunks
www.picturetrail.com/jbpacooper
Alaska-Colorado and other Trips posted
"Without challenge, adventure is impossible".
