Death Valley Trip Ideas

I am from the north bay area and am planning a trip down to Death Valley in February. I have wanted to visit for years and am finally making it happen.

We will only have a weekend, what area's are must see? Any tips for dispersed camping out of the wind or with views?

I am already planning on seeing the race track and driving Titus Canyon but would appreciate any advice from experienced DV visitors.

 

following

 

Race track is a long run in and out. You can speed along at 40ish and trash the cheap rear shocks (experienced).
Since you go right by to the race track stop at Ubehebe Crater, hard to miss.
Titus excellent.
Scotty's Castle Closed.
Bad Water is close and very different.
Zabriskie Point watch the sunrise.

 

@dtaco06

 

I've been to DV once and have wanted to go back. I've never been to the Race Track. As a photographer, I really want to go check out the sailing rocks. I now have my 4WD Taco so a trip back is soon to come. I also want to photograph the salt polygons of Bad Water Basin.

My last trip, were got there just after noon. We scouted a couple of spots and then shot sunset at Zabriskie Point. We camped out on the Mesquite Dunes. We were going to do some night photography but there ended up being way too much cloud cover. We woke up early and shot the dunes with morning light. Then we had a late breakfast and drove home.

Here are a couple of my photos from that trip. First is Zabriskie Point. Other is Mesquite Dunes.





Here is a video (not mine) of the drive out to the Race Track. Gives you an idea of the drive out there.

 

Race track is 26 miles one way of teeth rattling washboard. You can go 5 mph or 40 mph, skip over the tops and blow out your rear shocks

 

Serious question. I've wanted to make it out to the Race Track for a long time. I just bought a new 2017 DCSB Off Road. Its all stock. I am a complete novice regarding off road driving.

What would be the best driving approach for traveling this road out to the Race Track that isn't going to destroy my suspension?

 

All good input in here. Going for my 4th time here again in feb. Racetrack isnt as bad as it sounds. Dont be catching any zz's on Lippencott or you're a goner

 

That's pretty much it. That makes for a nice loop and is easily doable in 2 days. If you're coming from the bay area you will probably be coming in from Lone Pine on 136. The only thing that changes is that you will start and end at Panamint Valley. I'll be there Feb 2-4th but will be in the north end of the park.

 

I think going up Lippincott in a stock truck would be tough. There is one big rock just below the off-camber spot that would be a tough climb. Down is not a problem. I guided a stock Range Rover Evoque down without any issues.

 

Actually just got back from my trip to Death Valley.

A few things:
- Always carry at least 5 gallons of water.
- Always carry at least a 5 gal can of extra gas.
- MAPS!!!!!! And don't count on GPS to work.
- Gas at Panament Springs is INSANELY expensive (+$5/gal)
- Gas at Stovepipe Wells is much better priced ($3.50ish/gal)

It's a freakin' huge park, and honestly you won't be able to get to much of it, even over the course of several days. Take your time and enjoy it. The park ain't going nowhere. The 4x4 guidebook at the ranger station was extremely helpful in choosing off road trips and stuff. Its actually the primary guidebook that the rangers use. I'll post a title later tonight after I get home from work.

Stovepipe Wells has several gift shops, a restaurant & bar, camping with bathrooms, fire pits, and a sink for dish washing. Firewood is pretty outrageously priced here though ($9/bundle ish), but honestly its basically the only place to buy wood once you're past Lone Pine. There is NO FIREWOOD FOR SALE IN BEATTY, at least not that we found. FYI.

Attractions:
- The Sand Dunes by Stovepipe are crowded, but pretty awesome, especially if you're willing to hike out and climb on them.

- Chloride City is a fun trip and if you get a move on SUPER EARLY, you might be able to kind of loop it with Titus Canyon (more on this later). The turnoff is outrageously easy to miss, so if you get to Daylight Pass, you've gone too far. The road to Chloride also takes you past Monarch canyon which has a HUGE washout. Like, the road terminates in a 40ft drop. Pretty gnar. None of the roads we took here were over class III, and my stock suspension and tires handled everything no prob. I think I scraped a couple times, but they were minor. Not even sure they made lasting marks on my skid plate. If you are brave and drive up to the radio tower (I can show you where this is if you want, as its not marked on the maps), you get one of the most impressive views of the valley that I've seen. There are a couple mines you can explore. I'm not sure I recommend it. Hanta Virus inhabits these areas and honestly if I die in the next month or two, that will be why. We dallied a lot and ended up not being able to do Titus the same day as Chloride so we ended up hitting Titus the next day.

