Death Valley

[Mrcodes]

Looking for a place to camp out and explore with my wife and dog in a few weeks. Never been to Death Valley and most of the spots I’ve found are more traditional campgrounds with RVS and the usual. Looking for more of a remote (ish) less touristy place. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[HIALT2D]

This time of year some areas / roads are closed either for the winter or during storms, flooding, & snow build up. Check out these two links for current park info. / closures and for dispersed camping in what they call the backcountry/wilderness areas:

Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Wilderness/Backcountry Use Permits - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Be sure to read the rules & guidelines for backcountry camping and I would also recommend filling out & submitting the free Backcountry/Wilderness Use Permit Application. I also give a copy to my emergency contact:

Backcountry Permit (nps.gov)

It's an enormous park and there are tons of places to "get away" & to get lost or stuck if you're not careful. Although there's no camping along the trail, I'd highly recommend driving the Titus Canyon Trail (if the weather permits). It's quite the experience and not very difficult at all. Again, depending on weather conditions and recent amounts of rain. Please double check, but I'm pretty sure you can disperse camp, or at least dry camp (designated campground with a table & fire pit) in the area around/between the Ubehebe Crater & Scotty's Castle (currently closed for repairs). If you drive Titus Canyon (It's a 1 way road) when you exit the canyon and reach the intersection of Scotty's Castle Road, turn right instead of left (back towards the paved road).

I'd recommend stopping by the Ranger Station at Stovepipe Wells to get the most current conditions, maps, and ideas of where to disperse camp.

Also, check out the RALLY POINT on this Forum titled "Spring Time in Death Valley" by PortageBay. He will be in the park @ Texas Springs Campground in Stovepipe Wells until mid-April. He's an Overlander & is offering to assist anyone who wants to disperse camp and/or off-road in the park. We'll be stopping in to see him this weekend for some help & advise.

Hope this helps...

 

[Jibs]

I'm headed down there tomorrow. I'm going to spend a few days exploring before I head to work in Beatty. I'm planning on hiking from Emigrant Campground over to Lemoigne Canyon to explore some mining features, and then a few other day hikes or short overnights to check out a few other slot canyons in the park. We might do some other "touristy" things if we have time.

 

[HIALT2D]

We just got back from 4 days in Death Valley. Had an absolute blast!!! We got a little bit of everything weather wise; clouds, rain, sunshine, wind, more wind, even more wind

Nights were a bit cool, but at least two of the days were T-shirt weather.

We spent the first night out in Panamint Valley, near Panamint Dunes:



We spent our second night up in the hills behind Darwin Falls, near an old abandoned mine:


Our third night was spent way up Echo Canyon, trying to get out of the 35-45 MPH winds. We saw sooooo many broken and/or blown away tents everywhere...



We did some exploring out by the Nadeau Trail & even drove the entire trail. It was a bit scary once we got down into the wash/canyon, but the BEAST preformed flawlessly...

We found an oasis out in the middle of nowhere that had goldfish in the pond created by a natural spring.

We did a bunch of Geocaching, got buzzed by a fighter jet that flew only a few hundred feet off the valley floor (I think I wet myself on that one), and found a bunch of old mining sites.

We even found an alien spaceship landing site way out in the middle of nowhere, up on a big plateau.

Overall, it was a great trip.

 

[HIALT2D]

Forgot to mention that we met up with PortageBay (Bob McNamara) who is volunteering as a camp host at the Texas Springs Campground. He spent some time with us going over a map of the backcountry area and suggested some trails to do and some places to disperse camp. We will be hitting those next trip.

If you're in DV anytime up until April 15th, be sure to stop in and see him. He's a great guy & really knows the whole DV area, as he's been coming here for 40 years.

 

[smritte]

So Glen, I have a few repairs to make and im down for a run out there. wanted to wait a couple of weeks for the weather to brake a bit.

 

[HIALT2D]

So Glen, I have a few repairs to make and im down for a run out there. wanted to wait a couple of weeks for the weather to brake a bit.

We're hoping to get back out for 2-3 days at the end of March / beginning of April & explore some of the areas that Bob told us about. I'll bring the map & info. this weekend & we can discuss...

 

[spazegun2213]

If you all publish your route and are accepting tag alongs, let me know. I can bring beer :)

 

[smritte]

I'll bring the map & info. this weekend & we can discuss...

Not sure if I can make it this weekend. I'm still up in the air

 

[HIALT2D]

If you all publish your route and are accepting tag alongs, let me know. I can bring beer :)

Are you talking about the future Death Valley trip or the Trona Pinnacles trip this weekend? If it's the Trona trip, check out the Rally Point for details. If it's the DV trip, I'll keep you posted as I'm doing that one with another group & we aren't set on dates / routes yet.

 

[spazegun2213]

Are you talking about the future Death Valley trip or the Trona Pinnacles trip this weekend? If it's the Trona trip, check out the Rally Point for details. If it's the DV trip, I'll keep you posted as I'm doing that one with another group & we aren't set on dates / routes yet.

DV... I'm booked this weekend so no trona for me. That said, I do want to do there at some point.