Death Valley advice

[DPA200]

Looking at heading out to Death Valley this month and looking for advice. Driving from Phoenix after work, camping somewhere about 1/2 way the 1st night. then going into the park and camping 3 nights inside the park. I'll have my kids, wife, dog, and Moab offroad trailer along.

Ideally I'd like find camp the 1st day in the park, setup basecamp, and explore out from there each day. I'd like to leave the trailer in 1 spot and come back to that each night. Avoid having to pack up each day, and avoid having to tow all over. I've never been to the park before, and i know it's quite large, so looking for any advice, tips, and tricks from you. I know the club went out there a few years ago. So far the only part i loosely mapped for our entry to the park was coming from Beatty, through Titus Canyon, up to Ubehebe Crater, then down towards the Racetrack. Possibly going over Lippencott Mine Road the 2nd day in the park....not sure where from there.

Camping I could use advice, if you have a secret spot (i promise to keep secret), please PM me. The only decent remote areas i'd found so far was some about halfway down from Ubehebe Crater to Racetrack, and after teakettle junction it looks like there is Homestake Dry camp. In general I'd like to camp remote without any neighbors if possible. Our dog just barks too much if we have people near by.

So, that's where I'm at so far, any advice much appreciated. Like id said, any secret camp advice, and where the best part of the park would be to explore out from each day. Thanks

 

[LongDuck]

Pro-Tip: Ubehebe Crater to Racetrack is graded only by precision mortar fire. One of our group lost his tail light filaments on that section just getting to Tea Kettle, if that's any indication. Its slow going with a trailer of any size / weight, so you may want to camp somewhere nearer to the Crater.

Also, Lippencott is narrow, shelf in places, and your wife-unit may need sedatives if you try to pull the trailer through there. The preferred vehicle is a Lexus LS250 on that section.

Seriously, sounds like a fun trip, and you should PM @Saddletramp for more detail, as he likely scouted a lot of places that might work for you. Beatty as a starting point is the right way for the scenery, as you know,

 

[DPA200]

Pro-Tip: Ubehebe Crater to Racetrack is graded only by precision mortar fire. One of our group lost his tail light filaments on that section just getting to Tea Kettle, if that's any indication. Its slow going with a trailer of any size / weight, so you may want to camp somewhere nearer to the Crater.

Also, Lippencott is narrow, shelf in places, and your wife-unit may need sedatives if you try to pull the trailer through there. The preferred vehicle is a Lexus LS250 on that section.

Seriously, sounds like a fun trip, and you should PM @Saddletramp for more detail, as he likely scouted a lot of places that might work for you. Beatty as a starting point is the right way for the scenery, as you know,

Thanks man, very helpful advice. Yeah I heard washboard from quite a few others about the road from Ubehebe Crater to Racetrack. Hmmmm. Problem I’m having is coming into the park from that direction, that’s basically the 1st section that I found that allowed remote car camping. I’ll check with @Saddletramp on that if there is a better option.

Lippencott I was debating whether to do at all, but if we did do I definitely was planning on unhitching and leaving the trailer at camp that day. Looks old like there is an alternate route south from Teakettle down through hidden valley to south Pass. Did you guys do that section?

forecast is looking like wet that whole time now, so that might also make some route options not doable

 

[TWILLY]

Making the push over to Saline Valley might make sense. There you have dunes, hot springs, the salt lake, and other day trips within striking distance. You could camp up the road past the hot springs, thereby being close to water and reducing your water weight. It makes your second day of driving a bit longer, but then you'd be nice and remote with lots of nearby options for the duration.

 

[Saddletramp]

We camped near teakettle junction a few years back, liked the area except for the long washboard road to get there. Several of us had trailers on Lippencott, nothing too challenging if you take your time. Brice was pulling his trailer behind his 100 with no problems

 

[DSRTRDR]

X2 on Saline Valley - very scenic

 

[LongDuck]

I forgot there were a few trailers on that trip, including Brices Tent-mahal. We camped off the road in Hidden Valley and it was FREEZING, well below freezing that night. Our lunch stop near Racetrack must have been Homestake dry camping just before Lippencott, and was pretty remote. Unsure how crowded camping would be here this time of year, but I wouldn't expect it to be much warmer on those mountain passes.

