I am interested to hear what are the steepest and longest roads in the US... private roads , highways, back roads, anything...

This weekend I am racing my bike up Mt. Washington - it is 7.6 miles @ 12% average gradient.

We have been doing a few bicycle hill climb races and every time my wife thinks I am nuts going down in "1" the entire time and barely using the brakes (Jetta automatic). I had some people going WHAT IS THAT TRANS FLUID BURNING SMELL (towards my car)? But I am pretty sure it was burning brakes/rotors/brake fluid? on their cars.

What is the safest way to go down these hills. I am not worried about the engine. Obviously being able to stop is the biggest concern but Idon't want to fry the trans either.

 

Cali probably has some of the steepest paved roads... I remmeber like a 23% grade on one.

 

what part of Cali?
I just climbed to 3800 feet from sea level on one road up mt diablo yesterday on my mountain bike.

 

There is a short section of 26% on a section of 108 which is at the Sonora pass. Definitely a road I wouldn't take with my trailer probably not my truck either very narrow with Sharpe and steep turns!

The Sherwin Grade out of Bishop (395) is a pretty good one too, plus you hit Deadman's Summit, Conway Summit, and then Devils Gate Summit if your headed for Reno....

By the way this is from about from 4100+ feet at Bishop to about 8100+ feet which is the Conway Summit..

 

tioga pass: Very steep, but I don't remember that they have it posted. Brought a Class C motor home down it, stopped half way, and had to put out the fire on the left front brake!! (Dumped a big soda on it).
Even in granny, it was hard to keep it held back.

 

Welcome to NH. I don't want to see any headlines in the Union Leader this weekend. I haven't had the guts to go up Mt. Washington in 17 years now (I hate heights!) Just my advice from pulling a horse trailer through the Smokies and hills in the northeast - Brakes are critical. They are the only things that will stop your car. Anything you can do to reduce the load on the brakes on a long descent is of value. Use your engine for back pressure as much as you can BUT check your brakes thoroughly before you get to NH this weekend. Push comes to shove, I'd rather blow a trans and be able to stop the vehicle than go over a cliff.

When you venture outside of the normal highway routine, you put extra wear and tear on your car. I learned that many years ago when taking my GTO to Englishtown Raceway every Wednesday and Sunday. Street vehicles don't last quite as long when you take them off road. I made the mistake of taking my dad's Rambler wagon one weekend (3 on the tree and small v-8 and actually kind of quick). Goodbye trans. Boy was he mad at me. Guess what he was driving to work for the next month until I could pay for the repairs? Is there a smilie for an ostrich????

 

The Grapevine is the most famous for truckers on the "big" roads. Not much here in Florida .

 

So any reason not to just roll down in the lowest gear? We go pretty slowly and I can really get away with barely using the brakes at all. It kills me seeing people riding their brakes the entire way. It is stupid and dangerous for everyone. There are going to be about 600 (!) cars driving down at roughly the same time. BTW This is about 4750 feet in 7.6 miles. 4750 feet / (5280 ft * 7.6 miles) = 11.8%.

 

The two best I've seen, for major hwys are the Grapevine and the El Cajon (Interstate from LA to Barstow). Both excellent test beds (going up) for CTD mods. If your truck can run those with no EGT or coolant overheating, you have a great hp setup!

For non public roads.... Been up Mt Washington and up top half of Pikes Peak. Both severe, IMO. Came down both in second (locked up) and.... needed brakes only because of traffic!

RJ

 

I've never seen that kind of calculation done for a grade percentage. I have only seen the one where they take how many feet of elevation drop a road has over 100 linear feet of road distance (e.g., if a road drops 15 feet in elevation over 100 feet, then it is a 15% grade).

 

Does anyone know what the drop for Donner Pass is?
It seemed like it was a rather long drop.

 

Emigrant Hill, commonly called “Cabbage Hill,” is a very hazardous part of Interstate 84, west of La Grande in Eastern Oregon. This hill experiences some of the most changeable and severe weather conditions in the Northwest. Visibility is often limited and road surfaces are often icy. To get down Cabbage Hill, truckers lose about 2,000 feet of elevation in six miles and twist through a double hair pin turn at a 6% downgrade. More than 90% of the Cabbage Hill crashes involve out-of-state motor carriers!

We have Tygh Grade here thats like a 2200ft elevation goes for ever you gotta watch brakes on that one

 

Hankpac,

Tioga Pass, that's another one that I'll pass on... The pass is at 9945 feet and the downgrades are anywhere from 5 to 8%.....


donnie,

It's a 40 mile downgrade going west from the pass with anywhere from 2 to 6% grades.....

 

Those are all interstate roads. For a test of vehicle endurance and driver skill I recommend taking an RV to Idaho's Sawtooth Recreation Area. Hwy 75 out of Sun Valley is good, but for a real challenge Hwy 21 out of Boise is the ticket.

 

Yep I will admit this was a pretty wild hill, I towed Zane's race truck and a 42ft flatbed over this I was impressed, on the way there it was dark but on the way back it was impressive to look at.