Death Valley & Mojave Road in March

[Bourbon Runner]

Hi-

Planning out a trip in March and looking for suggestions/pointers, please.

I'm an east coast wheeler, so majority of my travel has been fire roads/trails, beaches, and minor rock crawling. I've camped up and down the coast, beaches, mountains, woods, primitive and improved. Our friends have some 4x4 experience but extensive camping/outdoors experience and one is a registered volunteer S&R specialist.

We have reserved an outfitted Gladiator (us) and Wrangler (them) from a company based in San Francisco.

We fly in March 3, pick up the trucks, spend our first nite out near Point Reyes in Samuel Taylor SP. The next day we are driving to Napa (March 4.) and running the Napa Half Marathon March 5. The night of the 4th and 5th we've got accommodations in Napa. We camp the night of the 6th at Bothe-Napa SP and head south the morning of March 7.

Our flight back is the evening of March 14 out of Oakland.

Between the 7th and 14th we'll be all over the Mojave/Death Valley area and frankly I'm having a hell of a time deciding the proper routes, and what we want to see/do along the way.

Is it possible to hit Saline Valley hot springs, Race Track, and Lippincott Pass along with a good chunk of the Mojave Road in that time?

Points of interest we'd like to see would include the lava tubes in Mojave, some ghost towns, mines, and dunes.

Initially I'm thinking we drive from Napa to around Lake Isabella and use that as a jump off point but I'm not 100% sure. I've spent countless hours watching videos, reading blogs and pouring through the Mojave Guide but I don't feel like I'm any closer to a route than I was a month ago.

Any suggestions are more than welcome! Thanks in advance.

 

[pluton]

Is it possible to hit Saline Valley hot springs, Race Track, and Lippincott Pass along with a good chunk of the Mojave Road in that time?
Yes, however.....
You'd be in the drivers seat most of each day. If that's your thing, OK.
I suggest going to Death Valley OR Mojave Preserve.
Death Valley presently has a lot of roads closed. Sometimes "closed" means they want to keep unprepared, passenger car-equipped folks off and properly outfitted 4WDs should have no problem. Sometimes "closed" means closed. Will they still be closed in March? Unknown.
I was going to recommend, as an example trip, first going to Mesquite Springs campground (presently closed) because it's easy to get to and the nicest of the main valley floor campgrounds. From there, out Racetrack Road (presently closed) to The Racetrack. Spend a full day there. Then down Lippincott Road to Saline Valley hot springs. Spend a day there, maybe. Then up Steele Pass (presently closed) to Saline Dunes. Spend a day there for sure. It's now the morning of the 13th, and time to start back up north. Exit north through Horse Thief Canyon to CA 168 and go through Deep Springs Valley (see the 2021 CBS 60 Minutes story about Deep Springs College.) west toward US 395. See how time flies?

The Mojave Preserve/Road is a bit farther south, and traversing the M. Road, being an east/west route, takes you even farther east either at the start or the end.

 

[Kent R]

Hi-

Planning out a trip in March and looking for suggestions/pointers, please.

I'm an east coast wheeler, so majority of my travel has been fire roads/trails, beaches, and minor rock crawling. I've camped up and down the coast, beaches, mountains, woods, primitive and improved. Our friends have some 4x4 experience but extensive camping/outdoors experience and one is a registered volunteer S&R specialist.

We have reserved an outfitted Gladiator (us) and Wrangler (them) from a company based in San Francisco.

We fly in March 3, pick up the trucks, spend our first nite out near Point Reyes in Samuel Taylor SP. The next day we are driving to Napa (March 4.) and running the Napa Half Marathon March 5. The night of the 4th and 5th we've got accommodations in Napa. We camp the night of the 6th at Bothe-Napa SP and head south the morning of March 7.

Our flight back is the evening of March 14 out of Oakland.

Between the 7th and 14th we'll be all over the Mojave/Death Valley area and frankly I'm having a hell of a time deciding the proper routes, and what we want to see/do along the way.

Is it possible to hit Saline Valley hot springs, Race Track, and Lippincott Pass along with a good chunk of the Mojave Road in that time?

Points of interest we'd like to see would include the lava tubes in Mojave, some ghost towns, mines, and dunes.

Initially I'm thinking we drive from Napa to around Lake Isabella and use that as a jump off point but I'm not 100% sure. I've spent countless hours watching videos, reading blogs and pouring through the Mojave Guide but I don't feel like I'm any closer to a route than I was a month ago.

Any suggestions are more than welcome! Thanks in advance.

Good advice from @pluton.
The Mojave Road/Trail is on the OB1 app with all the way points and there are several routs through DV that follow the one you are talking about.
March is prime for both areas just make sure you keep an eye on the NPS site for both to keep up with road condition.

@Waltzing Matilda is a great resource for DV, he is the resident Highway Patrol officer and runs his Gladiator over every mile of the off road trails when not patrolling the hard pack.

