Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Thanks. This trip has been a lot of in and out (3 days then out to San Diego, then back for 3 days before getting into Las Vegas). Had bad weather for pics Wednesday and today so I'm hoping to catch some clear skies Saturday.

 

Was surprised to see this US Park Ranger vehicle in Death Valley this morning running a Toytech lift and total chaos UCAs

 

The extended travel Fox coilovers on my truck ate them up. Airing down made a big difference too.

Not I'm researching upgrading the bumpstops though...the rears are like rocks and as much as I smashed them over the past week the never got any softer.

 

Ive seen Rangers at the Hot Spriings the last 3 visits there. And they were handing out dogs of leash tickets at my last visit over New Years Eve weekend.

 

What is "family friendly"?
Are you talking about making the clothing optional not optional? Guess it all depends on how you raise your family. I'd be ok with my daughter going there when she was younger. I wouldn't have made her go without a suit if she wasn't comfortable. It really comes down to how you raise your kids. Personally I would rather my child have had the wonderful experience of soaking under a moonless sky watching the milkyway. Clothed or not. At that point it doesn't really matter.

When I first visited the springs I new very well about the clothing optional. I was a textillian...always wearing a suit. My father was a nudist of sorts, at home. Not sure about other places around the globe he traveled to. When I was younger I wasn't comfortable with it. That carried forward my first few trips. Personally I just got over it. It isn't a big deal.

 

Gross

 

I’ll admit I’ve only been to the Springs since our kids were grown, and without them, but in my few visits I’ve found it quite family friendly. Better than many large campgrounds with loud music, heavy drinking, litter and loud trucks idling forever.

 

The last time I saw that Tacoma was at Racetrack and the ranger driving it was extremely attractive. I tried to tell her all the bad things I had done so she would pat me down.

 

I was at the springs last Wednesday and no rangers were out. Would have been nice if there was one though since some guy there thought it was okay to let his dog drink out of the tub while we were soaking in it.

 

Went in over lippencott to saline and over steel pass last last week, conditions were great!

 

Finally got around to finishing up both parts of my trip report for a Death Valley visit earlier this month.

Death Valley with a Five Year Old
Part 1 and Part 2


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@DVexile awesome trip reports and pictures. What a great trip to have done with your daughter

 

Just found this thread...
Does one need a special multi-ply tire for the conditions in Death Valley? Many thanks - sorry if this has been discussed earlier.
Very interesting thread!

 

Agree about the suspension and heat- my shocks were too hot to touch after just a few miles on racetrack rd. Next time I'm bringing my infrared thermometer, they can be had for 10$ at harbor freight, or:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014...1_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=E7AP57X1V8QPF3CJ92A7

 

Anyone know who this is? Saw him yesterday on Lippincott Pass and forgot to ask. Said he was from the Bay Area and was traveling with a Jeep.

 

Made a cool looking sign at the shop this morning. Hopefully one day I’ll get out there to see it in place.

 

@DoorDing already gave you sound advice.

I'll just add that it really depends on where exactly you are going in the park. Many sites are on short spur roads that are rough but rather short where access to the spur is either a paved road or a well maintained dirt road (like West Side Road). For many of these you could even get by with a P rated tire as long as you slow way, way down for the rough spur road and pick your line well.

Other sites involve long drives on fairly rough or heavily washboarded roads. Racetrack Playa is the classic example. For these I would personally not want to take a P rated tire on them though may folks do. Be sure you've got a full size spare with air in it if you chose to do that. And slow, slow, slow down! Even the most "highway like" LT tire is a lot stronger than a P rated tire and so if you have LT tires even if they aren't AT/MT or other "off-road" tread designs you should be able to tackle most anything in the park with care assuming you are ready for the potential to have to change a tire if you go too fast or chose a bad line over a pointy rock.

Nothing will kill a tire off road more than speed. A pokey rock hit at 10 to 15 mph will likely be fine for most tires. Hit it at 30 mph and *bang* is the likely result with all but a strong tire aired down. The problem with many Death Valley dirt roads isn't the condition of the road so much as the *length* of the road. People drive fast because it takes so dang long to get there. Add in washboard which often feels smoother at higher speeds and you can see why people blow up tires a lot out there.

On that subject of washboard as already pointed out a long run on washboard at 35-40 mph can cause a stock shock to literally explode. Many of us who have off-road shocks and heavy off-road tires that we air down mostly use them to drive faster on washboard roads. Airing down the tire makes the washboard less rough but requires a very strong tire. The shocks are designed to dissipate heat from the washboard far more effectively than stock designs. So we can drive at 40-45 on those roads and get to the end of the road faster. But most everyone else who didn't sink a bunch of money into shocks and tires can also get to the end of the road just fine - they just need to SLOW DOWN!

Long story short, don't let your tires keep you out of Death Valley. There is so much to explore there that you can have an amazing visit in a Honda Civic. For getting out onto the dirt roads if you don't have heavy expensive tires the simple solution is to just slow down. For short spur roads that hardly costs you any time at all. For a longer road like Racetrack just plan to take more of your day getting there.

 

You can get by without LT tires. But if you plan on taking your truck off road with any frequency, good tires are the first upgrade you should make. Just my $0.02

 

Thanks to all for thoughtful and well written comments regarding tires for conditions in Death Valley.
I presently have Toyo Open Country A/T II (P265/70R17) tires with an ICON suspension. I think I"ll give it a try at slow speeds.
Good wishes to all!!!!

 

Heres a couple shots from my recent trip. They dont compare at all to some of the amazing photos a lot of you all are posting.



Here are my girls cruising the salt flats at Badwater Basin.




Tried my hand at faking a tilt-shift effect. Makes me want to reach down and pick up this little taco at the Mesquite Springs campground.