Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Good report...please consider sharing it here.
Yes lots of old roads that are now closed unfortunately.

 

@ETAV8R - as you wish! Crossposted.

Here's a quick write up and some photos of our recent trip to Death Valley...

So first off... If you have never been and are open to some light wheeling (well, check conditions, they can change dramatically, i hear) I'd strongly recommend entering via Goler Wash/Mengel Pass. The wash is incredibly cool, and the view to the Striped Butte is stunning. It reminded me of going to Yosemite for the first time. Simply breathtaking.

We fueled up in Trona, aired down, and blasted past Ballarat to enter the wash. Saw a a couple very 'street-only' seeming vehicles coming down so that meant either they'd turned around, or the road was not in bad shape. The canyon is so narrow and beautiful (saw chuckar, sheep) it was really exciting to drive up. Didn't notice any obstacles worth mentioning till near the end of the climb where some steep/off-camber stuff presented itself. There was even a go-around. We powered up. Passed the ranches (for next time) and got to the pass at dusk. Decided to just camp right there.

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Loved it so much we just stayed, watched folks get up and over a little flex-y/rockey bit (one guy in a stock suburban!) ate, took photos, went for a walk... Watched people come and go from the valley, the cabins.... Great way to decompress after a busy holiday.

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I want to come back and do the out and back north of the butte (Pleasant Valley?)

We motored out Warm Springs Road and once in the valley proper were stunned by the hordes of people. Decided right there to just power through to Panamint Springs, gas up, and head over Hunter Mountain and escape the crowds. Hunter Mountain had some snow, but we heard that there wasn't any mud. So we went for it.

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Made a dubious camp right in the Ulida Flats... We were just too tired to keep going and all the side roads we'd planned on exploring up on Hunter Mountain were snowed in. Didn't feel like camping that high, either. It was cold enough down lower!

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Through to Teakettle Junction, then south to the Racetrack. Glad we got there early before dozens of folks showed up. We hiked Ubehebe Peak (totally worth it!) and were blown away.

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Now, I was a little nervous about Lippencott. (With a nervous passenger) but it was also really chill. Some bumps midway down, but didn't even need to get out to scout. A stock Land Rover was following us.

Saline Valley... wow, we'll be back to explore. We stopped at the springs (lots of folks, surprisingly, given there was no soaking) washed our faces and then started looking for some quiet place to camp. SO many folks in the valley though, so we kept pressing up as it got colder and colder. We were aiming for a little side road on the map. The road got narrower and twistier - really fun - and I began to wonder if we were going to end up at Steel Pass. The side road is closed, and again, we were done driving, so we camped in the huge gravel parking-lot space just above the pass. Didn't think we'd see folks but two HUGE groups motored through, both looking like they had expected to find the spot empty so they could camp. Thankfully they kept going and left us in solitude (thanks if you're out there!) We decided to just chill here and enjoy the mountains and j-trees. Went for a couple walks... enjoyed the bathtub. And then got set on our last night for an early departure to get through Dedeckera Canyon and to the Dunes before having to speed home.

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I was eager for the ledges in the canyon... Turned out they were also no big deal! I think the fall season of traffic meant that tons off folks have been 'improving' the obstacles. I will be curious to see how hard they are going in the opposite directions, and after the winter has it's way with the improvements... Anyway, also a very cool, narrow canyon to drive through. My passenger got a little nervous with the narrowness at the obstacles, but all good. We popped out to enjoy sun just starting to hit the dunes. They are also amazing. I could come back here again.... when there are fewer folks (lots and lots of folks camped out here)

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The drive out towards Big Pine/Bishop was also stunning - a bit of snow but the road was clear. The road to N. Pass looked pretty snowy, but there were lots of tracks going that way. Another time, we'll check that out too. Can't wait to get back.

Thanks again to all the folks in this thread for all the great info. I got big kudos from the missus for having our route so dialed.