 

[2G4R]

Agree with @KentR about the advice from @pluton...
I would say u could easily do everything u mentioned. A lot depends on your driving style.. Its only a 7 hour drive from napa to mojave rd trail entrance (west to east) leaving early morning will get you there early afternoon to hit the trail. possibly do the mojave rd from barstow to searchlight, take the 95N, to death valley, then back to oakland thru 120 yosemite, or 108 stanislaus..
also in reverse is a nice trip, check out yosemite in the morning, along the 395 theres a bunch of great spots, bishop, big pine, lone pine.. ( i like kavanaugh ridge, coyote flats, mt patterson)
down to death valley, then to searchlight, back thru mojave rd, then take the 5 back up to catch your flight..
personally id get an early start, take the 5 down to barstow, by that time the sun will b high so u dont have to worry about sun in your eyes..
couple days on the mojave rd to searchlight
take the 95 up to the backroad ubehebe crater, tea kettle junction, racetrack, lippincott pass to saline valley
395n, quick stop across to movie rd, lunch at kavanaugh ridge, back thru yosemite

 

[socal66]

I think trying to do both Mojave and Death Valley in your timeframe would be a lot of constant driving and perhaps choosing just Death Valley would allow you to do that area without rushing. You are going to have to spend the better part of the day driving from Napa to wherever you are starting and then it is going to be the better part of a day from wherever you end to get back to Oakland so that is two days gone regardless.

A possible itinerary would be...

March 7: Drive from Napa to find camping at Trona Pinnacles.
March 8: Enter the park on the southwest side on Goler Wash Road. This will allow you to see Goler Canyon, the Barker Ranch, Mengel Pass, Geologist's Cabin, Striped Butte, etc. in Butte Valley. The Mengel Pass area will take some care and time to navigate some technical sections but will be no problem for your Jeeps. Your campsite for the night would be somewhere in the valley and you would hopefully be able to claim one of the cabins or end up in Warm Springs Camp.
March 9: Drive out of the valley and connect to Badwater Road going north from West Side Road. This will lead you to a string of the most popular DV sites for the day. Badwater, Devils' Golf Course, Artist Drive, Zabriskie Point, etc. Depending on your pace and how the day goes you can camp at Texas Springs or try to push north the BLM land around Rhyolite, NV. Gas up in Nevada if possible (or top your tank after just getting enough at Furnace Creek to get to Nevada).
March 10: After exploring Rhyolite re-enter the park through Titus Canyon Road. After touring the canyon you can then visit the Mesquite Dunes and perhaps a couple of canyons in that area. You can camp the night past he 8 mile marker in either Marble or Cottonwood Canyon or if you have to at the Stovepipe Wells campground. Top off your tanks at Stovepipe Wells.
March 11: Drive west on 190 to the Emigrant Canyon Road and explore the Skidoo Mine, Aguereberry Point, and (if it is not snowed in still) the Charcoal Kilns. Exit the park on Wildrose Road and then head north on Panamint Valley Road to connect to 190 going west. Top up gas in Panamint Springs. Maybe see the fighter jets flyby at the Rainbow Canyon Overlook. Head north on Saline Valley Road. Take Hunter Mountain Road at South Pass (assuming no snow) and head into Ulida Flat to Teakettle Junction. Head south on Racetrack Valley Road to the Racetrack Playa and find some camping spots south of that location for the night.
March 12: Take the road up to Lippincott Pass and down to Saline Valley Road and go north. Continue on road until you reach the warm springs. You could spend the rest of the day there and camp for the night but also expect the possibility that members of your group will be freaked out by the nudists there and may want to move on instead.
March 13: If you braved camping at Warm Springs then head north on Steel Pass Road. The road is not technical (for a Jeep) but monotonously rocky in parts that will be slow going. Go through Dedeckera Canyon which is technical but not too bad (for a Jeep) as you will be going down the waterfalls (just take the time to spot correctly). Emerge at the Eureka Dunes. If your day has been long you can camp there or push on to exit the park on Death Valley Road and camp somewhere on the Eastern Sierra board side. If you made good pace and have some time left you could drive your rigs into the Reward Mine and explore the Alabama Hills nearby. You can camp there or if that is too much of a zoo camp at a number of other alternatives in the area.
March 14: Head back to Oakland.

As people have mentioned a lot of the roads are still closed in the park and may very well still not be open in March. If you truly want to squeeze Mojave into your itinerary you could go faster and try to combine some of the days above. You could also get more days back by eliminating the trip up to Warm Springs, etc. as that is a lot of miles for less reward compared to the other items on the list. The route above is pretty efficient in seeing the majority of the park with also the important factor of having sufficient fuel stops between days. The park is quite large and any plan you end up with will need to ensure that you will be ok with fuel for the group.

