[Ryan]

I'm trying to get Google Maps to route across the Beartooth Highway between Yellowstone NP and Red Lodge, MT.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...3,4.306641&z=8

No matter how I move the route, it won't go over a certain part of US212, where it climbs up to Beartooth Pass. I've tried Safari and Camino but both exhibit the same behavior. I can't find any other reference to this online so is it just me or is this a bug in Google?

Here you can really see the problem:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...9,1.07666&z=10

[addabox]

In the side bar it says "This route may be seasonally closed."

So, I would guess it's closed and Google Maps is trying to refrain from sending you to your death?

[Kickaha]

That's my guess too... Google Maps does a good job of responding to major events like that IME.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by addabox In the side bar it says "This route may be seasonally closed." So, I would guess it's closed and Google Maps is trying to refrain from sending you to your death?

Yeah, I thought about that too but it has no problem with a dozen other "seasonally closed" routes I've tried.

I can't even get it to let me put a destination pin in that area.

[addabox]

I really don't know anything about it, but I would guess that the "May be seasonally closed" applies to any route that could become impassable in winter, and refusing to let you traverse such a route means it is closed.

Although it would be clearer if they just changed the sidebar to say that outright.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by addabox I really don't know anything about it, but I would guess that the "May be seasonally closed" applies to any route that could become impassable in winter, and refusing to let you traverse such a route means it is closed. Although it would be clearer if they just changed the sidebar to say that outright.

That makes sense. Maybe if I were to try in July it would work?

[addabox]

If you do and it does, you should resurrect the thread to let us know.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by addabox If you do and it does, you should resurrect the thread to let us know.

I've put an event in iCal to remind me.

[Kickaha]

Why not call the WY or MT State Patrol and/or DOT and ask them if the pass is closed?

Or...

http://www.wyoroad.info/pls/Browse/W...ras=Webcameras

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Kickaha Why not call the WY or MT State Patrol and/or DOT and ask them if the pass is closed? Or... http://www.wyoroad.info/pls/Browse/W...ras=Webcameras

Thanks!

[Luca]

Originally Posted by Kickaha That's my guess too... Google Maps does a good job of responding to major events like that IME.

Yeah, they did a great job of removing the 35W bridge as an available route when it collapsed. Too bad it took them FOUR MONTHS to re-activate it after it was rebuilt.

[Kickaha]

They just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to come down again.

[Motor]

I went to Yellowstone just under a year ago, and the pass was still closed in late May. IIRC, it is typically scheduled to open just after Memorial day weekend.

I drove on it 15 years ago though and it is amazing! When we got to the top there was a blizzard, and this was in August. Yellowstone has the strangest weather...

[psmith2.0]

I just realized, about two weeks ago, that I had the ability to drag/rearrange the route path on Google Map directions. Is this a newer feature, or am I just an oblivious idiot?

Don't answer that...

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Motor I went to Yellowstone just under a year ago, and the pass was still closed in late May. IIRC, it is typically scheduled to open just after Memorial day weekend. I drove on it 15 years ago though and it is amazing! When we got to the top there was a blizzard, and this was in August. Yellowstone has the strangest weather...

We're planning on going up there this August and we're looking to take some of these other routes out of the park. We've heard a lot about the Beartooth Highway but we've never managed to take it, even though we lived in Wyoming for years.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I just realized, about two weeks ago, that I had the ability to drag/rearrange the route path on Google Map directions. Is this a newer feature, or am I just an oblivious idiot? Don't answer that...

It's not a new feature, but it's not one people use very often, either. I mean, the entire point of Google Maps is to give you the most direct route, so why would people change it?

I think you're in the clear, there.

[Luca]

Originally Posted by Roboman It's not a new feature, but it's not one people use very often, either. I mean, the entire point of Google Maps is to give you the most direct route, so why would people change it?

Because Google isn't very good at picking up on local factors that affect travel speed, such as traffic density, construction, and road closures/re-openings. It'll also always pick the route that is fastest according to its calculations, which is sometimes significantly longer in terms of distance. I've had Google suggest routes that were 1 minute faster and over a mile longer (or more). In reality I find the shorter routes tend to be just as fast, but it depends on really minor things like whether you get lucky hitting the lights or not.

