Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

How was the trail from the salt mine down to Cerro Gordo? After talking to the guy who stays there at the ghost town in Oct, he said the trail from the town up to the tram was a bit sketchy- steep drop off and some ruts in the road. I see a full size Tundra made it…how were the conditions? Great pics! Hoping to hit DV sometime before the summer heat .

 

There were 2 areas with snow drifts that we tried to go through but ended up going around, the rest is a fun ride. The road above the town is narrow and has a steep drop-off not bad unless you meet another vehicle coming the other way. this is that road:


I would go up through Swansea and back down to Cerro Gordo, great vistas, a few challenging spots and you can drive up to 10k feet, no worries about the heat there.

Robert is the caretaker in Cerro Gordo, tip him well, thats how he lives and repairs the town. We are planning on bringing a crew up there to do some work for him.

 

I love this thread. Great pictures guys. It's not in the cards for me to go this year but next spring I want to take our pop up trailer and set up base camp then hit some of these areas. (this way I could talk the wife and kids into it). What campground would be best for that? Having some running water would help but not totally necessary if being out back is best. Of course I would have to hit the tourist traps too. As I'm coming home from Mammoth along the 395 I always look to the left at the White mtns and wonder about DV on the other side.

 

Thanks for the tips. Robert is awesome, we made an impromptu stop in the town last fall and he was a great resource for anything history and mining! He was fun to talk to, let us tour all the buildings on the property while giving us a history lesson, almost felt like we were going back in time!

 

With wife and kids and a pop up trailer and runing water...I would say stovepipe or furnace creek. They are the 2 hubs in Death Valley and a good starting point for the Park.

 

lol

 

Ok cool thanks.

Where is this? that looks like fun!

 

It's in Dedeckera canyon heading over Steel Pass into Saline Valley from the Eureka dunes.

 

Looks like this is the last spring run in DV, it's getting too hot.

We went over Manley and Goler again, camped in Striped butte Valley then went through Warm Springs down to the valley, this time we went north and explored the Queen of Sheba Mine,Golena Canyon and ended up near Hungry Bill's, Johnson Canyon was pretty rough and had the Tundra hung up an one spot, My limo had no issues .
We stayed at Wilson spring and headed to the other side to check out Skidoo, lots of mining in this area.
One of the other guys took lots of pics, If I ever get them I will post more

Next we move on to the Sierras!

 

Did Saline Valley and Hunter Mountain/Lippincott pass.

 

^Beautiful!

 

Very nice pics, that place is on my bucket list

 

Since Fall's around the corner........ who's planning on hitting the DVNP?

 

I'm thinking about it. If not this fall maybe after the new year.

 

I'll be in Saline ASAP...all about temps.
Don't forget that the LVAS Star Party will be at Furnace creek in November.


That event is great for those new to DV. From there it's all about North, South, some East, and mostly West.

 

I'll be out and about the area mid Nov. Probably thru early Dec.

What's this LVAS star party you speak of?

 

Oh and I've been looking at future weather predictions for winter 2014-2015. Looks as thou many are declaring a possible serious el nino winter. Pineapple Express may drift that far south. No doubt good for the drought, but some parts of the park may be closed til spring or... next fall.

Most of us now how well funded Inyo county is.

Just be sure to know how to hit up the weather radio when you're there and check on weather forecasts before any of you guys head out.

 

There are at least two sizable groups on ExPo planning group runs with overlapping dates, one group Nov 7-11 (N-S) and the other Nov 7-9 traveling (S-N).

 

Google is your friend for the LVAS thing.

Inyo County came through last year for the grading and repair of Saline Valley Road. If it is washed out again this fall we'll see if they are able to quickly repair it again.

 

Personally, washed out roads are some of my favorite.