Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

One more thing to add to your list, in addition to recovery and communication equipment, would be survival gear for the unexpected. Make sure you have plans for food, water, and shelter in case you get stranded for a few extra days in a freak winter storm. Or a heat wave. Or whatever--it's death valley!

The other folks here have seen much more of the park than I have. So take this with a grain of salt, but i would recommend including Lippincott and the racetrack--but only if it's dry. Walking out onto the racetrack is just surreal, definitely bucket-list worthy. And as others have already stated, Lippincott is easy peasy compared to other well-known routes in the park. Great for beginners--unless there's a washout, you will have no trouble getting through. However, if you or your passenger are uneasy with driving shelf roads, then it could be very stressful, because it has some pretty spectacular vertical relief. And sometimes the road will tilt you towards the edge, not at all dangerous, but totally unnerving if you are new to this type of driving. So if this is one of your first off road adventures, for either of you--and having made this exact mistake before--I would recommend communicating with your passenger to establish fears and expectations before charging into such epic terrain and/or "sketchy death trap."

No matter what, if you are leaving pavement, then you are doing death valley right. I did it wrong several times myself before finally seeing the real deal on my first back country trip earlier this year. Have fun out there!

 

Good info - by base camp, i just mean getting settled in one spot that preferably has water... she likes to swim, be super hydrated. That said, we both prefer to camp in the total wild. But, this being our first desert experience, we’re not expecting to find much running/potable water outside of facilities so we’re carrying a bunch. So if the spot suits her fancy, wherever we are, we might settle in for a couple nights. Gonna pour over GE and maps the next few days looking for such spots. (Though, I’ll take any suggestions!!!)

Yes, absolutely. I tend to carry spare everything... one is none and all that. Even a second tent (I love our RTT, but I’ve been betrayed by it/them more than once) We also have gobs of radio gear, mobile and handheld... will probably rent a sat phone for the week. Again, since we’re going solo, extra precautions seem like necessities. Though, given the popular time of year, i hope we run in to some of you all out there!

Yeah, judging the comfort level of my +1 is the key. We’ve only done one shelf road together and she didn’t love it... so Lippincott remains a maybe. Thinking we might go up south pass-hidden valley-teakettle junction and down Lippincott, but we’ll see. I’m most nervous about mud so hidden valley will be dependent on conditions. Looks like there could be some great camping in there...

We are definitely going to hit the racetrack. The ‘must-see’ list for this trip is still coming together, but here’s the start:
Racetrack
At least one of the amazing dune formations
Joshua trees
Titus
Striped Butte
Stars
A cabin (would love to check out geologist’s cabin)

So, that definitely takes us all over the park, which will conflict with staying in one spot for a day, so just not sure what to do. One thought was to stay on the north half, but after reading @turbodb ’s posts about the Butte Valley area, not sure we can skip the south end entirely. Dan, we may just copy your first trip itinerary!

 

You're right, 2 of us usually split it. We like it because we get there late and can have breakfast made for us.

Thats a big list for a trip.
Last time I did manly pass to stripe butte, the road had taken a turn for the worst. But if you go that way stop at barker ranch and see where they caught Charles Manson. Then go to the geologist cabin, warm springs and bad water. The last is a tourist stop but you should see it once.

Thats a full day.

 

Thanks!! I wish we had a couple more days. One thought is to leave Monday after work and camp somewhere on the outskirts, I’m just thinking driving over the Sierra at night is not going happen. That reminds me I need to get chains.

 

80 to 395 wouldn't be bad at night, stay at Donner, it has a nice campsite


Wait in the winter? Forget Donner lol

 

Lol, a new Donner Party chapter...

Hmmm. Well, we are departing from my dad’s in Monterey and google sez it’s fastest to go down through Bakersfield then back up north. Huh! We will go home through Bishop for sure. This is so disorienting! I haven’t ventured to the south of 50 in three decades!!!

 

I just got back from my first time in Hidden Valley - it was cool and I'll definitely be going back. That said - for me at least - it doesn't really compare to some of the other better-known areas of the park from a "wow" factor. Rather, it's an amazing place for someone who's become a desert/DV lover. It's a much more nuanced place, comparatively.

Also, there is some CRAZY silt on the road there, and already some (albeit very little) snow on the road up over Hunter Mountain from South Pass. If it's wet and muddy, it'll be "interesting" to get through.

That first trip turned out to be a great itinerary; and was a key element of getting @mrs.turbodb hooked on DV - she looks forward to trips down there now, even with the ~18hr drive down (and back). Hits so many good places in a reasonably efficient figure-eight loop. Have fun!

