Trip Planning

[Tony_B]

How do I plan a trip from A to B without encountering hazards like low bridges, trees, tight turns, etc?

What resources are available?

[2gypsies1]

Each national park has sites for varying lengths. Our 40' motorhome fit easily in Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Bryce and others. We also made our stays in national forest campgrounds, Corp of Engineers, state parks, county and city parks. You won't fit in every park with a big rig and you'll learn to do research beforehand but neither will a 30' fit in every park. Get an RV that you'd be comfortable in. There are always options outside the parks.

[BizmarksMom]

Tony B wrote:
We have heard 2 different numbers in total length of camper allowed in National parks. Anyone here know of this or any other restrictions in regards to length?

Each park is different. In general, the longer the rig the more limited you are.

[SpeakEasy]

Don't plan on going through any drive-through bank ATM's.

-Speak

[Tony_B]

We have heard 2 different numbers in total length of camper allowed in National parks. Anyone here know of this or any other restrictions in regards to length?

[missnmountains]

We use the Goodsam RVND 7735 GPS. You key in your height, RV type, length, weight, etc. When routing, it will not let you go on roads with restrictions based upon your setup.

Ken

[2gypsies1]

We've full-timed and mainly traveled in the West for 16 years. We rarely drove the interstates with our 40' motorhome towing the Jeep. We love mountain driving and secondary roads. We've never had an issue. We look at maps and don't rely on a GPS. Good maps will give you tunnels and if you want to study further, Google the highway. State highways are normally traveled by semis. Forest service roads were traveled with our Jeep for exploring after parking the RV.

[Tony_B]

We have not bought a 5th wheel yet. Our boat is for sale and the closing date is May 12th. As soon as we close out, we will buy a 5th wheel. We lived aboard our boat full time for over 20 years and intend to live aboard the 5er full time also.
So the minute we sell the boat, we are technically homeless.
We will buy the 5er first, then buy a truck and then sell our Van and we will be off and away.

[WNYBob]

I don't see that you have posted what rig you have. How tall are you?
Something else to be cautious about, service station awnings, check posted hetghts.

In most cases be observant, as most situating are posted.

[fulltimedaniel]

I think while you are being cautious is good, you are overworrying this a bit.

The vast vast majority of state and US highways are designed and made for tractor trailers which means you will have no problem. The very few that are not are well marked. But as the driver it's your job to know the height of your vehicle and pay attention.

Even most lesser roads like county roads will be perfectly ok.

The Commercial Drivers version of the Rand Mc Nalley Road atlas has all approved truck acceptable roads outlined in yellow. I personally would never rely solely on GPS. While they are a great tool, they are not accurate enough for you to leave the decision about low bridges to them.

About low bridges. The overwhelming majority of low bridges, which are individually listed in the Road Atlas above, are clustered East of the Miss. River and then mostly in the far east of the country. Chicago being a big example in the midwest, But most exist in downtown areas. or on small country roads that are well signed for trucks.

I would not "plan" any trip to this detail myself.

As for small towns and cities they all accommodate trucks, buses, and tractor trailers so the chance of you having a real problem is small.

My advice, drop all the minute detail planning and worry, set a route that uses State and US highways and interstates and GO.

You will be just fine.

[D_E_Bishop]

Tony B wrote:
Thanks guys.

It's not the major highways I am worried about. Sometimes I would need to get off the highways to get to a campground or do some local stuff. Some towns have low bridges or very sharp turns on narrow streets. How would I know this ahead of time?

Will a truckers GPS tell me this and where would I get a good GPS for this purpose.?

Getting off the interstate and into the local area is where all the fun stuff is and almost all the things you mention are well signed. Only one time did I find myself in a fix and that just required unhooking the towed and turning around.

I do recognize the fact that it is "much" more difficult with a 5er than an MoHo, but, common since is much better than totally relying on a GPS. We do not use a three or four hundred dollar RV model, we have two that averaged less than $100 each and both are reconditioned.

Don't get too tied up in knowing every turn and hill on your trip, just roll with the problems and retell them around the campfire.

JMNTBHO

[Itching2go]

Tony B wrote:
Thanks guys.

It's not the major highways I am worried about. Sometimes I would need to get off the highways to get to a campground or do some local stuff. Some towns have low bridges or very sharp turns on narrow streets. How would I know this ahead of time?

Will a truckers GPS tell me this and where would I get a good GPS for this purpose.?

You're right to be concerned with roads and routes away from highways, and with our fiver at 13.5 feet, we take care in that regard. We've been using Garmin's RV760 for a few years now, and it has worked well for us. There are other brands out there that I understand work well, but make sure you get one designed for RV's and not a "trucker's" version. Both will route you to avoid low clearance bridges and such, but a trucker's version will also limit you to streets and roads designated by local municipalities as "truck routes". We started out with one of those, and found ourselves frequently going way out of our way needlessly in order to get from one point to another.

[DutchmenSport]

Only one time in all the years we've been traveling around have we encountered a low overhead. We were following our TomTom GPS in South Carolina and were about 10 miles from the campground. TomTom wanted us to go down a country road. When turning off the highway, I caught a slight glimpse of a low-overhead sign, but caught just enough of it to realize the trailer was too tall. I wasn't sure how far ahead it was either. We turned around in a church parking lot that was right there. Saw the sign indicated the low-overhead was ahead about 8 or 9 miles.

We studied the paper map then and compared with Google Maps on our SmartPhones and found a way around. Next day, after the trailer was unhitched, we were driving the opposite direction site seeing, and we ended up on the same road. We found the low overhead! I had to stop and get photos. It's the only one I've ever encountered.

I guess the moral of the story is to REALLY pay attention to your road signs once you get off the main highways and Interstates. Know the height of your rig, so if you see something indicating a height clearance, you know immediately to take evasive action if it's too low:

[Tony_B]

Thanks guys.

It's not the major highways I am worried about. Sometimes I would need to get off the highways to get to a campground or do some local stuff. Some towns have low bridges or very sharp turns on narrow streets. How would I know this ahead of time?

Will a truckers GPS tell me this and where would I get a good GPS for this purpose.?

[troubledwaters]

Stick to major highways that the big rigs use and you won't have any problems. Get off the beaten path and your on your own.