Any trips planned this weekend / next week? (now Death Valley planning) (1 Viewer)

[Bud_Dude]

Your plan is similar to our November trip which was Monday thru Thursday in DV proper, with a Friday night stop in Alabama Hills on the way home (and which took us from 9AM to 8PM to do via Steel Pass. We planned on Artist's Palette and Zabriskie Point, but spent so much time getting through Goff and Fish Canyons we blew off the tourist spots having seen them before. If you're using Gaia I can send you our GPX tracks if you like. PS - If using Gaia, be sure to download all the relevant area maps before you leave while you have high speed internet, it'll take quite a while to download...

Trona Pinnacles is a neat area and a worthy camping spot. We departed Escondido early-ish and filled up in Trona / Searles after hitting the pinnacles. Then headed to Goff Canyon via Stockwell Mine Rd and Fish Canyon Escape Trail (beware, stay right and don't head up Isham Canyon by mistake... it seems to be a real rock-crawler route). Goff sends you into Fish Canyon which was easy except for one wild drop-off that can be avoided by taking the actual trail to the right beforehand... The rub with this route is the very long and treacherous slow drive through a tire eating alluvial fan lava boulder strewn field that seems like 5 miles at a 2MPH crawl dodging rocks... So this took us much longer than expected and lead to our camping at the entrance to Goler Canyon far short of our Warm Spring Camp goal.
(PS - no Indian Ranch Rd is not the way to Goff Canyon... too far north)

The other option to this route which avoids Goff and Fish Canyons is to go through Ballarat ghost town via Ballarat Road north of Trona then down Wingate Road to Goler Canyon entrance. (this seems a more popular route and is easier).

The Goler Canyon to Warm Springs is a nice cruise with a few moderately technical sections in Mengel Pass including one very steep but short uphill crawl that would require lockers, but it can be bypassed, which we opted to do since we were on day 2 only of our 5-6 day route and didn't want to risk damage.
If doing Goff/Fish/Goler/Mengel Pass in one day you'll probably need and want to camp at Warm Spring camp before heading to Furnace Creek.
If starting at the Pinnacles, bypassing Goff and Fish canyon and going via Ballarat to Goler I'd reckon you could make it to Furnace Creek maybe with time to see the tourist sites nearby.

Our third night we camped at the far end of the Race Track at Homestake Camp near the entrance to Lippincott. Then went down Lippincott in the morning to Saline Valley hot springs and luckily only encountered a lone motorcycle coming up Lippincott... this is not a road you want to encounter opposing traffic on as there are almost no turnouts and someone will be backing up potentially quite far with a substantial cliff that you really do not want to fall off...

Our last day in DV was driving out to Lone Pine via Steel Pass (which has a few big drops called 'the steps' that proved easily done by Ted's 4-Runner, my 80, and some other guy with his long bed Tacoma (all with 33"+ tires, lifts, and sliders) with no body damage incurred, thanks to some spotting and a little pucker factor. It was pretty damn fun actually... This route then takes you out past the Eureka dunes (which if you get off route like we did involves traversing some pretty soft sand...) and finally into Big Pine.

 

[RET2]

Wow DV is huge... I didn't realize how big some of these loops are. We clearly will not be able to see large parts of the park.

I think I have a rough itinerary. Let me know what you guys think and if I should change anything. We are looking for a mixture of vehicle exploring as well as out of vehicle time at POIs and relaxing. We want to leave some time in the morning and evening to cook meals, unless there is a restaurant nearby then we will probably do that.

Day 1: drive from San Diego, up the 395. Fuel up in Ridgecrest. Camp somewhere near the park. Maybe Trona Pinnacles? Suggestions?

Day 2: Take Indian Ranch Road (is this Goff Canyon?) to Goler Canyon and Butte Canyon to Badwater Road and up to Furnace Creek. Stop by Barker Ranch, Warm Springs Camp and Badwater Basin along the way. Get fuel in Furnace Creek.

Day 3: Quickly check out POIs around Furnace Creek (Artist's Drive, Zabriskie Point, other suggestions?). May be able to do some of this on day 2. Take Echo Canyon to hwy 95 to Beatty. Get fuel. Take Titus Canyon back down to Death Valley Road. Find somewhere to camp.

Day 4: Take the Ubehebe Crater / Racetrack Playa / Lippincott Road / Saline Valley Road / Hunter Mountain Road loop returning to Ubehebe Crater. from there ?? (depending on morale, optionally take Saline Valley Road south to hwy 190 out to 395 and back to San Diego).

Reality check? Is this too much driving and not enough relaxing? How to optimize / streamline?

