Guadalupe Pass – Bad Roads for RVs is located on US Highway 62/180 east of El Paso Texas, south of Carlsbad New Mexico. This road is steep but the steep section is short, about three miles long. US Highway 62/180 in the steep area is a divided four-lane, with two lanes in each direction.
There are no dedicated slow lanes. Many trucks go slow in this section and lane changes to go around the slowest trucks are common.
Since this section is short, most travelers don’t know how steep it is, but it is steep enough so that you need to control your speed when going downhill, especially in an RV. In the winter bridges in this area can be icy.
Perhaps the biggest reason that this is a bad road for RVs is that it is steep enough that in the summer overheating is a real possibility.
This is a link to the Texas Department of Transportation Road Conditions for US Highway 62 in Culberson County which includes Guadalupe Pass. Texas DOT Road Conditions
Details
Elevation: 5075 feet
Length: 3 miles
Terrain: 7% grades for three miles on the south side of the pass. Maximum truck speed 45 miles per hour.
Turns: Turns on the downhill section are not the problem.
Rest Stops & Turnouts: One good turn out is at the El Capitan Viewpoint, on each of the road. Since the pass is In the desert overheating is a possibility and should be expected.
Crosswinds are common in this area even when general wind speed is not fast. In one area there is a windsock as part of the markings.
Traffic: Not heavily traveled but there will be a large difference in speed between large trucks and cars.
Runaway truck ramps: None
Guadalupe Pass – Bad Roads for RVs — Our experience
We have crossed Guadalupe Pass northbound in RV without any difficulties other than the slow climbing speed. We have not traveled southbound and wouldn’t anticipate any difficulties. Guadalupe Pass is the primary east/west corridor west Texas into southern New Mexico
We traveled this route during our journey in March 2019.
Here is our link to our interactive map. Bad Roads for RVs
Near here, there’s a stretch of US-285, I believe. Runs from roughly Pecos, TX to Roswell, NM. We were able to avoid it (because we were going from Ft. Davis to Tularosa, NM…I originally thought we were going to Roswell. Forgot our own plans!). I’ve had no less than 10 people (two of them truck drivers) tell me to avoid 285 like the plague. Three of the RV’ers said they had chassis trouble (hangers, springs) on that road.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Pecos,+Texas+79772/roswell+nm/@32.2286241,-106.0739439,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x86facd074f616309:0xedfa2effa03ee7b1!2m2!1d-103.4932293!2d31.4229124!1m5!1m1!1s0x86e2651365aced55:0xe41b0be474cfd77e!2m2!1d-104.5230242!2d33.3942655
To add to the above comment: Apparently this is a road with a lot of big rigs that travel it, to and from the oil fields, hence the road being in poor shape.
The way I work this website is that it is all about my personal knowledge. I appreciate your input. Since we have not gone there (and about 99% of bad roads) I need to think about how to include this valuable information.