Tioga Pass, 36ft with a toad.

Planning out our summer trip. Heading out to southern Utah area, then we're going into CA. Look into crossing Nevada and getting into the Lee Vining, CA area. Then, looking at Tioga Pass over the mountains.

Now, I'm no stranger to RV driving. I've done mountain driving before in the east, but obviously the stuff out west is more intense.

We've got a 36ft gas-powered motorhome, and I tow a CR-V on the back.

What am I in for heading over Tioga? Am I going to be hatin' life?

Maybe disconnect CR-V and let wife drive it over? I mean, surely getting an extra 3k+ pounds off the back will reduce engine load.

We're ultimately heading to San Fran area for a few, then south. And we gotta see Yosemite. So, heading south thru Vegas and around the chain just seems pretty inconvenient.

I have no firsthand experience with Tioga pass, but when I looked into driving our RV over it, I decided not to. It looks like it's a pretty windy road, which in itself didn't discourage me, but there's an eight mile section that has an 8% grade. In the summer, it can be 100 degrees there, and the direction I would have been going would have had me climbing that grade. Our engine has a pretty good cooling system, but I didn't want to risk overheating. FWIW

Kev

I dunno. Tioga Pass is pretty up there, in terms of elevation. Highly doubt temp gets to 100.

I don't recommend it and I do a lot of mountain driving.

I think your main problem is going to be finding space at RV parks here in California.

Do you have reservations anywhere? 

Arch Hoagland said:

Do you have reservations anywhere?

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Not yet. Wrapping up planning now for that very purpose. We're looking at August range for when we'd be in CA.

Arch Hoagland said:

I don't recommend it and I do a lot of mountain driving.

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Are you speaking from experience driving it? Your rig is actually quite similar to mine, based on your sig. I have a Vacationer, which is pretty much the same thing as the La Palma.

But, when I search around, it looks like RVs go over that pass all the time Carefully, but they do it. Even rigs bigger than mine.

There is no way in heck that I could recommend Tioga Pass to you or any other RV. It is steep, 10,000 feet high and very windy. Horrible road. Camping reservations in Yosemite must be done five months in advance and at 7am sharp. There is about a five minute window for scoring a site. Get a spot in Fresno and drive the toad to the park.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/camping.htm

That 8 mile, 8% grade is the killer.  You'll be going up it, a long, steep continuous climb from 6,700 ft. at Lee Vining to 10,000 ft. at the summit.  Expect to be in low gear with your foot on the floor the whole way.  Going the other way, downhill, is worse.  When I took my 27 ft. motorhome towing a Bronco II in that direction the motorhome was in low gear and I had to ride the brakes to keep the engine below redline.  When the engine hits redline the transmission automatically upshifts to protect the engine, decreasing the engine braking as your speed surges upwards, increasing the load on the brakes.

Other than that, all of the roads in and around Yosemite will be slow going, winding two lane roads.  Plan your time accordingly.

There are really only three ways to safely cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains in an RV ... north to Highway 50 (Lake Tahoe), Interstate 80 (Reno), or south around the bottom end via CA 58 between Bakersfield and Mojave.

There are a couple of private RV parks adjacent to Yosemite's west entrances so you may not have to go all the way into Fresno.

Alright, so there I was feeling relatively OK about the pass, then you guys scared me!

It's all good. It's what I asked for.

May just go with my original plan of going south around the mountains, then north. Hit Sequoia on the way up, then up to Yosemite. About the same amount of traveling as going up over one of the northern passes (i.e through Reno), so might as well.

I haven't driven over it in my coach. Nor will I. 

Hitting Sequoia is a bit of a problem as RV parks are few and far between along with being very small.

Arch Hoagland said:

I haven't driven over it in my coach. Nor will I. 

Hitting Sequoia is a bit of a problem as RV parks are few and far between along with being very small.

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We'll stay outside the park somewhere and drive in.

Yosemite has a great free shuttle bus system in the valley so once you get into the park you can just park and ride the bus.

Fuel in and around Yosemite is sparse but doable.  Here's that info:  http://yosemiteblog.com/what-you-need-to-know/where-to-get-gas-in-yosemite/.

