Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

You can always find the latest conditions on the DV NP Website.

 

That never really updates the road conditions for the less traveled ones

 

Nol, and you can certainly find more info elsewhere but it this can give you some idea what to expect.

 

I’ve been there numerous times, that page is horrendous. just seeing if anyone has any more recent info. I check else’s where as well, so far no new updates. You guys were the first info I found on the stuck pump truck, hence why I asked.

 

I was there two weekends ago (the weekend before the pump truck got stuck) and the south pass was snowy and icy at the higher elevation but our group didn’t have issues driving through it at night (ended up driving through it around 7pm in the dark).

 

It's more fun at midnight in rain, sleet, snow and fog.

 

I can imagine it is

 

Don't believe that. The Air Force is trying to expand their bombing range into even more of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge north of Vegas. Apparently, 2.9 million acres isn't enough and they feel that another 300,000 would really help them close off more land.

 

Indeed, because it isn't a wilderness area. This is why, unfortunately, if you really want to protect something you need a full fledged "land grab" via an act of Congress. Everything else is fairly easily reversible. Someone always has a "good reason" to rape over part of the desert a little bit more. Whether it is to bomb it, flood it, cover it in solar panels or provide a growing use space for foreign manufactured dirt bikes and quads.

Unfortunately NP designations or wilderness designations come with a lot of heavy handedness that isn't friendly to all users. They are, however, about the only thing that can't be reversed on a whim. The nice thing about the CDPA in 1994 was it created a butt load of wilderness with a fairly extensive cherry stemmed road system to access and explore it. So about as close to a "best of both worlds" kind of solution as exists though of course far from perfect.

China Lake and Ft. Irwin fortunately are snuggled up against a bunch of wilderness areas to their north making it very difficult to expand in that direction. Though they could expand to the south. And China lake could squeeze a bit further into the Panamint Valley I suppose.

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Funny true story. So I just returned from my big west loop trip and did the Death Valley and its absolutely awesome -tourists. So on our day 2 of exploring DV we made out to racetrack spend good amount of time there and then decided to head down the lippincot trail to get to springs and spend night there and soak in, but by the time said and done we figured that we ran over time and wont make it so just made decision to come down trail while light is there and find spot somewhere along trail. So we came down the trail, was fun few spots were tech but nothing that was over average trail, we went about mile into valley and found a spot right off side road and setup camp, cooked food and enjoyed the stars and the view.

Low and behold we see light coming down the lippincot trail around 9:30 PM, to our surprise, i commented to my wife wow whomever this is they are brave doing this at night and bit crazy, so we patiently waited to see who was making it down the trail that late at night. to our big surprise we see a white Acura TL 2008... we looked at each other in bit of a dismay on how it made down and appears to be unscathed and running, so we continue to watch this sedan make up to T section and stop, we though well i am sure they saw us our camp light are on so if they need our help we are here. We continued to watch as the driver appear to be tinkering with GPS and then finaly made left turn towards south of DV to head out to nearest paved road and slowly dissapeared behind dust and hills. Still in dismay we only can think of one thing some tourist possibly, used GPS to navigate from race track a short cut via the pass to get back on highway towards the town

next day we drove same route and were looking for oil slicks or some sort of tell tale ... but found none, so assume he made it out just fine.

Short story, my hat is off to whomever was in that white acura TL be that pro or maybe lost tourist.... that took some guts

 

Anyone know any camp spots near DV? I check their web site looks like they only allow a max of 4 trucks per camp site....

 

If you want to avoid the NP backcountry size limits you can camp on BLM land just outside the park and then drive in to explore during the day. Off the 374 between Beatty and the NP boundary there are some dirt roads with open spots far enough from the highway. In Panamint Valley all along the dirt road out near Ballarat. Also I believe there should be spots south of the 190 west of Death Valley Junction and east of where the park boundary crosses the road (but I’ve never personally explored this area for spots).

More remote in Saline Valley west of the road north of the salt marsh is outside the park and there are a few roads into canyons there with sport to camp. Also Santa Rosa Flat is out of the park on BLM land (Santa Rosa Flat is west of Lee Flat and Saline Valley Road and north of 190).

 

I was just there earlier this month and going back next week. It depends on where 6oure trying to explore but plenty of spaces just outside the park where you can have a wood campfire and a bigger group. If you’re heading south on saline valley road, pretty much everything west of the road is open. Some decent spots out there.

Where are you trying to explore

 

@DVexile @rob1208 thanks for the info really appreciate it guys. Gonna plan around ur reconditions.

I’ll be there next weekend too so I might run into you haha

 

How many rigs are planning on bringing in? Be mindful of the park rules about group size and what is and isn't allowed.

 

Is there a max size for rolling / caravaning in the park? I know there’s a max 4 vehicles for dispersed camping (six vehicles in the saline valley area closer to 190

 

Absolutely.
https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/management/rules-and-regulations.htm
"In non-designated campgrounds, group size is limited to 12 persons and no more than 4 vehicles, and/or 8 pack animals, and/or 4 vehicles. Groups larger than 12 must split up into smaller groups and must camp, hike, and eat at least a half-mile apart. Larger groups may request an exception to these limits from the superintendent under the terms of a special use permit."

Please read the rules and regs of the park. Too often people go out there either completely ignorant of the R&Rs or blatantly disregard them. Read through this entire thread and it can give you a good sense of the park and how vast and also how special it is. Be a good steward of DVNP. There are a lot of areas outside the park to have large groups if that is necessary.

BLM has different rules/regs regarding group size.

 

I read that before but it’s specific to camping. The group I’d be going with would stay on blm land or just split up into groups of 4 a mile apart. With the plan being camping on blm land, i was asking more about sight seeing and such in the park as you mentioned park rules about group size (not specific to camping). We’re there any rules limiting the max size of a caravan viewing the scenery?

 

When in doubt call DVNP.

 

I’m thinking of going to SV between Christmas and New Years. I’ve been there before in Feb and April, just in the last few years, and found no crowds and mellow people. Would this “holiday” week be worse? Thanks.