? for those who drive down I77 from the north to get to FL

[Mishetta]

We're leaving for FL on (early) Friday morning. This time we plan on taking 77 down (instead of 75) just to see something different. When I went to AAA today to pick up trip tics & maps, the rep told me that they do not recommend 77 in the winter because of the steep roads. She continued to say that truckers won't even travel 77 in the winter due to the steep roads. Hmmmm.....how bad are they? Have you driven down in winter? If we take the usual 75 down, we still will be driving thru the Smokies....can't figure out how much worst 77 would be. Any advice?

 

[bigbabyblues]

I-77 will send you through the mountains, and if it's icy it could probably get bad. I have a friend who went from Ohio to FL two weeks ago down 77 to 95 and she had some icy roads. She came back on I-75 to avoid it, about 200 miles out of her way.

Sorry, no firsthand experience!

 

[judi]

We drive 77 south to FL all the time. It can be pretty hairy in the winter months. The roads in WV, VA and NC can be icy and snow covered. AAA will tell you to take 71 south. If the weather looks good for your trip take 77 and have your trip tik done another way just incase the weather is bad.

 

[Jockaroo]

Just an FYI. There is a possible ice storm heading into the NC Piedmont on Wednesday night into Thursday. I have first-hand experience that NC does not do much to clear the treacherous part of I-77 at the VA border (Fancy Gap area). Also, the larger areas such as Charlotte, Statesville, etc. have limited equipment to clear the roads. Ice can shut these roads down for a period of time. Whatever your decision, have a wonderful, safe trip!

 

[Skywalker]

We did it and boy I do not recommend that route. We ran into some BAD driving conditions! I hardly even recommend it when the weather is good! (there are some isolated stretches, if you're not right up on top of your gas situation - ahem, like we weren't - you could run into trouble.)

 

[Mishetta]

Thanks for your responses. I think I'll bump this up for the late morning crowd too. I guess if anyone lives in the areas we'd be driving thru to get to Columbia SC via I-77 from the north, please let me know what you hear weather wise. Sometimes a local weather report is a little more accurarate.

TIA!

 

[Bob Slydell]

I live right off 77 in Ohio -- tomorrow is supposed to be pretty sloppy (a "wintery mix"), but Friday is supposed to be fairly clear. I agree with others, though, 77 through the mountains of WV and VA can be pretty treacherous. If the roads are clear, you should be ok, but I'd keep an eye on the forecasts for that area.

 

[TLHB70]

I live in the Charlotte area. We are forecasted to have "wintry mix" around here tonight into tomorrow. They are saying that north of Charlotte will probably get icy roads. South may just get very cold rain.
77 would not be a first choice for me. I hate driving 77. I especially don't like the congestion around my area.

 

[Towncrier]

I've made the wintry drive along I-77 three times. I only once regretted that decision when I hit whiteout conditions in northern West Virginia in the middle of the night. I swear that the snow plows were pulling off to the side of the road due to the severity of the storm.

That being said, if you are the least bit uncomfortable driving in snowy and/or icy conditions, you may want to avoid the mountains and use the I-75 route. If, on the other hand, you have decent tires and driving in winter does not bother you, you can take the I-77 route.

 

[my3kids]

You know....I was initially thinking of 77 through VA from Wytheville on south....those mountains are actually over really quickly. But if you are coming from the north and have to do 77 through WV too, you might have issues. That is very mountainous and scary for me even in the summer! I hate bridges and I think WV has some hugely scary ones. I can't imagine in the winter!

But, if you'd go 81 to 77, the portion of 77 you'd be on from VA to SC isn't bad except for a short portion in southern VA.

 

[my3kids]

Just saw you asked for local weather.....

There is a wintery mix scheduled to last most of the day Thursday along part of that route. The interstate would be the first thing cleared, of course, but the forcast is for freezing rain which is THE WORST. There is just nothing much that can be done with it.

If you can get to Columbia though, you'll have an easy second day drive to WDW. 77 hits 26 just past there then pretty quickly on to 95 and a straight shot to Orlando.

 

[snowball22]

We live in central Ohio and have travelled both. Even though I do perfer 77 for the scenery and drive time, I do not reccomend it in the winter. One trip to Florida, many years ago, snow hit the roads in the mountains, trucks and cars were in the ditches. Everyone was trying to make it to the nearest hotel and of course it was full due to all the stranded motorists. The owner of the hotel let us, along with other people, sleep in the lobby till morning. There are very steep hills in the mountains which can become icy and snow covered in no time at all. I would stay on 75.

 

[Mishetta]

Wow! Your responses are soooo much better than AAA's! How lucky am I to be part of this DIS Board who has so many people wiling to shed some light on our upcoming driving conditions. Thanks so much ~ it's really appreciated. I just e-mailed my DH at work & suggested we cancel our SC hotel ressies & stay in Atlanta again . I was just hoping for something different but I think I used up all my good luck with the continuing healing of my eye infection!

Is the drive really that trecherous through the moutains of WV? We will be driving thru the Smokies (we did that once thru an ice storm & don't want a repeat of that, thank you very much!) I guess I'd best do a weather search for driving thru the Smokey Mountains too! This is the ONLY bad thing about going to WDW in the winter.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

I have driven both ways a number of times.

77 in the winter is not fun. I guess the difference is that since I've been driving both ways I find the mountains in TN to be nothing compared to VA and WVA. 77 is much steeper, more bridges, very few places to stop if you get into trouble (compared to I-75) and very curvey. We drove it through an ice storm once and it was not nice. We stopped at the first hotel we could find. I love 77 in the summer or when the weather is good. It's a beautiful drive. But in the winter we take 75.

There is also a book by Dave Hunter, called Along I-75. It's a great book for driving that route.