@verruckt1 and I saw snow flurries at the top of the pass headed south toward Panamint springs... (Feb)

 

[DPA200]

Thanks all for the helpful advice. Still piecing it all together. I did install this new Tepui rooftop tent insulation layer today. Basically a full quilted inner tent that clips in to the tent frame. At least in the install it felt like it was 10-15 degrees warmer inside. So, we should be ready if it is cold out there.

 

[DPA200]

on a side note, leaving after work the 1st night, we want to drive a few hours up from Phoenix. Any tips on a good area to camp, or best route to take? Best to take the 93 or the 95? Want somewhere easy as it'll be quite dark by the time we get to camp. Ideally looking for something about as far as Kingman, or Henderson at the most.

 

[DSRTRDR]

Willow Beach is a full service campground right on the Colorado river: Willow Beach Marina & Campground - Willow Beach Harbor

if you want to camp closer to Henderson, I'd recommend taking the drive along Lake Mead from Boulder City - there are several areas where you can camp: Lake Mead National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Just finished 2 weeks and 700+ miles in Death Valley park.

Burro Creek camp ground just outside of Wikeup is easy camp close to the main road with bathrooms but no hook up.

You can avoid the super bad washboard road to the race track coming in the back way through Cero Gordo. Highly recommended
If interested in seeing/touring Cero Gordo contact me for Robert's contact info.

The worst washboard was the road into Saline Hot springs but the exit through Steel Pass and Dedeckera Canyon is very cool. If interested in the Hot Springs be aware I would not recommend them for kids.

The best scenic and off road was Pleasent Canyon/South Park loop. I could spend an easy week on that loop alone. The loop IS NOT trailer friendly though.

I saw a lot but only scratched the surface. I will be back in Spring 2020 for the bloom.

FOB (friends of Brigs) has restored several cabin some with solar and water first come first served. We stayed at Worldbeater cabin getting the LCP best outhouse award

CSC note - The CSC teapot at the junction is no longer

 

[Whiskerz]

Tagged for interest . I have a friend going out there in the next few weeks.

 

[Rudster]

That's a bummer the CSC tea kettle pot is not there as I remember @brices123 placing it there

 

[Otter]

That's a bummer the CSC tea kettle pot is not there as I remember @brices123 placing it there

Someone said they clear it off periodically. That was more than 3 years ago, so not surprised it's gone.

 

[Saddletramp]

Probably a ton of teakettles somewhere. I too heard they remove them periodically to make room for more.

 

[Rudster]

Teakettle museum gotz to be somewhere

 

[FerzLC]

I am going the week after Xmas. I was there in March but didn’t get enough. Any recent trail updates would be great. Also, wouldn’t mind meeting up with someone if there’s interest.
Cheers

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I am going the week after Xmas. I was there in March but didn’t get enough. Any recent trail updates would be great. Also, wouldn’t mind meeting up with someone if there’s interest.
Cheers

My 2 takeaways after 2 weeks in the DV
• Pleasent Canyon/South Park loop
• Cero Gordo mine/tour

 

[DPA200]

Had an awesome trip, could easily go back there many more times. The park is massive. basically got in on Thanksgiving in the snow, hunted and found a great camp at sea level. It was snowing at 3k ft on our way in. Found a great backcountry in a canyon camp near Stovepipe Wells visitor center. The the following day did more or less the tourist strip since it was our 1st time in the park. The next morning we headed up to Ubehebe Crater which was very cool. Then down he racetrack road, which magically had been washed flat by the storm, then a light dusting of snow on top made the 30 mile "washboard" a pleasure to cruise down. the Racetrack itself was completely covered in snow, so no moving rocks, but was very pretty. Lippincott Mine Road had some snow and mud so that made it a bit more exciting, but nobody else out in that area and amazing views coming down. Didn't really read my maps good enough totally missed that South pass was almost 6k ft so that was a very white adventure. Got all the way up fine, but when we got to the pass there was a huge log jam of stuck vehicles. An Escalade slid off the road, and FJ stuck, and even an Earthroamer trying to pull a Full size van over. I was back of the line, so that took about an hour before i could venture up and over, which was quite pretty in the snow. Then on back to camp and back home the following day. Thanks all for the advice

 

[DPA200]

Camp not far from Stovepipe Wells:

Snow on South Pass:

Ractrack in the snow:

top of South Pass (post traffic jam):