Telegraph Pass – Bad Roads for RVs is located on Interstate 8 East of Yuma Arizona. This road is steep but the steep section is short. Since this is an Interstate Highway, there are two lanes in each direction.
Since this steep section is short 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, especially in an RV.
This is a link to the Arizona Department of Transportation interactive map. ADOT
Details
Elevation: 800 feet
Length: 4 miles
Terrain: 6% grades for two miles on each side of the pass. Maximum truck speed 45 miles per hour.
Turns: Turns on the downhill section are not the problem.
Rest Stops & Turnouts: Since the pass is short, going uphill overheating is not expected. There are no rest stops or turnouts on the steep section of the pass.
At the bottom of the pass on the west side, heading east, there is a border patrol checkpoint. On the east side at the bottom of the pass, there is a rest stop with service for both east and westbound traffic.
Traffic: This road is busy and there is a large difference in speed between large trucks and cars.
Runaway truck ramps: None
Telegraph Pass – Bad Roads for RVs — Our experience
We have crossed Telegraph Pass in both directions both in our RV and in our car and expect to cross it multiple times in the future. Telegraph Pass is the primary east/west corridor in southern Arizona.
We traveled this route during our journey east in February 2019 and 2020.
Here is our link to our interactive map. Bad Roads for RVs