Moran Wy. to Kanab Ut

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pappi49

pappi49

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2017
Posts
113
Location
Lexington Ky.
This will be our first trip this far west and only our second of any distance. We will be heading west in Aug. to Sturgis for bike week and then to west Yellowstone for at least a week then down to the Tetons.

My question is, what would be the best route from there to Kanab Ut. MY trip router has me getting over to I15 via Rt. 191 and 89. I have been told on another forum that 89 all the way down to Kanab would be better. My greatest concern is that I have very little mountain driving experience at all. What I do have has all been on the motorcycle(Smokies and Black Hills.) No comparison, I know.

I would like to avoid any +7-8% grades and steeper, shear drop offs w/o guard rails, switch backs etc. Fortunatly, time is not an issue since we are retired and in no hurry. My only concern is the reservation I have in Kanab.

Should I stick to my I15 route or would a Rt. 89 be ok for some one with no mountain driving experience?

Thanks in advance for all your help.
 
AStravelers said:
I hope you have verified the towing capacity of your truck.  Your trailer max weight is just under 8000 pounds.

If you are close to max towing capacity you want to stay out of the mountains.

Link to Ford's towing capacity info:  https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/features/Capability/f150-towing-capacity/
Click to expand...

Truck is a F150 with the Eco boost engine and 3.55 gears. Truck has 1989 lbs. of listed payload and max tow package. Per the Trailer Tow guide and Ford the truck is rated to tow 11,500 lbs.

This truck should be and is more than capable of pulling my trailer. Thank you for your concern.
 
hope you have reservations with full hook ups as it will be in the 90s and possible 100 degrees .
 
beaverfever said:
hope you have reservations with full hook ups as it will be in the 90s and possible 100 degrees .
Click to expand...

Yes, all reservations have been made and they are all with full hookups. This is for the entire trip of about 2 months plus.

I appreciate the fact that every one is concerned with our comfort and also the capabilities of my truck, but it does nothing in regards to answering my question. Should I take rt. 89 all the way or stick to I15? I think 89 runs with the interstate for awhile but I am not certain. And if it goes through congested parts of town I really don't want to do that either unless it makes the drive easier.
 
Back to your original question: "What is US-89 like from the Teton NP area to Kanab, UT."

What I do to research a highway is to use Google Earth or if you prefer Google Maps or Bing Maps and trace out the route.  In the areas that have squiggly lines for the road, I switch to the satellite view for a visual view of the road.  All 3 mapping programs have a features which let you jump down to ground level for a 360 degree view of the road if you want more detail than the satellite view.  I much prefer my own research.  I know my capabilities and wants.  Asking others, I get so many conflicting opinions, many of which are like I would never take xxx route in an RV.  Yet, many hundreds or thousands of RV'ers drive xxx route every year.

I used Google Earth to follow US-89 from Bear Lake, Garden City, UT through the mountains to Logan and it doesn't look like it has any switch backs or really steep sections.  That section will probably be a pretty slow drive.  You will probably drive at 45-50mph and lower on some curves.  The road pretty much follows a river and is a normal width 2 lane hwy with places to pull over and admire the views.  Also several campgrounds along the way.  I think the CG's are NF.  If so here is link to lots of very specific info about every NF CG you can get a small trailer to a 40' MH into: https://www.forestcamping.com/

If you are planning the US-89 route because you want a scenic route with spending a night or three in a few campgrounds along the way, and limiting your daily mileage to 100-200 miles it should be a good route.  If your intent is to drive 250 or more miles on US-89 each day, only stopping to spend the night then I would recommend just going over to I-15 and head south. 

If you are going to go from Grand Teton to I-15, I suggest you take US-26 to I-15.  You probably already know you don't want to take SR-22 from Jackson Hole going west over the mountain.
 
pappi49 said:
Yes, all reservations have been made and they are all with full hookups. This is for the entire trip of about 2 months plus.