It also won't advise you to take a parallel side street instead of a light-filled main drag in order to avoid traffic lights, or show you how to bypass busy intersections and left turns across busy streets.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Luca Because Google isn't very good at picking up on local factors that affect travel speed, such as traffic density, construction, and road closures/re-openings. It'll also always pick the route that is fastest according to its calculations, which is sometimes significantly longer in terms of distance. I've had Google suggest routes that were 1 minute faster and over a mile longer (or more). In reality I find the shorter routes tend to be just as fast, but it depends on really minor things like whether you get lucky hitting the lights or not. It also won't advise you to take a parallel side street instead of a light-filled main drag in order to avoid traffic lights, or show you how to bypass busy intersections and left turns across busy streets.

But if you know the area well enough to know which parallel side streets have less traffic lights, why would you need directions at all?

I'm not saying I always follow Google's maps to the dot, but I usually don't change the route beforehand, unless something is obviously wrong. If I think/know a parallel street would be faster, I'll take it, but it's not like that's going to totally mess up my sense of direction or anything.

[Kickaha]

I-95 vs. US 1. They parallel each other for much of the East Coast. US 1 is full of stoplights and sleepy little towns so on average it's a lot slower, but when I-95 gets backed up badly (ie, anywhere within 100 miles south of DC...), it's good to know that you can pop over to US 1 and get around the backup.

OTOH, if US 1 is *ALSO* fubared due to traffic or construction, *THAT'S* nice to know too, before battling to get off of I-95 just to find yourself in a similarly sucky mess.

Or, for an extreme example, it's usually about 9.5-10.5 hrs to drive up I-95 from Raleigh, NC to our place just north of NYC. (Record is 8hr 17min door to door. whoosh) If, however, traffic is really bad, it can take up to 14 hrs, in which case it's better to pop up through Winchester VA, and take I-81 along the edge of WV, across PA, hit I-78, and then hook back into I287. Almost always 11.5 hrs. You have no *IDEA* how much I wish I could just drag that route on my iPhone when we're around Richmond, and need to make a decision. The traffic map and predictions are great, but dear god I'd love it if I could do the same "Hmmm, try *this* route" sort of strategizing on the iPhone that I can on the desktop.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by addabox I really don't know anything about it, but I would guess that the "May be seasonally closed" applies to any route that could become impassable in winter, and refusing to let you traverse such a route means it is closed. Although it would be clearer if they just changed the sidebar to say that outright.

Both Mapquest and Google made significant changes to this after that California family was lost in the mountains in the winter and snowed in after following Mapquest directions (maybe one or two years ago)

[Kickaha]

Yes, it's important to always remember that the magic little box on the dash doesn't know more than what your own eyes are telling you.

"Well golly, it *says* to drive right into that lake... I better do what it says, or who knows what might happen!?"

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Kickaha Yes, it's important to always remember that the magic little box on the dash doesn't know more than what your own eyes are telling you. "Well golly, it *says* to drive right into that lake... I better do what it says, or who knows what might happen!?"

Definitely. Having lived in Wyoming and the Sierra Nevadas, I and my family know well enough to check road conditions for high-altitude passes year-round.

[joveblue]

It's useful for comparing distances, giving directions to someone else, quickly adding in a stop along the way, avoiding tollroads, avoiding roads you know are going to be under-construction or over-trafficked, etc.

There's plenty of great uses

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by joveblue It's useful for comparing distances, giving directions to someone else, quickly adding in a stop along the way, avoiding tollroads, avoiding roads you know are going to be under-construction or over-trafficked, etc. There's plenty of great uses

I'm not sure when this was added, but if you click on the "Show Options" link under the destination there's a checkbox for "Avoid Tollways." Very useful in Houston.

[joveblue]

Doesn't work in Melbourne

Doesn't seem to have toll points mapped or something... (our tolls work automatically by electronic tags and number-plate scanning, that may have something to do with it)

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by joveblue Doesn't work in Melbourne Doesn't seem to have toll points mapped or something... (our tolls work automatically by electronic tags and number-plate scanning, that may have something to do with it)

Ours are the same in Houston (EZTag) though there's still a physical booth for those who don't have the tag. The bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area work the same way with a system called FasTrack.

Some of the local land developers here have gotten creative with the EZTag system and use it as the pass for their gated communities.