Road/Traffic Conditions in Uttarakhand

Hi,
I plan to visit Uttranchal with friends around mid May. I intend to drive - I am well-experienced in driving in plains and long distances but have never driven myself to hills. I intend to take Gangotri route and perhaps Chopta ... the places are not yet fixed. I have see the route of Gangotri - can we (assuming a well versed driver in plain) drive along the way? How is the terrain (i dont remember excatly from that view point as in the past we used a driven vehicle)

In terms of easyness of driving - what places do you recommend above Dehradun / Rishikesh. We can also choose the destinations depending on ease of driving and terrain .

Hey there,

I drove to Gopeshwar, Chopta and to Auli last year.It was fine, and i am a girl.The roads are quite good till Chamoli-Gopeshwar as they started remaking the roads.You just have to be more careful on the curves otherwise its cool.
I am sure you will love it..specially the drive from Gopeswar to Chamoli is breath takingly beautiful!!
have fun
punoo

yes u have to be careful on Blind curves..they are the most dangerous parts of hills..and plz u have to take care about ur speed also..coz sometimes at slopes car goes out of control which ends up to skid..and read Road Signs from government ie Dont mix driving with drinking, Drive safe someone is waiting for u..etc bYe

Pretty much the same story to tell. I have been going to Auli for last 2 years. Though I haven't driven on these roads, I am pretty much an expert driving in the hills, so I can say it is not a big deal driving here. Road condition is decent and is wide enough in most areas. Keep a watch for those mini-buses in the curves and you wl be fine.

Okay, thaks manreet and all. But one thing - I usually drive slow - I mean slower then others. So do you mean driving slow is also a problem? (it is not, unless the slope is great. Yes, Curves are a thing to watch.

What I specifically mean is following
(a) Road width ? How good it is ?
(b) Slope. It is much steep?
(c) If driving slower than usual is best rule of thumb ?

I have been to these places, but do not recall road caonditions, as I had not been driving myself so I never paid attention to these things then.

I'm a car driver of plains and i've driven my M800 for 60000 kms in plains. In year 2005 i took my car from Gurgaon to Manali in 13 Hrs and next day to Rohtang Pass without any problem.
So there's no problem in hills if u've decent experience in plains, but the rule is Go Slow and just keep your vehicle in your lane, specially on curves (read it left side as there is hardly 10 feet wide road).

Mk

From Haridwar till Ukhimath the roads are ok. You just need to follow the traffic(High piligrim season).

From Ukhimath onwards you need to be a bit careful as the rods are not good. But the lack of or should I say the non existant traffic would compensate for the bad state of road. You can actually stop in the middle of the road and take snaps with an occasional disturbance. Not many people take this route.

Rishikesh-Srinagar-Joshimath road is alright, with 2 lanes all the way and decent tarmac surface. You might find some rough patches but otherwise alright.

Hai Arunchs,

Tnx 4 the input.

I went thro your blog, specially the Auli ski trip. Its a nice job and nice narration and good photos too. Enjoyed it, keep up the good work.

--Arkz

As on 23.6.07, the road surface condition on the above stretch has greatly improved.
There are only a few bad spots between the Meerut Bypass (northern end) and Daurala.
There is still a 15 km bad stretch from Kahatauli to short of the Muzaffarnagar Bypass (southern end).
There arew a few bad spots on the MZN Bypass.

Happy driving.

well, sorry to disappoint u ladies and gentlemen, but as of today (25th july) the road to joshimath is blocked because of landslides and the tourists on either side are stranded...
this happens every year, but is usually not so severe and the roadblocks are removed in a few hours or so... but apparently, no such luck this time around...
let's hope for the best...

That's really bad news for VOF trekkers. I hope the road opens soon.

Ronak.

Any idea as to the location of road block?

Sadanand

The exact landslide location is yet to be confirmed; but as I've been stuck on this road many times myself, I'll go by past experience and mention the possibilities...
1) Just around 10 km or so after Srinagar - once a big boulder (truck-size) boulder almost flattened our Maxx here...!
2) Between Rudraprayag and Helong (just before Helong) is another treacherous landslide point - have lost count of the number of hours spent here over various trips...!
Trekkers to the Valley of Flowers / Hemkund Sahib better check the exact position before venturing out...!
Take care...

Another landslide point which I had experienced twice was at place around Byasi - somewhere between Rishikesh and Devprayag. But the road block got cleared within 2-3 hours.

Sadanand