Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

That's a given in Vegas but not death Valley. Looking for spots to go/see for her being a noob

 

Either that or fell asleep and drifted off the road. Either way, it's a bad situation.

 

Some must see spots I’d suggest in no particular order. Stop at Furnace Creek Ranch. $10 will get you a day pass for shower and pool and for your friend a break from roughing it. Only need one pass to open pool gate then both of you can get in. While there stop by Visitor Center, Museum, Giftshop and Restaurant makes good safe 1/2 day break. From there is short drive to turnoff to Inyo Mine for abandon mine camp as an easy 4WD 1/2 day trip. Charcoal kilns off Wildrose is must see but a little out of way. Mosaic Canyon by Stovepipe Wells is also good easy to hike trail, shower and pool also at Stovepipe Resort. Keene Wonder Mine also good example of a mine camp and usually have ranger talks there and a good hike along the cableway. Rylolite (spelling?) for example of ghost town. Scotty Castle if the road has been fixed. And of course Badwater.

 

Dog is going to be a larger issue than the girlfriend. Dogs are allowed essentially nowhere in the park away from the road and rangers do enforce. Can't take on any trails or anywhere in the wilderness.

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

So if you are going to do essentially any exploring on foot (e.g. walking out to the rocks on Racetrack, going around or down into Ubehebe, walking out on the salt flats, walking on the dunes) then the dog will need to be OK with staying tied up at your vehicle. It is not a pet friendly park at all really (for good reason actually). At least in January the temperatures should be OK for leaving the dog with the vehicle and a bowl of water and likely your girlfriend isn't going to be interested in particularly long hikes or anything so it might be OK.

Assuming coming from Vegas and just a weekend really watch the miles traveled and plan route accordingly. Snow can also be an issue restricting where you can get to (e.g. North Pass, Hunter Mountain and Titus often closed in January). The springs and Stripped Butte are very far apart in distance traveled so I'd consider dropping the southern loop through Stripped Butte. If doing the springs to and from Vegas I'd keep travels to the NW corner of the park mostly.

If Titus is open (can close due to snow) perhaps take 95 from Vegas up to Beatty then enter the park via Titus - that would make a lasting first impression of the park for her. Continue up to Ubehebe, perhaps slight detour to Lost Burro Mine, stop by Racetrack, down Lippencott, check out Salt Tram and over to the springs. Depending on timing if you can't make Springs the first day you could camp at Mesquite which is a quieter campground close to Ubehebe. Over Steel Pass to Eureka Dunes back down Big Pine/Death Valley road into the valley and then hit Furnace Creek stuff on the way out via 190 where you can pass Zabriske, Dante's View and other such taking route back to Vegas through Pahrump. Slightly longer return via Badwater if you want to hit the salt flats.

 

I like the concise rules and regs part as well as vehicle definitions. Group size now says four vehicles. If memory serves me correctly I think it used to be twelve vehicles.

 

Not to thread jack: We came in up thru Eureka Valley to Steel Canyon then to the springs and then out Saline Valley at 45mph due to legendary washboards towards Hunter Mt. Is there an easier way to the springs?

aaen,
From what you stated earlier, she isn't a "get dirty kinda girl", so two or three days tops. Not to discourage you/her but if she is worried about her fingernails and is unable to use a pit toilet or wag bag, it will be a tough time. If you are lucky, you can get the Geologists cabin and the other cabin up past the "jungle".

 

Assuming no snow issues people typically consider North Pass to be the easiest way in and out. That's how the Priuses and other inappropriate vehicles usually get in. Some folks from LA would still enter via North Pass even though it was way more miles than South Pass coming from that direction. I think this is partly historical though in that in the past North Pass was frequently graded by Inyo Country while South Pass was not. These days unfortunately South Pass gets frequent grading as well so I expect a lot of time South Pass isn't much worse that North. The North Pass road can get quite a bit of washboard too. I *think* South Pass might have more of a rocky section hard on tires climbing towards the pass but I could be wrong about that as I've only driven North Pass once if I recall.

Lippincott is potentially the worst way to enter because first you have to suck up endless washboard on Racetrack Valley Road, then go down Lippincott which is steep and narrow and then suck up all the washboard on the Saline Valley floor too. Of course if you already wanted to drive to Racetrack anyway then cutting down Lippincott makes a lot of sense. I've done that a fair number of times actually when taking new people on tours. Sometimes Lippincott can be in very bad condition or even impassible after storms.