We have two vehicles so far. Between us we will be carrying at least 13 gal extra fuel (possibly 18 gal) and 20 gal water in jerry cans (not counting several gallon jugs for drinking and cooking).

Thoughts?

Day 1 works but only 4 hrs travel so you may be giving up a good portion of the day, Day 2 is going to take a while going over Mengel Pass, Day 3 is going to be a real stretch, Day 4 ain't going to happen IMHO. The time schedule you have proposed will not be enjoyable if even doable. I would suggest identifying several points of interest and concentrating this trip on those and save the rest for another trip or two. The distances between POI are relatively large and the park has speed limits and LOTS of looky-loos not all Americans which can make things interesting. DV and invirons are only 5 hours or so away so return trips are a breeze. FYI your group IS the restaurant. It's difficult to describe all the querky things about DV till you've been there. You will want to return I guarantee.

 

[sdnative]

Your plan is similar to our November trip which was Monday thru Thursday in DV proper, with a Friday night stop in Alabama Hills on the way home (and which took us from 9AM to 8PM to do via Steel Pass. We planned on Artist's Palette and Zabriskie Point, but spent so much time getting through Goff and Fish Canyons we blew off the tourist spots having seen them before. If you're using Gaia I can send you our GPX tracks if you like. PS - If using Gaia, be sure to download all the relevant area maps before you leave while you have high speed internet, it'll take quite a while to download...

Trona Pinnacles is a neat area and a worthy camping spot. We departed Escondido early-ish and filled up in Trona / Searles after hitting the pinnacles. Then headed to Goff Canyon via Stockwell Mine Rd and Fish Canyon Escape Trail (beware, stay right and don't head up Isham Canyon by mistake... it seems to be a real rock-crawler route). Goff sends you into Fish Canyon which was easy except for one wild drop-off that can be avoided by taking the actual trail to the right beforehand... The rub with this route is the very long and treacherous slow drive through a tire eating alluvial fan lava boulder strewn field that seems like 5 miles at a 2MPH crawl dodging rocks... So this took us much longer than expected and lead to our camping at the entrance to Goler Canyon far short of our Warm Spring Camp goal.
(PS - no Indian Ranch Rd is not the way to Goff Canyon... too far north)

View attachment 2975798
The other option to this route which avoids Goff and Fish Canyons is to go through Ballarat ghost town via Ballarat Road north of Trona then down Wingate Road to Goler Canyon entrance. (this seems a more popular route and is easier).

The Goler Canyon to Warm Springs is a nice cruise with a few moderately technical sections in Mengel Pass including one very steep but short uphill crawl that would require lockers, but it can be bypassed, which we opted to do since we were on day 2 only of our 5-6 day route and didn't want to risk damage.
If doing Goff/Fish/Goler/Mengel Pass in one day you'll probably need and want to camp at Warm Spring camp before heading to Furnace Creek.
If starting at the Pinnacles, bypassing Goff and Fish canyon and going via Ballarat to Goler I'd reckon you could make it to Furnace Creek maybe with time to see the tourist sites nearby.

Our third night we camped at the far end of the Race Track at Homestake Camp near the entrance to Lippincott. Then went down Lippincott in the morning to Saline Valley hot springs and luckily only encountered a lone motorcycle coming up Lippincott... this is not a road you want to encounter opposing traffic on as there are almost no turnouts and someone will be backing up potentially quite far with a substantial cliff that you really do not want to fall off...

Our last day in DV was driving out to Lone Pine via Steel Pass (which has a few big drops called 'the steps' that proved easily done by Ted's 4-Runner, my 80, and some other guy with his long bed Tacoma (all with 33"+ tires, lifts, and sliders) with no body damage incurred, thanks to some spotting and a little pucker factor. It was pretty damn fun actually... This route then takes you out past the Eureka dunes (which if you get off route like we did involves traversing some pretty soft sand...) and finally into Big Pine.

Thank you!

I think we will take Ballarat Road to Wingate Road as we are really just interested in getting into the park. We are going this way primarily to see Barker Ranch. Think we can make it from San Diego to Warm Springs camp on day 1? You said that was your goal, what time did you leave Escondido? I will be pulling a small trailer so will be driving ~65 most of the way.

Regarding Lippincott Rd, one of the guys will be bringing a motorcycle so he can go first and make sure there is no oncoming traffic.

