Death Valley, California

Ever been? I am planning a trip there for a week next month, March. Hoping to hit some of the 4WD roads and camp "backcountry style". Any suggestions?

I already know that I want to drive the Lippincott Mine Road which looks awesome! ANd see the moving rocks at Racetrack Playa.

Anyway, it will be my 1st trip there and any advise would be much appreciated.

Looks like a spare gas can could be handy. And water, lots of water. What else?

 

A good, detailed map of the DV area, CB radio, tire patch kit, and the usual tools and spare parts.

 

Thanks Tan. Got all that. Going to buy two 5gal gas cans also.

 

What trails are you looking to fo? I'll be in D Valley March 12 to March ? Starting out with a camp up in Cottonwood Canyon for a night or two.

 

Well, I'm heading down there from Portland Oregon (900 mile drive) on Saturday March 22nd. Plan to spend 5-6 days on the ground in DVNP and then head on to Las Vegas and then Arizona for a few days before heading home.

I have a 2-week "spring break", one of the perks of being a teacher. The weather is always wet and cold here so camping is an "experience", so I'm hoping for dryer and warmer conditions - sleep outside and stare at stars!

Anyway, I found this little gem of an info sheet about all the best DVNP backcountry trails. Click here

I optimistically plan to try every one of those. Check out the "Echo Canyon" trail. Wow, that looks fun.

Well, enjoy your trip and let me know any last minute tips when you return, should be right about the time I'll be heading out. Cheers!

 

Will do. There are a few road closures in DV due to the recent storms.


http://oldtrailmaster.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/webcam/

http://www.deathvalley.com/dvtalk/dvtalk.shtml

http://forum.salinepreservation.org/?forum=162656

 

Very helpful links. Thanks.

 

...i'm sure you're aware, ..but you'll be driving by a lot of pretty cool parks (yosemite, sequoia, etc...)... are you driving south through the central valley on the interstate (boring scenery), or are you going to cross the sierra and come down 395?... the latter has great scenery along the way, ...

also in case you're interested in an adventurous detour, right outside the town of big pine (north of death valley on 395), there's a road that goes up into the white mountains, ...and "supposedly" the oldest living tree in the world is up there somewhere, ...i drove up there once, and some of the alpine meadows (10,000 ft) are really erie, ...you see a lot of the old gnarly looking trees, and the landscape is quite strange... i didn't have much time to spend driving around up there, but would have if i did... it was paved roads to the extent i traveled, though the terrain, roadways, and lack of guardrails alongside cliffs made for tepid trekking

 

Echo Canyon is a fun and pretty easy run and it's not too far from Furnace Creek if you need to stock up or gas up. Chloride Cliffs is another mellow but fun ride with nice views of the valley floor. Titus Canyon is great for scenery, one of my favorites. You can check out Ryholite Ghost Town and then drop down into Titus for nice afternoon adventure.