- Titus Canyon. Freakin awesome trip. Class II road basically the whole way. Some nasty potholes by the spring, but I saw a Corolla make it through em. Some of the coolest stuff you'll drive through on the entire trip!! A must see.

- Ubehebe Craters. Paved road all the way to the craters. Was AWESOME. Definitely recommended. Also the start of the road to get to the Racetrack.

- Racetrack Valley and the Racetrack. It's a LONG wash boarded road with a bunch of idiots on it. However, the valley is beautiful, especially if you head out a bit later in the day. The racetrack is cool, though if you're expecting to find all those postcard drifting rock pictures, you may be out of luck as they are exceedingly rare and require the right conditions to form. Honestly the main attraction for me was the camping at the southern end of the valley. Its a short class III road to the Dry Camp (Lippincott Mine), but its super worth it. No bottoming out and I even was able to park the truck on an old cabin foundation (talk about a level campsite!). We had a fire, (though you're not supposed to) but we brought our own fire pit and wood and left zero trace (washer tub FTW). If you can camp here during a full moon the entire valley will be lit and you will be able to see for MILES. A serene place, and something I desperately want to go back to. Heading out, you have 3 options. To go back the way you came (re: tedius), go out through Hidden Valley and up Hunter Mountain, which is awesome, but LONG. Class II roads, super easy, minus one icy spot to be weary of. The ice posed no issue for us, but I've read about it wigging some people out. The icy part for us was only about 25ft long and if you are REALLY worried, just get out and throw some dirt on it. It will take you through a pine forest at 7000ft though, which was a bit surreal. OR you could take Lippincott road out. Its the shortest road (7 miles), but I've heard it takes several hours of butt clenching and white knuckling to get through. It's labeled as class IV, though all the videos and descriptions I've read don't really make it seem that bad. NONETHELESS, the one recurring theme among ALL reviews I've read is that there are many parts of this road where any error will lead to DEATH. Not just a banged up truck, but DEATH. We opted not to do it because I worried about encountering someone coming up, while I was going down. Not worth it, IMO. Maybe once I get a winch and a bit more experience.

(Edit: Reading a couple replies about Lippincott before my post. Maybe the road isn't as bad as I thought. Though I never thought he road itself would be that bad, just the margin for error was low or that encountering a person going the other way could be tricky. Honestly, I wigged myself out on a mine road up from Dry Camp before we decided to head out. Had the back tire slide towards the drop off a bit and that was enough for me for the day! hehehe)

Hidden Valley was beautiful and honestly going through Hunter mountain was a wonderful experience. You get some good views here too in places. It's also pretty crazy how different each valley is. They're all separated by 7000ft mountains and connected by slot canyons you can drive through. But each valley is a completely different place. A surreal experience. This rout will also take you through a couple of Joshua Tree forests, that honeslty rival the ones I saw in J-Tree itself.

- Badwater Basin. Lowest point in America, though I honestly beg to differ a bit, the USGS maps I have show other spots in Death Valley that are similar. Was a neat experience because the cliff side nearby has a sign showing how far below sea level you are.

- Devils Golf Course. An unexpected surprise, though to get to the good features you'll have to wander out a bit, which then, in turn leads to breaking more features, which perpetuates people venturing out. Nonetheless, DONT FALL here. The salt crystals will tear you apart. Still one of the cooler places I've seen.

Honestly I can't wait for the next trip down. Its an amazing national park.

One trick we used, was to break the trip up. We're coming from Sacramento, so not sure where you're coming from or what rout you'd take, but stopping in Mammoth for a soak in some hot springs is pretty nice to break the drive up.

I'll see if I can post some pictures later tonight when I'm home.

 

Oh yeah, they're predicting a super bloom in March. FYI. You might adjust your trip schedule to make that. I heard they are ridiculous.

 

Nice pics. That second one looks like one of the side roads that I wanted to take. We didn't find any noteworthy ones while we were out, even on the Lippincott side. Sounds like you got lucky? I suspect that if there's one, there's many, because they all tend to move under the same conditions.

We mostly found spots where jerks tried to make their own because they didn't get the picture they wanted. =\

 

can't believe nobody said visit Hot Springs

 

Haha! You TOTALLY camped on the same slab we did! How cool!

 

Lots of good suggestions here.

Just go slow on the road North of the racetrack. Don't be a dummy like me..

Saline Valley is on my list. That and the West route to Big Pine or South on Saline Rd back to 190. Such a huge place!

 

What kind of dummy thing did you do?

 

Cierro Gordo Mine