 

[sdnative]

Day 1 works but only 4 hrs travel so you may be giving up a good portion of the day, Day 2 is going to take a while going over Mengel Pass, Day 3 is going to be a real stretch, Day 4 ain't going to happen IMHO. The time schedule you have proposed will not be enjoyable if even doable. I would suggest identifying several points of interest and concentrating this trip on those and save the rest for another trip or two. The distances between POI are relatively large and the park has speed limits and LOTS of looky-loos not all Americans which can make things interesting. DV and invirons are only 5 hours or so away so return trips are a breeze. FYI your group IS the restaurant. It's difficult to describe all the querky things about DV till you've been there. You will want to return I guarantee.

Thank you!

If we go that route, we will try to push through to at least Warm Springs camp on day 1, maybe further depending on how early we get on the road.

If that works, do you think we should have plenty of time to make it to Furnace Creek and see the local POIs on day 2?

Is Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon manageable on day 3 if that's is all we are doing? With time for stops, etc.

Sorry that was confusing. I wasn't implying that we would get all the way home on day 4. Maybe stop at the crater, make our way down to teakettle junction, the racetrack and Lippincott Rd to Saline Rd and figure out where to camp depending on time and morale. I guess day 5 would be out to the 395 or do something else in the park.

 

[RET2]

Itinerary's are great on paper but as they say battle plans are great till the first shot is fired. Suggestion for first time visitors is to pick 2 or 3 things you want to investigate and concentrate on those. A pachinko ball approach could lead to a frustrating trip, I can attest to that. The Visitors Center has a plethora of history and info about the park, not to be missed. Exploring DV is like peeling an onion, one layer leads to another new layer (POI). I don't mean to sound negative it's just like trying to see all of Yellowstone or Grand Canyon in one 3 or 4 day trip, no way.

 

[sdnative]

Very true and I completely agree. But you have to start with something or else the trip will be inefficient and a lot of wasted time and driving.

I think highlights for me on this trip would be the areas around Furnace Creek (visitor center, badwater basin, artist's drive, Zabriskie Point, other tourist spots), Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon, and the Racetrack and Teakettle Junction.

Barker Ranch, Lippincott Road, maybe some natural springs are interests as well, but these could be put off to a future trip if necessary.

Looks like the drive from Ubehebe Crater, past the Racetrack, and Lippincott Road out to the 395 seems a natural exit route, especially since we want to stop by Kennedy Meadows / Troy Meadows on the way home.

I guess the entrance route can still be up in the air, whether coming up from Baker, or across from Goler Canyon.

 

[Bud_Dude]

Thank you!

I think we will take Ballarat Road to Wingate Road as we are really just interested in getting into the park. We are going this way primarily to see Barker Ranch. Think we can make it from San Diego to Warm Springs camp on day 1? You said that was your goal, what time did you leave Escondido? I will be pulling a small trailer so will be driving ~65 most of the way.


Regarding Lippincott Rd, one of the guys will be bringing a motorcycle so he can go first and make sure there is no oncoming traffic.

Perfect on the motorcycle to scout ahead on Lippincott; especially if dragging a trailer, not something you'd want to try and back up on that road!

We rolled out of Escondido around 9AM and were at Trona Pinnacles around 1PM or so, then with gas in Trona were on our way to Goff around 2PM, meaning we only had about 4 hours till dark... we rolled into our campsite at Wingate Road at the entrance to Goler Canyon after dark around 6PM. So, 4 hours or so for that portion of the drive.

 

[RET2]

Very true and I completely agree. But you have to start with something or else the trip will be inefficient and a lot of wasted time and driving.

I think highlights for me on this trip would be the areas around Furnace Creek (visitor center, badwater basin, artist's drive, Zabriskie Point, other tourist spots), Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon, and the Racetrack and Teakettle Junction.

Barker Ranch, Lippincott Road, maybe some natural springs are interests as well, but these could be put off to a future trip if necessary.

Looks like the drive from Ubehebe Crater, past the Racetrack, and Lippincott Road out to the 395 seems a natural exit route, especially since we want to stop by Kennedy Meadows / Troy Meadows on the way home.

I guess the entrance route can still be up in the air, whether coming up from Baker, or across from Goler Canyon

Very true and I completely agree. But you have to start with something or else the trip will be inefficient and a lot of wasted time and driving.

I think highlights for me on this trip would be the areas around Furnace Creek (visitor center, badwater basin, artist's drive, Zabriskie Point, other tourist spots), Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon, and the Racetrack and Teakettle Junction.

Barker Ranch, Lippincott Road, maybe some natural springs are interests as well, but these could be put off to a future trip if necessary.

Looks like the drive from Ubehebe Crater, past the Racetrack, and Lippincott Road out to the 395 seems a natural exit route, especially since we want to stop by Kennedy Meadows / Troy Meadows on the way home.

I guess the entrance route can still be up in the air, whether coming up from Baker, or across from Goler Canyon.