I'm 52' long with my TT attached.  I would have no reservations about going up, or down Tioga Pass with my rig.  You just have to drive first, and worry about holding up traffic second.  Driving slow and safe in the Sierra is always a good idea.  Oh, and do keep your eyes on the road as much as possible, the scenery is spectacular and intense. 

Just this week Local news reported Yosemite is booked and a year advance is recommended. You wont be holding too many up, the traffic will already be waiting for you. I thought Tioga had a 30' length to king pin recommended, I cant recall right now. I worked at the Bishop Airport for 4 months repaving the runway. I made weekend trips home during that project, but always in a service truck. Rv's of all types venture over to 395, from this side of the Sierras. Have a great trip no matter what route you take,,,gregg

    I have driven over the pass about a dozen times, but going West to East.  If you by chance have a sleep number bed, be sure to lower the air pressure to about 20 or it may rupture, so I have been told.  I have had a bag of potato chips split open.

Bill Dane
99 Country Coach

First off yes you can make it with your tow. Advice is to tackle it in the morning when it's cool out. The grade is long and steep but i've done it many times towing my boat with 30' Class A v10. Note.. I have 4:10 gearing.. My buddy did it with class C towing Jeep wrangler. Take your time! Use the Pull outs to be courteous to others. Morning driving is best for up the mountain!  Going down I just let it hang in 1st gear or 2nd when not so steep. Slow and safe right! Again let others pass when you can.. Take the advice from others and be sure you have reservations! A day trip to Yosemite is nice but not worth the drive and stress in a loaded RV just to find out you have to leave because no vacancies.  I am new to this forum but not new to driving the Sierras! I live here!!
Keep your motor cool, don't push it! Keep your head cool, Not here RVing to stress out!  Check your coolant level and oil before you drive the mountains here. Carry extra water just in case. Buddy system is ALWAYS  a good idea!
Cheers and welcome to the West Coast! 

10MinuteHappyHour said:

First off yes you can make it with your tow. Advice is to tackle it in the morning when it's cool out. The grade is long and steep but i've done it many times towing my boat with 30' Class A v10. Note.. I have 4:10 gearing.. My buddy did it with class C towing Jeep wrangler. Take your time! Use the Pull outs to be courteous to others. Morning driving is best for up the mountain!  Going down I just let it hang in 1st gear or 2nd when not so steep. Slow and safe right! Again let others pass when you can.. Take the advice from others and be sure you have reservations! A day trip to Yosemite is nice but not worth the drive and stress in a loaded RV just to find out you have to leave because no vacancies.  I am new to this forum but not new to driving the Sierras! I live here!!
Keep your motor cool, don't push it! Keep your head cool, Not here RVing to stress out!  Check your coolant level and oil before you drive the mountains here. Carry extra water just in case. Buddy system is ALWAYS  a good idea!
Cheers and welcome to the West Coast!

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I second the above statement.

An 8% grade is not that bad. I assume you rig has a Ford V-10 chassis.  That engine and transmission is awesome for hill climbing. 

Don't depend on the transmission to automatically downshift.  As soon as you feel the engine loading up push a little harder on the accelerator to get it to down shift to 4th gear.  If the engine begins to load up and the transmission doesn't automatically downshift quickly, manually down shift to 3rd gear.  Your speed will now probably around 50mph.  If your temp gauge starts to climb, let your speed reduce to about 40mph and downshift to 2nd.  That should take you to the top with no problems. 

We drove our 27' Class C up to Tioga Pass in 2013 and the road was plenty wide, I think there is a truck lane so you won't hold up traffic.  We also came back down the same day.  We just wanted to see what that part of Yosemite looked like.  We were not towing with the Class C.  But I have towed 33' travel trailers, 35' 5th wheel, currently in a 29' Class A gas towing a 4500 pound p/u and have quite a bit of experience with mountain driving.

An earlier statement, about the engine reaching red line, etc, etc..... If you are in that situation on a 8% grade.....YOU ARE IN A TOO HIGH A GEAR, GOING WAY TO FAST!  Slow down and get into a lower gear, 2nd gear and 35mph, if that is what it takes.  If that is still running you up to red line, get down to 15-20mph and in first gear.  You don't want to get on your brakes more than once every 30-90 seconds.  When you do brake press hard to drop you speed 10-15mph in 10 seconds or so.  Any time you can't do this, you are going to fast in too high a gear.