Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Yeah, you're crazy.

You won't be able to get from Striped Butte to Hidden Valley, via Titus and South Pass in one day. Distances are deceiving.

Here's a "better" IMO itinerary for 6 days with a bunch of the stuff you're trying to see:

1. Tue - Camp near Bishop
2. Wed - To Butte Valley
3. Thu - explore in Butte Valley (there are several cabins, tons of hiking)
4. Fri - Warm Springs Rd and touristy stuff on Badwater road; camp outside Beatty somewhere - lots of BLM around
5. Sat - gas in Beatty, then see Ryolite on the way to Titus Canyon. Titus to Ubehebe Crater to Racetrack Valley; Camp on Racetrack Valley Rd - perhaps in the campground at the end by Lippincott.
6. Sun - Backtrack a little bit and explore Racetrack - sailing stones, grandstand. Down Lippincott to Saline Valley. Explore the valley a bit - salt tram, springs (lots of other stuff here as well - mines, etc.). Camp at warm springs.
7. Mon - drive out via north pass

That means you won't see Eureka Valley on this first trip. But you don't really have time for it anyway. And, it's quite far away from everything else. Again, distances.

 

This could be the answer to a "sum up Death Valley in four words" question: Beautiful! Distances are deceiving.

 

Totally hear that. Given our penchant for solitude, and maybe avoiding the looong washboard between ubehebe and racetrack, what about skipping rhyolite/Titus/ubehebe for eureka canyon?

It looks like homestake area to eureka dunes-ish by lippincott/warm springs is about 4-5 hours of drive time, yes?

Entering at Trona cuts two hours off our drive from Monterey. But we are returning to the north bay so will depart thru Bishop as long as the passes stay open. Very excited for the butte valley area!

 

Zeb I'm a little lost on your route to traverse the Sierra Nevada. Are you coming in from the North? If so then I understand doing a first night at Bishop or somewhere in the valley. If you're coming from Kern then there's no reason to go up to Bishop if that's your exit point at the end of the trip.

 

Yah, starting in Monterey, Ca.... looks like closest entry to park is Trona. Returning to north bay, so can leave by either the south or north... it’s a toss up returning.

 

Just did a trip this week Nov. 21-24...Saturday thru Tuesday. Entered at sarasota springs rd by Dumont dunes then up henry wade..westside road to warm springs road...We got Geologists cabin on saturday which was a surprise thought for sure it would be taken by the time we got there.



Some people showed up after dark and thought camping below us was ok....I thought it was a bit rude...am I wrong here???


Went back out warm springs road to westside road, gassed up at furnace creek then onto to Ubehebe crater...which was very crowded on Sunday...drove to Racetrack which didnt have as many people...scored the very top camping spot/concrete pad on the trail up to Upper Lippencott mine.



Next day exited race track into hidden valley..hit up lost burro mine then thru hunter mountain which still had snow on the trail in north facing areas. Exited onto 190 from Saline valley road and had lunch at star wars canyon....no planes sadly. Gassed up in Panamint stopped at Ballarat and continued on wingate rd went up Goler and camped at Keystone Mine camp.



Exited the same way we came in and headed home to Socal thru Trona.
Was a great trip with awesome weather...60s-70s daytime and low-mid 40's at night and almost no wind.

 

So if you're coming in from Kern and your first place you want to see is Butte Valley I suggest you try to get to Ballarat and camp around there the first night. This way you're up early to the trip to Butte Valley. You might just get Geologist's Cabin to yourself and camp there to continue your itinerary the next day. If Butte Valley isn't the priority then it opens up to other options. In all my trips to DV I've seen Butte Valley twice and camped there once. I do want to go back but I prefer the Northwest section of the park. Your days will be long with lots of driving.

My ideas...Butte Valley specific
If entering from the South (Kern):

1. Tue - Camp in Panamint Valley/Ballarat/Panamint Springs Resort. Lots of options in this area.
   
2. Wed - To Butte Valley, explore and camp. Maybe hike Stripped Butte
   
3. Thu - Head out Warm Springs Road, do Death Valley proper, IE Furnace Creek and some of the touristy spots. Camp off of the turn off for Chloride City not too far from pavement.
   
