Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Practically any car on the road can make it to the pinnacles from Hwy 178

 

I had a feeling, but some of the searches I have seen have people saying they "highly recommend" 4WD. Didn't seem right to me.

Thanks!

 

Be prepared for dust and washboard, but no, 4WD not required if you stay on the trail.

 

Fish Canyon Escape Route and Warm Springs Road are two-way, right? I'm doing some route planning and Gaia's trying to tell me you can only go east-to-west on both, but I haven't seen anything indicating that's actually the case for either trail. (Definitely doesn't seem to make any sense for Warm Springs for it to be a one-way road, although I suppose you could make a case for FCER based on the name.)

 

Warm Springs near Butte Valley?
You will need 4wd for that coming from the west. I'd also suggest 4wd for the Escape Trail.

 

Honestly, it’s been a year or two since my last visit to the Pinnacles, but I don’t recall any washboard. A Prius, perhaps even a Ferrari, would have no difficulty getting to the camping area … assuming it’s dry.

 

Not to be that guy....as I do believe that 4WD is better than 2WD....But I have a 2wd high clearance truck and did Goler to Mengel to Warm Springs to Badwater road with no problem at all. The one caveat is that I had 4WD trucks with me. Just as a caution I would never do it without at least 1 4wd truck there.

 

I was at the pinnacles in December and it was in washboard condition. Much easier in a vehicle suited for off-road travel.

 

Correct. I'm looking at coming in to DV from Trona via Fish Canyon -> Goler -> Mengel -> Butte Valley -> Warm Springs -> West Side Road. Was just trying to make sure that there wasn't a one-way traffic restriction that I was unaware of, since Gaia was acting up. (I didn't see one for BV/WS on the NPS road conditions website, but Fish Canyon isn't listed on that site since it's outside the park.)

 

Are you taking the vehicle listed on your profile?
If so you should have little to no issues.

 

Just curious, but what Gaia layers do you have on? I’m looking at the Gaia Topo and NatGeo layers and see nothing indicating one way for the route you described. NatGeo does show one way for Artist Drive so I think it would show one way if Warm Springs was also same.

 

Gaia Topo. Worked fine until I clicked it over from Hiking to Driving (an option I'd never even noticed before), and it instantly rerouted me from the Geologist's Cabin back through Mengel and Goler and all the way around. Could have been a bug, for all I know. AFAIK, the only roads that are one-way are Titus Canyon and Twenty Mule Team.

 

The one big exception is if it is raining and wet. Some of the sediment there turns into extremely slippery mud when wet. Other than that the worst it ever becomes is washboard you might have to take slow. I visited the first time in the 1990s in a Honda Civic.

 

Seems to work for me, only suggestion I'd made is try adding more points to the route to force it to follow where you want to go. Should be a fun trip

 

Anyone been up to Mohogany Flats recently? Is it open? What about Hunter Mtn, How does that look?

 

I thought you said Mahogany Meats....

 

Funny. I was about to call in a lunch order. lol

 

Better get on that!

 

You know, they have a great breakfast combo. Personally, I think it's a great combo--I think imma order one.

 

Don't get me started. They've been out of Indian and cowboy jerkies every time I check the website. What I wouldn't give to be traveling through on a brisk day and getting a rodeo sandwich right now...