 

[Bourbon Runner]

Thank you all for your suggestions. @socal66 that sounds like a hell of an itinerary and I'm thinking we'll be honing in on exactly what you suggest.

In your expert opinion, is there any of the above that you'd suggest not hitting due to driver skill not matching the capability of the vehicle? I'm not terribly worried about my end but our traveling companions may not.

 

[Advtres]

My 2 cents, as others have said, focus on Death Valley, if you can do not miss the stamp mill in Skiddo, worth the extra time. ( if the road is open )

 

[socal66]

Thank you all for your suggestions. @socal66 that sounds like a hell of an itinerary and I'm thinking we'll be honing in on exactly what you suggest.

In your expert opinion, is there any of the above that you'd suggest not hitting due to driver skill not matching the capability of the vehicle? I'm not terribly worried about my end but our traveling companions may not.

Normally I would say there are no show stoppers on this route. I have done the first three days or so with a larger group that had some full size trucks and stock 4WD vehicles and we got through with no issues. That said I don't know what the road conditions will be next March. When I was there this past March the roads were in better shape than any time in recent memory but there was a storm that had done a lot of damage a few months ago but I don't know the extent of that. You will need to check with NPS closer to March to make sure.

That said based on prior trips...

On the first day there is the rocky section on Mengel Pass. That should just be challenging enough to make it fun for the first timers but not too technical. The biggest problem was for full size trucks as they had to take some extra time and spotting to fit in some of tighter sections but that will not be a problem for the Jeep width.
On the second day it will all be graded dirt roads and paved roads.
On the third day Titus Canyon is listed as off road but a lot of 2WD vehicles go through there just fine.
The fourth day is mostly paved or graded roads. There is a section of Hunter Mountain Road that has some sandy areas where vehicles can get stuck (usually 2WD plus driver error). Just be watchful of these areas and find the path that everyone is using that bypasses the sandy areas. NPS will sometimes have cones/signage for guidance but many times they are not there.
On the fifth day Lippincott Pass is always random. Some times there is no problem at all other times some big rock has fallen in the middle of a tight spot and causes a challenge. The most prevalent issue is that some of the switchbacks in the tighter sections will wash out after rains. This will result in wider vehicles such as full size trucks needing to have a few moments with one tire hanging off the edge and needing to get by with the other three. Usually not a problem for the width of a Jeep. Since March is a peak visiting time for the backcountry there should be enough traffic on that route that any obstacles that did appear during winter will get fixed by others before you. The one exception are the washouts which always seem to be there regardless. The thing I find more problematic some times is the oncoming traffic on some of the sections of that road. The tougher parts are the rock gardens that are on shelf trail sections which have no room for a vehicle to pass. When you are the only one there they are no problem but when others come in the other direction and fail to wait at one of the few turnouts then inevitably someone is stuck going backward in a narrow rock garden on a ledge and that isn't always comfortable. In those areas you might want to lead and get to the next turnout or passing area and then radio to the following vehicle to go to that point and stop until you give them the clear to go to the next one and so on. It is just a couple miles of section and generally no one else is there to have actually worried about it (unless they are and then it usually is a large group).
On the sixth day Steel Pass Road has a reputation for shredding tires on the rocky sections which is usually due to people driving too fast and/or not airing down their tires. You just need to go slow with air downed tires and you will be fine. Dedeckera Canyon is probably the most "technical" of everything listed here and that is just one section of it. The first waterfall you approach from Steel Pass will be very narrow even for the Jeeps and will require you to ride your sidewalls on a large boulder on the passenger side to keep things level and not slide the Jeep into boulders on either side. It's maybe 20 feet in length with a 3 or 4 feet drop. Once you get past that the remaining two waterfalls are no big deal at all and you are through.

 

[pluton]

IMO Lippincott Road is best going down, mainly because you see the big sky view of the whole Saline valley instead of the next 15 feet of road ahead. Dedeckera Canyon should be substantially easier going up from Steele Pass rather than down from Eureka Dunes, because it's easier to go down the series of drops than climbing them, right?

 

[Bourbon Runner]

Kinda where I am, @pluton

Are there any good places (aside from NPS) to get more info about road closures? This forum, Reddit, etc?

Also, are these waypoints above found in the OB app? Ive downloaded that and Gaia but I'm not the most tech savvy far as building the maps, etc. I think i need a class on that alone!

I'm planning on downloading all the maps to my iPad and bringing that along unless the Android version of OB and Gaia are better. Open to any/all suggestions. The outfitter has InReach's in the trucks and I believe we can get them to integrate with both iPhones and Droids.

Lastly, this time of year: What are we looking at for temps at night? I've looked up average charts but they don't account for wind chill. Hoping my 20 degree bag is sufficient.

 

[Jim SoG]

Msg @PortageBay one of our members who is a volunteer Park Dude and camp host in Death Valley, he can tell you which roads are closed right now and what would be expected open in March. In Dec the north was closed and the south and west was open.....

Jim