If you’ve never driven on a steep, winding, narrow, mountain road, don’t! Especially stay off the road on a weekend when the locals might be out for a drive.

I get it, you want to see the fall foliage. So do we, but we would like to survive the trip and/or at least make the drive in less than a day.

It seems like you get one of two types of drivers. The first are the drivers who are so afraid they will drive off the road and roll down the mountain, that they drive at little old grandma walking speed. And, they drive down the middle of the road because they are so afraid their car might suddenly jump over the side. Of course, these clowns turn an hour drive into a 1/2 day of frustration.

On the other hand, we also get the idiot who thinks it’s the autobahn and is tearing down the road going a million miles an hour forcing everyone else out of their way regardless of road conditions.

There really needs to be a safe mountain pass driving course you must take before you are allowed to drive on a narrow canyon road.

Edited to add: AND NO BIKES!!!!

I was right in the middle of those 2 groups years ago on Angeles Forest Hwy between Palmdale/Anaheim

We were in our Ford Flex with my in-laws in 2 cars behind us (Not sure how we ended up leading the convoy instead of the locals)

Taking it fairly easy, but doing the speed limit, pulled off twice to let the string of cars get by & to let the kids' stomachs settle.

I’ll unfortunately admit that I was probably the latter when I was younger in my Z and probably now the former in my truck.

My ass seems to pucker as I age. I’ve found it’s harder to drive when my ass is converting poop into diamonds.

We lived 15 miles from Glacier National Park for 20 years. Going to the Sun road was a 3-4 times per year event. We saw it all. Drive offs, head ons and random wrecks. Very narrow and curvy.

My father in law lives in North East Tennessee, lots of curvy mountain roads. My wife and I own property up there to hopefully retire to.

One year while visiting we were driving to either Bristol or Johnson City. While we were doing this we were watching motorcycle riders treat the road as their own Grand Prix race track.

I was expecting to see someone go off the road and down the mountain into a valley at one point.

I love the smell of overheated brakes in the morning!

Lots of people come over the pass down through our town to see the sights or play race track. Many have no idea how to manage downhill speed, burning up their brakes. Average of 1 per year totally burn out their brakes and careen out of control at the bottom.

quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
If you’ve never driven on a steep, winding, narrow, mountain road, don’t!

Edited to add: AND NO BIKES!!!!

BB61, if I recall, you live along the Wasatch Front, right?

I was in Payson last week caring for my mom. From her porch, I could see Price Canyon and Payson canyon with wonderful colors. She was too sick to go for a drive, but it would have been tempting.

I agree though - driver are simply too distracted to be driving. If you want to OOOO and AAAAHH, pull over!

quote:

North East Tennessee, lots of curvy mountain roads.

I grew up in Kingsport & had relatives in Johnson City, Ashville, & way up in the mountains. I once raced across the mountain to Ashville. Later out of the Army in 1970 & going to school in Knoxville it was great fun to cross over to Cherokee from Gatlinburg on our motorcycles. I guess I was the idiot treating the road as a race track. We hated the flatlanders driving the roads as they were so slow it was dangerous to round a blind curve.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:

quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
If you’ve never driven on a steep, winding, narrow, mountain road, don’t!

Edited to add: AND NO BIKES!!!!

BB61, if I recall, you live along the Wasatch Front, right?

I was in Payson last week caring for my mom. From her porch, I could see Price Canyon and Payson canyon with wonderful colors. She was too sick to go for a drive, but it would have been tempting.

I agree though - driver are simply too distracted to be driving. If you want to OOOO and AAAAHH, pull over!

Yes and absolutely.

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:

quote:

North East Tennessee, lots of curvy mountain roads.

We hated the flatlanders driving the roads as they were so slow it was dangerous to round a blind curve.

Yeah, flatlanders, I swear to Buddha.

