Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Looks like you pinned Russel Camp and the Geologist Cabin with the blue line is the Warm Springs road. Barker Ranch is further south on other side of Mengel Pass.

PS, Don’t try the Willow Springs route unless you want to meet the ghosts of last family who tried to drive out that way.

 

@Desert Dog nice name lol.

To clarify. I'm going with my gf's friend who wants to go to the spots with camera symbol haha. Those are all accessible off the main roads.
I want to at least go through a few miles of desert and camp a little more desolate before going to those pins. That is why I'm thinking of doing both blue lines shown. From barker ranch through the warm springs road then up badwater road to badwater basin. From there I'll stick to the main roads and hit all the points they want.
I was curious how the road condition for that warm springs road. And yeah that's geologist cabin, warm springs camp and butte valley grantham mine.
Not familiar with willow springs route.

I'm coming from SD which is why starting in lower DV

 

Willow Springs is the trail east of your purple mark, IIRC.

(I'm assuming we're talking about the Germans.)

 

That route - Goler Wash to Mengel Pass to Butte Valley to Warm Springs to Badwater Road is in "normal" condition. That is to say that the majority of it is reasonably straight forward (think Titus Canyon, if you've run that) with a bit of technical rockiness at Mengel Pass that I'd compare to short sections of Lippencott (Lippencott is generally - I've found - not difficult if you aren't afraid of the drop offs). I've run it a few times, and you're welcome to check out photos in these three trip reports:

Three trips to Goler Wash and Mengel Pass


And a few select photos:








And here is what I'd call the "similar" section of Lippencott, right near the DV Monument sign:

 

Ahh yeah, I see, can skip that then thanks

 

Warm Springs Road is an easy, scenic drive. As I remember it, it's narrow (pull over to pass) washboard on the western third, wide washboard in the middle, and a gravel road once you're out on the alluvial fan. Keep an eye out for burros.

 

Perfect! I plan on taking it easy so that I can make it intact to the other points I have to take them to lol.
Sounds like it'll be a good sample for em.

 

Ahh yes, goler wash and mengel pass exactly. Thank you.
How long do you consider it takes to get through goler wash, then to mengel pass?
Looks pretty simple (ignoring what current conditions might be). Trying to time the trip

 

Just to be clear though, you're either coming in from Panamint Valley or you're doing Mengel Pass in both directions in order to get to Barker Ranch. So, while Warm Springs may be easy (and it is), getting to Barker is going to mean a few rocks. I've never had any issues there, but it does seem to have a reputation in some circles.

I always spend a lot of time with photos, but I bet you can do the entire thing in 2 hours if you just blow through it.

 

Like a lot of things, it depends on your comfort level, ability, and preparedness.

 

After driving them, I think that the reported difficulty of Goler and Mengel is probably a result of people in AWD vehicles with independent suspension driving them.

(Or simply people who have little experience driving that sort of road.)

(And also people who don't air down.)

 

I’m not as experienced as most of you guys and my truck is stock, but I found Mengel to be tougher than Lippincott; all done for the first time last year. But nothing crazy. Just take it slow. Of course there’s been some wild weather since and they’re probably all a little more eroded in places.

 

I'd second that, or at least say that while I haven't been over Mengel in a very long time that I consider Lippincott and Mengel to be very different.

When Lippincott is "bad" it usually means tight points due to erosion, some off camber stuff that might be hair raising, and ruts or dips that can challenge clearance if you take a particularly stupid line. The worst points are usually where you have to shimmy a vehicle past an eroded tight point resulting in very slow back-and-forth trying to get wheels through said tight spots without sliding off the road - but in these spots the surrounding road is usually in excellent shape and it is just a problem to spot and solve slowly. In short, Lippincott when bad just tends to be very slow and occasionally gives one a high pucker factor. It is hard to damage a vehicle on Lippincott assuming you don't roll the whole rig down the hillside.

When Mengel is "bad" it usually is just the one spot and what it amounts to is a boulder field. You aren't going to die, but you can certainly smash side panels/doors and you could get yourself hopelessly hung up. It is more of a rock crawling exercise and having traction over the boulders and in the ruts (i.e. air down) as well as good throttle control at low speeds with good spotting is the path through.

Put another way, on Lippincott you (or your passengers) may feel you are inches from rolling to your death but otherwise your vehicle will emerge unscathed while on Mengel you never particularly fear for your life but fully expect to end up with a large dent some where.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. I have no problem going through Mengel and and Goler alone from what I've seen.
Conditions will tell what it looks like this year.

 

This is a great way to describe it. I've always felt that Lippencott (like Goler and Mengel) is over-dramatized, but I'm probably not a great yardstick given how much I'm able to get out and about compared to most.

This is the section of Lippencott that I consider to be similar to Mengel, though it's definitely still easier than Mengel in that you might risk a tire or skid plate here, but there isn't a wall you're leaning into. It's right near the DV Monument sign, and it's the one section where I feel like you'd have to pick a nice line with a Subaru. The rest of Lippencott - if you aren't afraid of the drop offs - is really pretty bland (generally).

Here are three other TWers headed through the section.

 

Yeah most pucker I seen is the passage where you huh large rock. Other than that seems smooth in previous years. Might take new route though because of time.

 

Returned from my spring break trip to Death Valley. Have been many times in a Mazda 5 but I couldn't get too far along many of the gravel roads. Got the Tacoma last year so I could start checking more of the park! My initial plan was to drive down the West Side Road and then to Warm Springs Canyon. However, after driving from Oregon and seeing the mountains at the end of Hanaupah Canyon Road, I changed plans. Had a great time exploring Hanaupah Canyon and found a small stream! Weather seemed cooler than usual. It sprinkled one day and there were about 20 hours of high winds. All in all, a great trip and I can't wait to come back and keep exploring.

 

Anyone have a North Pass update from this past weekend? I'm hoping to head in that way on the 10th and out the South way on the 14th.

 

The word on the Saline Valley FB page is that it’s probably passable with clearance, chains, skill etc but should be avoided. South Pass seems OK.

 

I've done both passes, am very experienced off road snow driver and can run my 35s down to 6psi. Assuming theres no new snow this week it sounds like just my kind of adventure.