I've got a hankering to get out to Death Valley for a weekend trip some time this month. I would drive in late on Friday after work and drive out mid Sunday. I'd be camping both Friday and Saturday night. I've never really been before except to drive through it so a little advice would go a long ways. So, what are your must see spots? The two things I've got to hit are the salt flats and the sand dunes.
Zabriski Point is near both of those, Dante's View is great in the morning. I hit Zabriski pre-dawn and at sunrise and then went up to Dante's view right after for a great morning. Badwater at sunset is awesome. Stovepipe wells is a morning location IMO. Golden Canyon is a nice fill-in between some other things.
My favorite location is the racetrack, but it's a few hours drive from Badwater.
Peter, Everything that Peter has mentioned is great but Badwater can also be done at sunrise and same with dantes view at sunset. The dunes might have to many footprints on them if there hasn't been any wind lately.
A few other spots are Natural Bridge, Artist Palette, Devil's Golf Course, Titus Canyon, Scotty's Castle, Ryolite, mosiac canyon, they are all the main attractions but there are plenty more less visited spots and even more that aren't visited much at all.
There is a couple lakes in the salt flats too that aren't there often and not mention the hexagons are full of water too.
My favorite location is the racetrack, but it's a few hours drive from Badwater.
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And the road is rough and hard on tires but well worth the drive.
Peter, I don't suppose you have an old, unloved film body laying about? You can buy some IR film and an opaque (72, 93) filter on Ebay for the cost of a tank of gas. Cheap fun!
I've been thinking about a trip to DV. Thanks for the great info.
Wondering how bad the road is driving out to Racetrack. I have a Honda Civic. Any worse than the road to Patriarch Grove in the Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest in the White Mountains? And if I do get in trouble (like get 2 flat tires), would AAA come get me out?
evosia wrote:
I've been thinking about a trip to DV. Thanks for the great info.
Wondering how bad the road is driving out to Racetrack. I have a Honda Civic. Any worse than the road to Patriarch Grove in the Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest in the White Mountains? And if I do get in trouble (like get 2 flat tires), would AAA come get me out?
When I was at Furnace Creek someone there had AAA come out and get their car somewhere in the middle of the desert.
Problem is my AAA coverage has a towing limit; and you really are in the middle of no where in DV.
evosia wrote:
I've been thinking about a trip to DV. Thanks for the great info.
Wondering how bad the road is driving out to Racetrack. I have a Honda Civic. Any worse than the road to Patriarch Grove in the Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest in the White Mountains?
Racetrack road has quite a bit more exposed bedrock, large gravel and rocks to watch out for - sharp, pointy, ouch! I've made the trip several times in a lowly Mazda 323 (actually pretty good off road!) as well as a long and low Accord wagon without suffering any vehicular grief. That said, the road get pretty torn up following a storm.
And if I do get in trouble (like get 2 flat tires), would AAA come get me out?
The buzzards will get you first! Best not count on cell service. There's a towing outfit at Furnace Creek - I don't know if they're AAA or not.
Barring bad weather, the road gets plenty of traffic. Bring water for several days. Let someone know where you're going. You'll be fine.
Ragebot: I have the AAA plus, which gives me free 100 miles tows. Saved my butt once when my car had a problem on the way to Joshua Tree. Totally worth the extra money over basic if you do lots of road trips to remote locations. Basic's only good if you're driving in the city. Premium gives you 1 free 300mile tow if my memory is correct. That would be a free ride all the way back to LA!
Greg: damn, sounds like I shouldn't do any racing on this road. Yeah it probably shouldn't be a problem. Just planning for worst-case scenarios.
A little pricey but probably cheaper than the risk of blowing out a tire + towing + hours of inconvenience. Especially with the recent storms, the roads are probably worse than normal.
100 miles sounds good. I think the AAA truck will drive from anywhere, and the mile limit only kicks in once you're hooked up. That will get you to Beatty or back to Furnace Creek. Both places have a garage, and I think Beatty has a chain partz store too.
A little pricey but probably cheaper than the risk of blowing out a tire + towing + hours of inconvenience. Especially with the recent storms, the roads are probably worse than normal.
IMO, the jeep rental is actually pretty reasonable, considering they are letting Joe Sixpack drive over some potentially dangerous roads. Give someone a 4x4 and they'll start to think they're the next Carlos Sainz. Danger, Will Robinson. DANGER!!
AFAIK, the NPS does repair the roads fairly regularly. And if there has been a big rain, the Jeep won't get you much further than your Honda.
Evosia, with more rain on the way the Jeep sounds best. I was just in DV and the rain just makes potholes in many of the roads which would make the civic take too long to get there and plus it is lower than the average sedan. Some roads weren't even affected but some were. I would normally just check it out myself but that's a long road near the snow melt and sloped hillsides. The rangers usually try tell to you it's at it's worst, most of the time it's not as bad as they say but thick tire treads would help.
The buzzards will get you first! Best not count on cell service. There's a towing outfit at Furnace Creek - I don't know if they're AAA or not.