Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Has anyone done the loop where you leave from Ballarat, go up Pleasant Canyon, and come back to Ballarat coming down South Park Canyon?

 

Yes, the drop from Chicken Rock down into Briggs will have you on your toes

 

Is it technical or hard? Or just steep?

 

I did this a few weeks ago. It is not difficult, as in you don't need lockers and rock sliders and all that stuff. But it's a narrow shelf road so you could fall to your death if you make a bad mistake. Here's a photo (several more here.)



If it's not clear in the photo, there are areas where your tires will be inches from the ledge. The corner is off camber and makes it all the more nerve-racking. But it's a beautiful and fun drive, and the loop is well suited as a day-trip.

 

Thanks for the info and pictures. Those are definitely some nerve racking areas, but also look fun.

 

I've done it in a stock OR. I stacked some rocks. Google Chicken Rock for pics and stories of people going over the side. It's mostly Jeeps that have a problem I think.

ETA:
I purposely drove down it, up would be more difficult and dangerous. Different vehicles would have different concerns.

 

Right on. I have no doubt my truck would make it, but my dad will be with us on this trip in an F-350, so we may have to do the loop another time.

 

It's very steep, narrow, with almost a hairpin left and a sheer cliff on the passenger side

 

That sounds like fun! Pucker factor maxed out. Maybe its better to go up that way? or is it not advisable?

 

I think either way is doable, I have always dropped down into Briggs and never gone up the pass.

 

Yeah I wouldn't consider doing something like that in a F-350. Even something relatively benign like Lippincott is a real pain in something that large requiring a lot of spotting and twenty point shuffles past narrow parts. I've not done Chicken Rock but from what I've seen I'm not sure you'd get something with that kind of wheelbase past it.

 

Exactly my thinking. Besides the fact he's pushing 70, and not exactly comfortable with that kind of off road driving!

 

Whenever you decide to do the loop post up here. Id like to join you if possible. Been looking to do that one in maybe in a couple months. Before it gets too hot

 

Right on. We are going in a couple weeks, but the loop won't be on the list this time. We usually go to DV twice a year, once in Feb/March and again around November.

 

Jeez, I hope tha is marked one way, I don’t know what you would do if you saw another vehicle coming towards you from opposite direction

 

If that happened here I'd have to back up, as the uphill vehicle usually has the right of way! Some extremely narrow roads are limited to one-way travel but it's not as often as you'd think, and I think this one is two-way. This stretch if road is actually quite reasonable, as the downhill driver gets a good view of the entire shelf segment from the corner at the top. Most drivers are polite and accommodating, and the vehicle better suited to yield does so.

One of my favorite trails back home in CO is Webster pass, it has much longer stretches of even narrower shelfs that can't be seen from either side. Or at least it seemed narrower, I had a f150 back then. Cherished memories of traffic encounters while driving alone on that road were part of how I was able justify buying a flying camera a few years ago. (Not quite a Chinook but it gets the job done!)

Edit: I concur with @DVexile, this would not be fun in a F350.

Edit 2: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/jeep-over-cliff-chicken-rock-death-valley.61404/

 

My first trip to DV in 1988 was in a stock F-150 with no recovery gear except for a bottle jack, some basic tools and a single spare. I went down Lippincot puckering the whole way but we somehow made it. I was dumb and naive to say the least but learned some valuable lessons from that trip.

 

I miss DV somethin fierce. I don't know what it did on your end, but I "liked' your post like five times. Thanks for pic.