I appreciate the fact that every one is concerned with our comfort and also the capabilities of my truck, but it does nothing in regards to answering my question. Should I take rt. 89 all the way or stick to I15? I think 89 runs with the interstate for awhile but I am not certain. And if it goes through congested parts of town I really don't want to do that either unless it makes the drive easier.
Click to expand...
Use your computer and go to Google Maps or Bing Maps and trace out the route.  That will show you where US-89 goes. 

On US-89, once you get to the SLC area, just get on I-15.  You don't want to wander through city streets on US-89 in SLC.  I-15 is pretty open and good after 9-9:30am and before 3-3:30pm.  Yes there are cars and truck all around you at 65mph, but that is just typical city interstate traffic. Just stay to the right, the second lane from the right and drive at 55mph and let everyone else pass you.  Or go 65mph if you are comfortable with that.  I-15 is 4 to 6 lanes wide in SLC down to Provo.
 
AStravelers said:
Back to your original question: "What is US-89 like from the Teton NP area to Kanab, UT."

What I do to research a highway is to use Google Earth or if you prefer Google Maps or Bing Maps and trace out the route.  In the areas that have squiggly lines for the road, I switch to the satellite view for a visual view of the road.  All 3 mapping programs have a features which let you jump down to ground level for a 360 degree view of the road if you want more detail than the satellite view.  I much prefer my own research.  I know my capabilities and wants.  Asking others, I get so many conflicting opinions, many of which are like I would never take xxx route in an RV.  Yet, many hundreds or thousands of RV'ers drive xxx route every year.

I used Google Earth to follow US-89 from Bear Lake, Garden City, UT through the mountains to Logan and it doesn't look like it has any switch backs or really steep sections.  That section will probably be a pretty slow drive.  You will probably drive at 45-50mph and lower on some curves.  The road pretty much follows a river and is a normal width 2 lane hwy with places to pull over and admire the views.  Also several campgrounds along the way.  I think the CG's are NF.  If so here is link to lots of very specific info about every NF CG you can get a small trailer to a 40' MH into: https://www.forestcamping.com/

If you are planning the US-89 route because you want a scenic route with spending a night or three in a few campgrounds along the way, and limiting your daily mileage to 100-200 miles it should be a good route.  If your intent is to drive 250 or more miles on US-89 each day, only stopping to spend the night then I would recommend just going over to I-15 and head south. 

If you are going to go from Grand Teton to I-15, I suggest you take US-26 to I-15.  You probably already know you don't want to take SR-22 from Jackson Hole going west over the mountain.
Click to expand...

Actually, after using a web site that was recommended, I am not sure that 89 is the best route for me. The site is Flattest Route and it show a steady climb from about 5200 feet to over 7700. The problem I have with that is that it shows climbs of 7-9 %. I am not sure that I would be real comfortable with that.

I will try to post a link to the site showing rt. 89 from Garden City to Logan. I am not sure the link will work but you can probably copy and paste it into your browser. I am not real certain that I am reading the charts correctly but I believe so. Here is the link;
https://www.flattestroute.com/?from=Garden+City%2C+UT%2C+USA&to=Logan%2C+UT%2C+USA&travelMode=Driving&measurementMode=miles

If you dont mind, please take a look and tell me what you think. Thank you very much.

 
pappi49 said:
Actually, after using a web site that was recommended, I am not sure that 89 is the best route for me. The site is Flattest Route and it show a steady climb from about 5200 feet to over 7700. The problem I have with that is that it shows climbs of 7-9 %. I am not sure that I would be real comfortable with that.

I will try to post a link to the site showing rt. 89 from Garden City to Logan. I am not sure the link will work but you can probably copy and paste it into your browser. I am not real certain that I am reading the charts correctly but I believe so. Here is the link;
https://www.flattestroute.com/?from=Garden+City%2C+UT%2C+USA&to=Logan%2C+UT%2C+USA&travelMode=Driving&measurementMode=miles

If you dont mind, please take a look and tell me what you think. Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
That is a great website you found: www.flatestroute.com. 

I guess, what I think, is you should do what you feel most comfortable with.  You may be in the group of folks which really, really get nervous with driving on 2 lane roads with curves and 7% up and down grades.

