Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but a bunch of us got cited by a DVNM Ranger after going around a barricade on Titus back in 1984, on our motorcycles. Not only was the ticket expensive, but he made us turn around in Leadfield, where he found us, and tackle a pretty slimy/snowy hill on the way back to the Nevada side.

 

Thanks for the info. I think I'll wait till I see some reports or the park changes the roads to 'open'.

 

Personally, I like a road closed sign on SVR.

 

I can confirm that as of 2 weeks ago, the metal gates on both sides of West Side Road were closed and locked. I thought that was strange too, since it meant coming over from Panamint through Butte Valley and Warm Springs, you'd essentially be "stuck" but I guess they expect you to check road conditions... or drive around the gate (obviously a no-no) at that point.

Luckily, we were sticking to the eastern edge of the Valley on our trip, so were unaffected.

 

wow that would suck! I was actually thinking of doing panamint and mengal pass to get into the park end of this month. Ill give them a call the week of to see of west side road is going to be open then.

What did your trip consist of on the eastern edge of the valley?

 

I’m going into SV next weekend, probably South Pass in, but may exit North Pass. Going with a stock F150 so Steel is out, I think. Anyway, I assume that the county closures on SV and the Big Pine-DV Road are “soft” closures.

 

Hiking Death Valley (Feb 2019)

Before it even began, the trip was off to a rough start. See, we'd planned - if you can call deciding to go on a trip just a few days prior to departure, "planning" - to leave two weeks earlier, but inclement weather caused us to push the trip back. Even so, the weather report was iffy just a few days before the new date - something we decided we'd ignore so we could get out and explore.

Check out the first two days in part 1 of this adventure:

The Day the Tent Closed...with Us Inside
and We Luck Out and It's Beautiful​

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more photos and the whole story:
The Day the Tent Closed...with Us Inside
and We Luck Out and It's Beautiful​

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Went out in late December during the Gov shutdown. Headed up to Steele pass with a stock 1995 Tacoma and 32" tires, loaded with three dudes and all our gear in the back.



Had no issues, besides the guys in $80k Jeep rigs telling us we should probably turn around once we were heading down into Saline Valley from Steele Pass...

No doubt the truck was slammed, but with patience and a buddy outside in the technical parts, we were fine. Steel pass is intimidating, but with a slow crawl it shouldn't pose too much of a hassle. Like they say, slow and steady..

There was somebody swapping out an axle on a Cherokee at Steele though, so it's worth noting to be very careful.

We also used way more fuel than we anticipated.

We headed out to Cerro Gordo on our way back to 395 and hit snow a foot deep for the last mile or two at the top. Kept it in gear and kept the momentum going forward.

Great trip, great country.

 

I took Steele Pass for the first time with my truck last year, and that was my take as well. We never actually stopped after we got over the dry falls until we got to the springs. Just paid attention and minded my lines, slowed down when I needed to. I think the real danger up there isn't the terrain necessarily, but folks thinking that 4x4 makes them invulnerable so they can charge ahead at 40 mph while shooting the breeze and chugging a Monster.

My travelling companion was laughing, because whenever we hit snow, ice, soft sand, mud, anywhere where you just have to keep your momentum up, I kept quoting Dory from Finding Nemo: "Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!"

 

...As we made our way into the hills, we eventually turned into a wash and behind down into a hidden valley, simply following tracks from visitors that were few and far between. And before us, the colors were suddenly amazing. I let out an audible "wow," over the CB - Ben and Zane still a ways back - and stopped to capture the situation.

Read the full story and check out all the photos:

Hiking Death Valley Part 2 - Room Canyon and...Water Crossings?​

Hiking Death Valley Part 2 - Room Canyon and...Water Crossings?


catch up on all parts:
[part 1] [part 2]​

 

Anyone have any insight into when Big Pine and Eureka Valley Road will reopen? Planning a trip for the end of the month and am hopeful that I'll be able to take Big Pine from Bishop into the park and head out to Eureka Dunes.

Also, anyone know how conditions are on Steel Pass and Ubehebe Pass (or whatever the road that drops down to the racetrack from the west is called)?

 

I think you're asking about Death Valley Road which comes off the 168 from Big Pine. I didn't know anything was wrong with it. Sounds like you're planning on going from Big pine-Eureka Valley-Dedeckera Canyon-Steel Pass into Saline Valley and up Lippincott. Conditions change with every storm so hard to say just yet how road conditions are.

 

The Big Pine to Death Valley Rd is officially closed by Inyo County. Today was pretty wild in the general DV/LV area, heavy flooding in Red Rock and blue Diamond near Las Vegas, and I just read of someone turning around at South Pass (northbound) near the Hunter turnoff because of heavy rain and slick mud. Hwy 178 in the Kern River Canyon is closed due to a rockslide; CalTrans hopes to open it Thursday but will have to blast the rocks, as they’re too big to push out of the way.

 

Steele Pass was fine 2 weekends ago. There was snow starting from a mile or 2 past Dedeckera Canyon right up to Steele Pass and the Marble Bath Tube. No washouts from the recent storms at that time.

Death Valley Road was blocked off with cones and a Road closed sign right at the 168

https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

 

Ha good. You know what to do in situations like this.

 

... it wasn't long before we arrived at our destination, technically known as: some spot along the road. We pulled off as far as we could - careful to stay within the grading berms - and prepped ourselves for the journey ahead. Lunches were made, water bottles filled. And then, we set off across the desert. Truth be told, it didn't look that far to the other side.

Check out the full story and photos in part 3 of Hiking Death Valley. It covers two days for your viewing pleasure:

We Trek Miles Across the Desert and
A Deer Destroy's the Hellas - and We Destroy a Deer - on the Long Drive Home​

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Missed part of the story? Catch up with it all
[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]​

 

Most impressive part of this story is that you had three dudes bouncing around in an extra cab!

 

I’m going to avoid some specific popular place names to discourage those randomly using search, maybe silly but it can’t hurt, and I figure regular readers of this group will know what I’m talking about. Just got back from 4 days in DV, went with a friend who recently got a 4wd F150 with FWC. Two excellent days at the springs in SV, very few people and those who were there, were quiet and mellow. Both of our wives are eager to go back. Road is marked “closed” by the county, but the DV LEO Ranger (in a Tacoma) whom we encountered coming in from the south, just before Hunter, just laughed about it. There is one large boulder on the road at the start of the descent, but easily driven around by my DCSB and my friend’s F150 SuperCab. Washboard was pretty bad down in the valley.

Hiked up the cinder cone and just past the crest, and returned down cross-country on the SW side. About 5 miles that felt like 10. Came back via the Palm Springs which we had to ourselves for a real soak.

Drove out south again, washboard felt even worse, drove back down 190, and walked up to the Falls just above PSR. Scrambled up to the upper fall for the first time, a little sketchy for me but all four of us plus our friends’ dog made it. Camped the last night at the garden springs above the falls, then drove home today.

We came in through Trona the first day, and camped near the mine that’s a few miles west of the road, just before the 190 junction. Lots of good sites, though the cabin at the mine was occupied. Good trip!

 

Here’s a pic of the boulder near the Hunter turnoff on the way out of the Springs yesterday. There’s actually plenty of room; my biggest concern was if another one would come down, though it had been dry for several days. Does that stabilize them or loosen whatever is supporting them?

 

Looks like a prius killer