 

@Zebinator an app I really like is caltopo. They have many layers to choose from, and the scanned topo layer has many roads that other maps don't have on them. Of course, some of them my not be open anymore, but it is still a great tool. Also works without cell signal with gps on. You can also add markers for waypoints, etc.

 

Here's my methodology: Route Planning (4-part set of posts, from figuring out the route, to taking it offline and using it on the trail)

 

If there's no rain in the forecast Hidden Valley to The Racetrack and down Lippincott to Saline to South Pass to Lee Flat is a good plan. If that silt in Hidden Valley gets wet, well let's just say I don't think it is worth it. It ticks a lot of boxes and provides a good first trip. An alternate would be to somehow do Titus-Ubehebe Crater-Racetrack-Lippincott-Saline-Lee Flat. I actually think the latter is a better first trip because you traverse the park borders from East to West. It may not be doable from your direction though. Sneak out a day early.

 

100%. The latter happened to be the itinerary of my first trip (well, I tacked Goler, Butte Valley, and Warm Springs Rd on the end). I got lucky, and addicted, hahahaha.

 

@turbodb - good info on hunter pass. I will be watching the weather like a hawk between now and then. I’m also interested Gerald your route planning posts... thanks for sharing! Cool to see you’ve go’t a biz going! I have wanted to upgrade my brakes ever since putting on the 33’s...

@ihatemytruck i will check out caltopo for sure.. I have been using Gaia for a while and really like it but have not found it to check all my boxes. Custom layers would be cool. Like being to upload the nps dv map, for instance. I have yet to use a digital map system that can provide a good overview. Nothing like a paper map for that.

@ETAV8R thank you... I had a real bad experience with mud on a back country moto tour... we all got out fine but it was about the most miserable 24 hours I’ve had while “on vacation.” I try to keep it type 1.5 fun or better all the time.

 

Wow! Tons of amazing information posted throughout this thread.

I think I have recently become obsessed with DV without ever have gone myself. Luckily I live not too far away (San Diego) and plan on going very soon before we get much further into winter.

My only dilemma is that I do not have 4x4 (was a first time car buyer, and the insurance payment for a 4x4 and first time buyer at 25 years old seemed insane, wish I would have just done it). I do have BFG KO2’s along with some nice wheels, so at least I’m not bone stock but pretty close nonetheless.

My question for anyone who takes the time to read this would be if most of these roads / trails being spoken about require 4x and a lift or if they are pretty accessible for the weekend warrior who doesn’t test the limits of a 2x (but also not scared to try).

Long story short I really would like to go, and am pretty positive DV was not made strictly for 4x’s, but must ask if I can use some of these itineraries for a 2x 3rd gen with wheels and tires.

Any and all feedback appreciated!

 

A good deal of the park is accessible to 4x2 what you'll want to do is read trail descriptions before you go driving up. For example, you could go out to Wild Rose or Ubehebe Crater or the race track. But maybe not over some of the passes. Some of the DV resources I use do give recommendations on 4x4 where it's required. There's a lot to enjoy that doesn't require 4x4.

 

Great to know! I figured DV was not made / built around 4x4, but just wanted to make sure there was plenty to enjoy without that capability as I plan to go for a few days. Thank you for taking the time to respond!

 

In the motorcycle forum, there’s a guy who takes this same approach for a trip he and friends take every year or two. He shared the spreadsheet...right down to the last gallon. He’s also an amazing documentarian producing amazing ride reports.

 

From about 160 pages back or so :

2WD

 

I'd love to read some of the reports; who and where? (I'm wondering if it's on advrider, because there are some great story tellers over there.)

 

It is. DockingPilot. He changed photo hosting sites and unfortunately, a lot of the links are broken.

 

So - current thinking is that since we actually have ~6 days... going to arrive mid-day Tues and need to camp outside the N. Side of the park towards Bishop Sunday night, driving home Monday morning. We need to be back in the Bay Area by 4 on Monday. So thinking of entering thru Trona, and heading over Mengel to spend a little time in Butte Valley, then jamming way up to Rhyolite or further, thru Titus, down to Panamint Springs. Slowing the pace heading up S. Pass to Hidden Valley, the racetrack, down Lippincott, up Saline to Warm springs, and departing after Eureka Dunes. Yes, it’s a ton, but we’ve been talking about hitting a lot of the park so we get a feel for where we’d like to go back and explore further. Is that idiotic? I think I have a good feel for how to break it up for fuel/water and camping except for the portion from Striped Butte to Hidden Valley. Sounds like it could be done in a VERY long day, but not sure that’s fun. Is there good solitude/camping up by Rhyolite? Or Emigrant in the middle of the park? I don’t know why i have this impression - but it sounds like there is more traffic in the main valley and the spurs coming off of it than on the outskirts.