Some thoughts, though:
--  You may find out that that driving on a mountainous route like this one from Garden City to Logan is not that bad.
--  This may be a good route to gain experience with mountain driving.
--  Follow the route on your computer with the suggestions I gave earlier.  Switch to the ground level 360 degree view for any sections you may feel uncomfortable with.
--  It doesn't look very bad to me, when I followed the route on Google Earth.  Even looking at the Flatestroute.com the climb out of Garden City is the worst part. 
--  None of the steep sections, 7% or greater are very long.  Long being 2-8 miles of continuous 7% or greater climb or descent. 
--  Going up is the easiest part.  You do want to be sure to manually gear down as soon as you feel the engine starting to load up.  Don't depend on the transmission to automatically gear down.  Keep your RPM's up in the 3500-4200 range and watch your temperature gauge.  If it starts to climb slow down and get into a lower gear with the RPM's in the 4000-4500 range. 
--  Going down you want your engine to do the vast majority of braking.  You want to watch for the start of the down hill sections.  Slow down before going down.  If you are in the 7% down hill section, slow down to about 35mph, manually downshift to 3rd gear and start down.  If you speed is going up to 45mph in about 15-20 seconds you are going too fast and too high a gear.  Press hard on your brakes for about 10-15 seconds and get your speed down to about 25mph and downshift into second gear.  Your goal is to go down a hill and only needing to press on your brakes once every 30-90 seconds.  When you do need to press on your brakes, press hard enough to get your speed down 15-20 mph in about 10-15 seconds of braking time. 

I drive like this even for a 3% or 4% grade.  Heck, I even drive like this if I am not towing.
 
AStravelers said:
That is a great website you found: www.flatestroute.com. 

I guess, what I think, is you should do what you feel most comfortable with.  You may be in the group of folks which really, really get nervous with driving on 2 lane roads with curves and 7% up and down grades. I live in  Kentucky where narrow 2 lane roads are the norm.

Some thoughts, though:
--  You may find out that that driving on a mountainous route like this one from Garden City to Logan is not that bad.
--  This may be a good route to gain experience with mountain driving.
--  Follow the route on your computer with the suggestions I gave earlier.  Switch to the ground level 360 degree view for any sections you may feel uncomfortable with.
--  It doesn't look very bad to me, when I followed the route on Google Earth.  Even looking at the Flatestroute.com the climb out of Garden City is the worst part. 
--  None of the steep sections, 7% or greater are very long.  Long being 2-8 miles of continuous 7% or greater climb or descent. 
--  Going up is the easiest part.  You do want to be sure to manually gear down as soon as you feel the engine starting to load up.  Don't depend on the transmission to automatically gear down.  Keep your RPM's up in the 3500-4200 range and watch your temperature gauge.  If it starts to climb slow down and get into a lower gear with the RPM's in the 4000-4500 range. 
--  Going down you want your engine to do the vast majority of braking.  You want to watch for the start of the down hill sections.  Slow down before going down.  If you are in the 7% down hill section, slow down to about 35mph, manually downshift to 3rd gear and start down.  If you speed is going up to 45mph in about 15-20 seconds you are going too fast and too high a gear.  Press hard on your brakes for about 10-15 seconds and get your speed down to about 25mph and downshift into second gear.  Your goal is to go down a hill and only needing to press on your brakes once every 30-90 seconds.  When you do need to press on your brakes, press hard enough to get your speed down 15-20 mph in about 10-15 seconds of braking time. 

I drive like this even for a 3% or 4% grade.  Heck, I even drive like this if I am not towing.
Click to expand...
 

I have read alot on the forums about when and how to brake and downshift. I am just very apprehensive about this trip. Probably since we have never been this far west in a four wheel vehicle. I have driven the Smokies from Cherokee to Gatlinburg in the car once or twice and ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway on the bike numerous times. Heck, even road I17 from Goodyear to Camp Verdi.

I want to thank you for all the great advice and most certainly for your patience with the newbie. I really appreciate it.
 
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