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Old 10-19-2012, 06:58 AM   #1
oldgeezor
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Tail of the Dragon - Deals Gap

Just wondering if there have been times where your GPS sends you on a possible shortcut but also puts you in a precarious position. If you watch the video (almost 3/4 through) you will see some truckers that have difficulty on this road. I can imagine that it would be very bad for us with 5th wheels.




Ps. I am also a motorcycle rider on a Goldwing cruiser
 
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Old 10-19-2012, 07:19 AM   #2
woodtic
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Now that is a road I never want to drive on. I have had ny Garmin give me some bad directions with the trailer behind and without. Hopefully my new RV GPS will avoid those kind of roads.
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Old 10-19-2012, 07:36 AM   #3
BB_TX
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Could have if I had not known better.
We go to south central Colorado every summer near Wolf Creek Pass. And even though we know the way well, I will have the GPS on just to see the estimated travel time remaining. A few years ago we decided to stop by the Great Sand Dunes, even though we had been there before. I had the GSD as my destination on the GPS, arriving from the east from Walsenburg. GPS tried to get us to turn off just after crossing La Veta Pass onto a county road that would have taken us the back way over a 4x4 road. GPS was set for "fastest way". Don't know how it thought that was going to be faster.
Another time in the same general area, in the town of La Veta, and using my son's laptop and Streets & Trips. The S&T guided us past what I was pretty sure was the correct turn. But I followed it anyway. Ended up at the end of a street going into a low water crossing that was not even paved. Just rocks, and rough at that. We could see the road we wanted just beyond the crossing, but no way were we going over that. Had to back out and work our way back to the correct turn.
Pays to check your routes in advance before relying on a GPS in unfamiliar territory. If I have any concerns at all about unfamiliar areas, I always check google maps, google satellite view, and google street view to make sure I know in advance what to expect. I often print out detailed maps of an area just to make sure I have a reference when I get there.
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Old 10-19-2012, 08:09 AM   #4
8.1al
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When we are pulling the trailer I always double check the GPS. If we are not and have the time I will humor it, even if I'm not sure, just to see where we go. This has resulted in us finding new and better routes. We have had a few instances when the GPS or Street Atlas routed us down 2 tracks.
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Old 10-19-2012, 09:33 AM   #5
Bigboomer
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by oldgeezor

Just wondering if there have been times where your GPS sends you on a possible shortcut but also puts you in a precarious position. If you watch the video (almost 3/4 through) you will see some truckers that have difficulty on this road. I can imagine that it would be very bad for us with 5th wheels.




Ps. I am also a motorcycle rider on a Goldwing cruiser
Greg,

We did the Dragon 2 years ago, but on our M/C's. We camped in Up The Creek RV Campground http://www.upthecreekrvcamp.com/index.htmlwhich was a beautiful camp and was just outside the NP.

Cannot imagine taking Bigboomer and Little Boomer on the Dragon, tough enough to handle it with the Bikes!

I have seen these videos before as I checked YouTube out for all the M/C videos on the Dragon.

Since we camped the second week in October to grab the fall foliage there was not as much traffic.

Just an awesome trip!

Les
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Old 10-19-2012, 10:03 AM   #6
Bill-N-Donna
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Looks like some of the roads we’ve been on here in KY!
I don’t fully trust the GPS’s, so whenever possible I will Google the route with a bird’s eye view and check it out ahead of time. I know that’s not always possible but you can virtually see the entire route if you want to take the time to do so. It can help to alert you of bad areas. The RV GPS has also been good so far.
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Old 10-19-2012, 07:06 PM   #7
DQDick
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Both our Garmin and the built in in the truck, also by Garmin, have tried to do that to us. If I haven't researched the route before hand we use a hard copy trucker's atlas to check and make sure we're not being directed down a bad road for us. So far the RV GPS hasn't done it to us, but we still are checking.
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Old 10-20-2012, 02:08 AM   #8
Gkerlin
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I had that problem 2 yrs ago going from Page AZ to the north rim of GC. It kept trying to send me on dirt roads.

After researching the problem I came upon a fix that seems to have worked - at least on my unit. It's a Garmin 755

I have the eco mileage function so put the fuel mileage real high for highway driving... Like 25 mpg or so... Then I put the city driving real low - like 6. Sorry I don't remember the exact numbers.

What it did was try to keep me on roads where I'd get better mileage.

The next year I went the exact same way and it didn't try to send me on the dirt roads.

Bottom line is they are helpful but I don't put my full trust in either. If I got in a mess I'd hate to have to say "the Garmin made me do it"

When towing I always make sure that I know where I'm going and what route I'm taking and the use the GPS mainly to tell me how much longer to the next turn, a waypoint I want to stop at or whatever.

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Old 10-20-2012, 02:38 AM   #9
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All I will add is that I drove the Dragon about 6 years ago without knowing it's reputation. I had a car full in the DW's Lincoln Navigator, and was not towing. I hit it as hard as I could and had a pure blast! I had so much fun my eldest son, who was riding shotgun that day, swears he will never ride in the mountains with me again! Without the Monty, if you are in the area, take the ride...at your own pace!
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Old 10-20-2012, 03:06 AM   #10
RJI47
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I can't believe they don't post signs before hand that no Semi's or RV's are allowed.
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Old 10-20-2012, 05:41 AM   #11
Lee F.
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I have the Nuvi 465T and if it's set in truck mode it goes crazy if you try to go on roads like the dragon. It didn't even want me to go on some of the roads leading to the fairgrounds in Goshen because of tight turns.
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Old 10-20-2012, 06:00 PM   #12
washley1
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by RJI47

I can't believe they don't post signs before hand that no Semi's or RV's are allowed.
Probably no signs because they ARE allowed! Not a very good idea, but...
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Old 10-21-2012, 01:07 AM   #13
trustymopars
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I live just a couple of miles off of U.S. 129, the official designation of The Dragon. It has truck advisory signs at it's intersection with U.S. 411. Some truckers still risk it, since the only other routes to North Carolina throgh this part of TN are the Cherohala Skyway, only marginally better, or drive through Knoxville and use I-40. We love it. It is the way we go to Cherokee to make our "donations".
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