 

It was just a few years ago we had to take a break at the ledges because my buddies vehicle needed some attention, it ended up being nothing serious at all. During that time his wife and I spent the time completely unstacking all three ledges, it was pretty fun actually. And we did a good job with trying to move the bigger rocks out and away from the area entirely. But of course when we just had finished at the upper most ledge, a stock Sequoya makes it's way into the canyon from the Eureka side. We helped him through by spotting him up the first two without much trouble, the driver just a little patience and spotting. But he was unable to get up the last ledge, he was always close but not close enough. So I ended up putting my winch and helped him up.

 

Checking in from the top of pleasant valley... hello TW!

 

Wish I were up there. Did you stay overnight? If so how cold was it? Missing DV!!!

 

Yeah we camped just above Ballarat last night. It was perfect, didn't even need a jacket until well after sunset. I'd say mid 50s winds calm gusting to 5 from the canyon. The crescent moonset was awesome, and we stayed up late watching a movie at the campfire it was that nice.



This was supposed to be a three night four day adventure up here, but our work schedules imploded at the last minute. We left home yesterday at 2 and will be home tonight, probably very late. I'm almost down south park valley and we'll double back up goler with whatever daylight we have left, will decide whether to continue through or cut back when its too dark to see the scenery.

Cheers!

 

You'll be very disappointed with the increased vehicle traffic that has been passing through the valley the last few months, not to mention the newer traffic with the Razrs and /UTV side by sides that are originating from Ballarat. There was a 4 door side by side at the top of Middle Park the last time I was in that area, of course originating from Ballarat.

 

That's me pretty much everyday. lol

 

If they are up there they are within park boundary and currently not permitted to do so. But Inyo is encouraging utv use. Gonna be interesting.

 

I suspect that the Park Service will trump Inyo Co.

 

A Ranger I spoke with said they have game cameras that they will be looking at. Last thing we need is a bunch of UTVs poaching trails and areas that they are not supposed to be on, that could potentially have some very bad consequences for our motorized travel in the outback.

 

I’m an old curmudgeon but I totally don’t get UTV’s and SxS’s. Yeah, where they’re legal, they are probably fun but why not drive a Jeep, or ride a dual sport? Modern 50-state street legal KTM/Husky/Beta type bikes seem amazing, and if you want 4 seats and a steering wheel a well-suspended Jeep or Tacoma works just great in the desert and will transport you there and back home to boot. To be fair the regulations across NPS, BLM, state ORMVRA’s etc aren’t consistent, but NPS is pretty clear about non street licensed vehicles. And anti-motorized folks lump us all together.

 

it appears the UTV/SXS thing has really taken off...
i was amazed at how many were being trailered on the freeway on my last trip a few weeks ago to the eastern mojave.
they FAR outnumbered the the offroad trucks on the road...like 10 to 1...

 

Thought I was doing my part by not having kids. I guess I'm a minority.

 

I think reaching out to the crowd has become a necessity. If we don't, we'll all pay.

 

I remember a couple years ago I was at the visitor center at Capitol Reef National Park and some clueless old geezers drove a SXS to the visitor center from a campground outside the park. I don't know if they got ticketed but they definitely got pulled over by the rangers.

 

Yesterday Ballarat was bustling with campers including yes some of the utvs and sxs crowd. But it mostly looked like car campers, rooftop tents, some small campers, and most of all, hashtag van life.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic on the trails... I only saw three other vehicles today. Two jeeps coming down pleasant valley as I went up, nobody at all through middle and down south park, then one more jeep by Barker ranch. No shenanigans were observed in the park, unless you count an idiot in a Tacoma stumbling down from Mengal pass in darkness.

 

...I don't know whether it's an "oh, duh!" moment, or "can you believe it?" situation, but less than two weeks after returning from our Death Valley trip along the Nadeau Trail, we were headed back for more... And oh, the views!...

Full story
Mines of the Funeral Mountains - Loose Ends #1​

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More photos, and the story:
Mines of the Funeral Mountains - Loose Ends #1​

 

Truly amazing views!