4. Fri - Early departure for Beatty and Titus. Then to Ubehebe and Homestake Camp.
   
5. Sat - Wake up early and see The Racetrack. There are two main sections people go to see. The Grandstand at the North and the sailing stones at the southerly end (longer walk). Lippincott to Saline Valley Warm Springs. You can wind down and savor the afternoon and get a shower.
   
6. Sun - Steel Pass/Dedeckera Canyon to Eureka Dunes Camp.
   
7. Mon - drive out via Death Valley Road to Big Pine. This drive does have some Joshua Trees.

If entering from the North (Bishop/Bridgeport):

1. Tue - Camp in Owens Valley, preferably closer to 190.
   
2. Wed - To Butte Valley and camp.
   
3. Thu - Explore Butte Valley and head out Warm Springs Road, do Death Valley proper, IE Furnace Creek and some of the touristy spots. Camp off of the turn off for Chloride City not too far from pavement.
4. Fri - Early departure for Beatty and Titus. Then to Ubehebe and Homestake Camp.
5. Sat - Wake up early and see The Racetrack. There are two main sections people go to see and distance is deceiving . The Grandstand at the North and the sailing stones at the southerly end (longer walk). Lippincott to Saline Valley Warm Springs. You can wind down and savor the afternoon and get a shower.
6. Sun - Steel Pass/Dedeckera Canyon to Eureka Dunes Camp.
7. Mon - drive out via Death Valley Road to Big Pine. This drive does have some Joshua Trees.

 

It looks like homestake area to eureka dunes-ish by lippincott/warm springs is about 4-5 hours of drive time, yes?

no. two days. one of the best drives is from palm spring to the dunes, I've spent five hours on that drive alone, just because going slow is fun.
homestake to the warm springs is doable no problem, and lippincott is also fun to go slow on. suggest not trying to hurry on either of those roads

..and from the dunes you can get to norcal in 8-10 hours, and almost the same time from the springs via north pass.

 

On my 5th day of DV! Will update y’all later! The desert is cold

 

@Zebinator - one of the things I think you'll want to be prepared for with any itinerary (and Eric's are both great IMO), is the "unfortunate" reality that you are unlikely to get through all of whatever you plan. I say "unfortunate" because it turns out to be a blessing in disguise - there's always more to go back for!

In all my trips to DV, I've never done everything I planned, and I've always found (very fun, often times "trip highlights") detours that I didn't plan. Anyway, I say that only as a way of reinforcing that whatever itinerary you end up with, TRY NOT TO RUSH. Enjoy yourselves and go slow; be in the present, wherever you are. My most favorite trips to DV have been the ones where I've driven the least number of miles.

 

This.
I always tend to cram too much in. Now I try to not overdo it, but still have something nearby in case we finish someplace early. It's definitely more enjoyable to not be in a rush and stay in the moment. Many times you spend more time than planned somewhere because you keep exploring the area more and more as you find cool stuff.

 

I'm not sure you can upload a map to caltopo, but I haven't checked either. I agree though, paper maps are also always in the truck. They do give a great overview of the area!

 

I find when a place intrigues me, I have a list for "next time" but next time, I've found something else like that I could spend all day in the dunes and not feel l saw everything dune.

 

https://youtu.be/BYdb7g7yyvA

 

Wow. That’s pretty cool.

 

Keep in mind he's the one that burned down the old hotel

 

I hadn't heard that.

 

Thanks again all! You are all speaking my language. I like to plan plan plan and then get there and see what happens. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve driven somewhere, found an amazing spot, and not moved for days.

And happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thanks for sharing this. I sent in my comments. Not sure about paving the road to Mosaic. I know I don't want to see the airstrip taken away for "dark sky viewing" since the entire park is a dark sky site. Having another option to land and camp is a great thing not to mention for pilots who may encounter issues which would necessitate a forced landing.

This improvement document is so much easier to digest than the Saline Valley Management Plan.

 

I’m not skier how I feel about tasking the landing strip away. But I do feel that it’s important to give access to as many people as possible and the strip has been there for a long time. I’d be happier with verbiage that ensures it’s not expanded and remains as it is today.