Regardless of how you get there you will be amazed by that whole area. Distances will be a limiting factor. You may want to think of this trip as a recon for future trips

 

[Bud_Dude]

Thank you!

If we go that route, we will try to push through to at least Warm Springs camp on day 1, maybe further depending on how early we get on the road.

If that works, do you think we should have plenty of time to make it to Furnace Creek and see the local POIs on day 2?

Is Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon manageable on day 3 if that's is all we are doing? With time for stops, etc.

Sorry that was confusing. I wasn't implying that we would get all the way home on day 4. Maybe stop at the crater, make our way down to teakettle junction, the racetrack and Lippincott Rd to Saline Rd and figure out where to camp depending on time and morale. I guess day 5 would be out to the 395 or do something else in the park.

With regard to Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon on Day 3... I doubt it. While we planned on Echo Canyon and camping at the top of it on our initial itinerary we had to blow it off due to it taking longer in earlier parts of the trip. We also heard that Echo Canyon can be quite challenging, ergo slow going... You should probably look for some videos on that one and consider whether it is trailer compatible. For sure Mengel Pass is trailerable, likewise for Titus and Lippincott (barring any oncoming traffic issues, which you should already have under control) and Titus Canyon took us a good 4 hours maybe longer... Our Titus day began just outside Beatty where we refueled then ate breakfast at the Denny's there since it was howling wind when we awoke at our very exposed campsite. We were on the road to Titus by around 10AM, ate lunch at the Leadfield ghost town about half way through Titus, then headed to Ubehebe for a quick look and took off for the Racetrack... As usual we got to camp at Homestake just past the Racetrack at around 7PM and we were cruising pretty fast on some of that washboard...

 

[sdnative]

Watching some videos on Mengel Pass, I saw one guy in a Jeep GC with what look to be all terrain tires get two flats. I will only have one spare. Is that a concern? I do have a patch kit.

 

[Bud_Dude]

Watching some videos on Mengel Pass, I saw one guy in a Jeep GC with what look to be all terrain tires get two flats. I will only have one spare. Is that a concern? I do have a patch kit.

Mengel Pass didn't seem that bad to me or Ted, a few tight spots, but nothing really hard. There's another video of a guy doing Mengel with his wife and young kids, towing a trailer with his 4Runner. The only place that seemed difficult was a steep climb that had an easier bypass.

 

[sdnative]

Mengel Pass didn't seem that bad to me or Ted, a few tight spots, but nothing really hard. There's another video of a guy doing Mengel with his wife and young kids, towing a trailer with his 4Runner. The only place that seemed difficult was a steep climb that had an easier bypass.

Cool. Yeah it doesn't look too bad, well within my technical driving comfort zone. Just didn't want to end up with a couple of cut sidewalls.

I don't have a spare for the trailer though. It's so light I really doubt there will be an issue. I hope anyway...

 

[sdnative]

I'm thinking of breaking Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon into two days. Maybe camping in Echo Canyon somewhere.

 

[RET2]

Cool. Yeah it doesn't look too bad, well within my technical driving comfort zone. Just didn't want to end up with a couple of cut sidewalls.

That can always happen. If it looks dicey have someone knowledgeable spot you. You'll be fine, it's just tire placement.

 

[RET2]

I'm thinking of breaking Echo Canyon and Titus Canyon into two days. Maybe camping in Echo Canyon somewhere.

Don't know if you seen it in that video but there is a POI called the Eye of the Needle and interestly enough it's hard to see till you have passed it. Another oddity is at the Echo Mine there is a galvanized water line that goes up over the mountain across from the head structure, quite a feat.

 

[barneymc]

Gas at Furnace Creek is $2-3 more than either Stovepipe Wells or even cheaper in Beatty, as that is Nevada. Only regular at Stovepipe, no diesel or premium. I recommend not planning to drive as far as possible every day. Don't try to see everything in one trip, there is always next year to come back and go on another loop. Stop somewhere and hike around, take your time to go into mines and walk around old mill sites. I never spend time around Furnace Creek as you can go back there some day with your wife and stay in the hotel and explore with all the other tourists. Go out to Lippincott mine, hike the racetrack, go over to Lost Burro Mine, go up to the White Top Mountain dead end, lots of stuff to explore but not at 55 on your way to somewhere else. I have probably been out there 20 times in the last 22 years and have been many places.

 

[barneymc]

A few things you won't see if driving by.

 

[barneymc]

A few more pictures - can only post 5 at a time.

 

[RET2]

Barney was that the Hale Bop comet?

 

[Bud_Dude]

From some of the videos I looked at of Echo Canyon doing it while towing a trailer and no spare tire seems like an invitation for trouble.