I was driving once between Portland OR and Missoula MT, in November, to attend a football game. A few miles before I got to the bottom of Lookout Pass on the Idaho side of the Idaho/Montana border (I-90), it started snowing. Halfway up the pass the snow was an inch or so deep, and I noticed a long string of taillights in front of me. It was a whole caravan of Beemers, Lincolns, Caddies, Mercedes', even one Rolls Royce, about 20 of them. All with California plates, all creeping up the hill at about 5MPH, bumper to bumper. As I passed each one I glanced at the drivers. Every one had white knuckles on the wheel and a terrified expression on his face.

I have no idea where they were going or why, but I never saw anything about a bunch of expensive cars driving off the side of the road, so I guess they made it.

The slow pokes drive me bat shit. Haleakala on Maui, is hairpin after hairpin. I’ve railed it in a JCW Mini, and oh my. I hear you. Some people were driving slower than the tourist busses. I’m stuck behind them wondering why in the fuck they drove up there if they are that scared. Just go the speed limit and pay attention to the signs. If someone is behind you, pull off the road and let other traffic by as there are a number of run off areas for specifically this purpose. A run off area would come and I’m thinking finally, only for the idiot not to take it. It’s maddening.

And I hear you on no bikes but on a bike I’m good and don’t have to deal with any of it. I don’t cross double yellows but you will get passed, safely.

US 60 was a sort of Big Deal route in the days before the interstates so one would expect that it's mostly straight and curves would be gradual. Not in West Virginia. My sister lives in Lexington Virginia and my Boss who has family ties in West Virgina Suggested that I take US 60 out of Charleston as a shortcut to Lexington. Yeah, it was a practical joke. Because IIRC that very tight hair pin turn had a suggested speed of 5 MPH in the middle of a 55 MPH speed zone. Note, they weren't kidding about that 5 MPH suggested speed. I was driving my 1985 Monte Carlo SS which is actually a pretty good handling car so I only slowed down to 15 MPH. At that speed I had all 4 tires squealing. The rest of the drive was pretty pleasant and the stretches where it got "technical" were rather fun. However all those turns added up to nearly the same mileage as going to Beckley and then I-64 so it was absolutely NOT a time saver. The only time I got held up by a driver was someone on a Harley who did get upset when I passed him. He road my rear bumper for about 2 miles until the next technical section where I just pulled away.

I've just come to accept that a high percentage of people out there can not drive or ride well. It wouldn't be a problem if they would just exercise courtesy and pull off when they find themselves holding up others. And actually a few do, but most don't.
Heck some even struggle on interstates, driving in the passing lane needlessly braking through every slight curve or hill.

Thunder Road ran through Kingston Pike in Knoxville Love Robert Mitchum

I drive them everyday to and from work.
An hour and a half one way each day.
And the amount of stupid I see it ridiculous.
ESPECIALLY the bikers. And then there's the bicyclists.

EVERY weekend I hear the emergency vehicles running up the mountain to take someone away.
Or the asshat dirtbags with the loud pipes that think we all want to hear that shit.

We do love our driving threads on this page!

If I said that I grew up in a rural area that wouldn't quite say it. Even then, the person going downhill getting the right of way wasn't guaranteed.

Now, forget it.

You boys need to plan a trip to the mountains of North Carolina right about this time of year and try to run the Trail of the Dragon! It is something you will never forget!

https://tailofthedragon.com/


But for me personally my most harrowing trip was a vacation to the hills of Tuscanny where I had rented a large Villa overlooking the beautiful valley. I was driving a small diesel Fiat of some sort and almost had a heart attack as we started climbing the mountain. Our real estate agent told us that as you approach one of the many blind switch backs whomever honks first has the right of way to take the center of this one lane donkey path. Well apparently many Italians in that neck of the woods are heard of hearing and would almost have a head on collision daily as we went back and forth. But it was one hell of a vacation!

Andorra. Tiny country way up in the Pyrenees mountains, between Spain and France. Tight curves, narrow roads, steep drop-offs, blind corners. A perfect setup for traffic deaths, but I found the drivers to be competent and courteous.