Steel Pass varies quite a bit. If in good condition it can be a fun drive but often the two dry falls in Dedeckera Canyon are challenging with no lift or novice drivers and may require some road building. Closer to the springs it can be a slow slog of route finding through the rocks and gravel if the wash has flowed recently. These days it seems like Steel gets quite a bit of traffic compared to years past so the route is much more likely to be in good condition than in the past.

Based on where I approach from and the vehicles I've driven I almost always go in and out of South Pass unless I'm trying to make a loop of some sort to hit other destinations.

 

What DVexile said.
Personally I prefer North Pass for more highway miles and a fill up at Big Pine. There are four ways into Saline: North or South Passes, Steel Pass/Dedeckera Canyon, and Lippincott. Each has its own personality, distance, and challenges.

 

Isn’t there supposedly a trail from SVR to the andrews mountain area??

 

I think I know what you're referring to. Most roads from SVR peter out. If you like hiking it might work but not for vehicular travel.

I'm sure most of us would like more routes to various places but different factions and groups have closed more places which were once open to access. There are more people using the outdoors than ever before and it takes a toll. I always stress about being a good steward to help protect the access that is in place currently.

 

Not from Saline Valley Road itself. A few spurs climb to the west from the northern end of SVR up near where it meets Big Pine Death Valley Road. None go through nor have they ever as best as I can determine.

There are routes into Andrews Mountain area from the north but these are actually off of Big Pine Death Valley Road a bit west of where it meets SVR. These are all NFS roads outside the NP.

You can get a map of NFS routes in this area if you go to this page:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/maps-pubs/

Scroll to bottom and click on link for PDF map of “Inyo Mountains”

 

link isn't working

 

Thanks! Looks like the direct link to the PDF was a temporary one that expires (I did check it right after I posted). Updated with a link to the source page instead and instructions where to click.

 

Hmm, the ranger last year told me zero issue with the dog as long as it is not running around chasing wildlife and ripping up vegetation and shitting everywhere. Even had it up on Eureka dunes with me which is apparently a Nono yet the ranger was like don;t worry she is well behaved, probably didn’t hurt that the Canadian plates are on the truck and I could play the I didn’t know card. Also the ranger seemed to love my dog. Dog Pic attached for reference.

All the so called no dog spots, I walked around with my dog and with rangers at peak times, oh well, guess I got lucky.

All good spots, some I have completely over looked and forgot about in my many trips as i have done them.

 

Unfortunately others may see your dog and think it is acceptable to follow suit. I've seen it happen in many places not associated with DVNP.

 

BS. It's not acceptable. Period. Full stop.

National parks have a very detailed policy for dogs. Each has it's own policy but they are all very similar. Since this is the DV thread I'll link the NPS DV website.

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


It doesn't matter if your dog is behaved or not. It's not allowed to have them off leash or on trail. Done. Take your pets and board them. Or ask a friend to watch them. For the record, I'm a dog owner of one of the most well behaved labs you'll ever meet. That doesn't give me any right to take him where I want to but he legally can't go.

 

Park Rangers were ticketing dog owners who had their dogs off leash at the SV hotsprings 3 years ago during New Years Eve weekend.

 

Hey, are any other TWers doing the Manzanar Archaeology Volunteer project over this Labor Day weekend?

We are taking the trailer up there on Friday and staying through Monday. Hope to see someone I know here up there! Should be pretty cool... yeah, and hot. And sobering, too. We’re going to be excavating the children’s orphanage where the kids of the internee parents that died at the camps had to live, how sad is that? Its the only orphanage in the entire system so they shipped in the orphans from all over.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/death-valley-off-road-adventures.60777/page-146#post-21240140

Note: it’s probably too late to sign up, but email them for future dates too if you are interested.

 

Regarding dogs- I was doing mine surveys for bats under contract with DVNP and we found a Irish setter carcass at the bottom of one. Poor thing obviously was scratching at the walls trying to get up to a ventilation shaft that lead three levels up to the main adit. I’m sure the owners were calling it from the entrance and the dog got confused from where their voices were coming from and finally ended up wandering to the bottom near the vent. Sucks- unleashed dogs and kids don’t belong anywhere near those mining districts, some are worse than Swiss cheese with shafts opening on the surface everywhere!

 

https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/08/2...-it-easy-to-quench-your-thirst-in-the-desert/

Incredible invention.

Looks like it can bolt up to roof rack.

Make E-water anywhere, especially valuable in places like DV.