Questions for those who have been through Death Valley

[OC Dave]

Hey guys, as I'm in the process researching for my upcoming Death Valley trip, I ran into a few questions I couldn't find much info on.

I'm looking for backcountry camping options. I have my eye around Butte Valley or just before.
What are the various cabins like? Is there room for multiple rigs? Are they generally available? Fire pits?

Is camping okay at Barker Ranch for one night?

I found little info that you can camp in the ghost town of Ballarat for $3. Has anyone camped there? Any helpful info regarding that?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Narbob]

Hey OC Dave, I was camping there just a few weeks ago. Although Ballarat is a must see place, I would skip camping there, it's just a big open space. Definitely talk with the caretaker (quite a character) and if needed, he has a decent map of the area. Approximately 20 miles from there is Golar wash which takes you to Barker Ranch. There is a fire pit at BR and enough room for several vehicles.

I don't have any info on Butte Valley however, be very careful of the cabins. Although there are safe ones, most are rat /field mouse infested which means possible Hantavirus. This goes for the shacks at BR too.
Good luck...

Hey guys, as I'm in the process researching for my upcoming Death Valley trip, I ran into a few questions I couldn't find much info on.

I'm looking for backcountry camping options. I have my eye around Butte Valley or just before.
What are the various cabins like? Is there room for multiple rigs? Are they generally available? Fire pits?

Is camping okay at Barker Ranch for one night?

I found little info that you can camp in the ghost town of Ballarat for $3. Has anyone camped there? Any helpful info regarding that?

Thanks for the help!

 

[v_man]

There are three cabins in Butte Valley, the primo one being the geologist cabin. There are also two, in my opinion, nicer cabins on the South Park Canyon trail in the Panamint Mtns.,(called the Briggs cabin and stone cabin) but you can't access Butte Valley from South Park Canyon.

Depending on what time of year you go, I personally would not count on any of the cabins being available. In four trips to Butte Valley, we have only got one of the cabins once. People like to snag the geologist cabin for days at a time which is unfortunate.

That being said, I think staying in the cabins is kind of over rated. I definitely would not sleep in any of them, we like to use them as a living room so to speak, it's nice to cook and have a fire in there.

Backcountry regulations say no campfires in DV, but plenty of people do.

If you skip to 3:38 in my video below, you'll see a pretty nice spot about 1/4 mile away from Geologist cabin, I could share coords if you're interested...

 

[v_man]

Just saw you're the 30th birthday party guy, good luck with your planning. Making plans and doing research is half the fun IMO....

 

[4xFar Adventures]

I was in Death Valley over Easter in 2013.

In Striped Butte Valley I stayed at Russell Cabin. There were two cabins at this location, and about 5 minutes away is the Geologist Cabin. I was in a group with ~18 trucks and there was room for us all to park. Few people stayed inside the cabin itself. Most just setup tents where they could find room. I walked around inside them, filled out the guest log book and hung out for a little bit. Geologist Cabin is a lone structure that would work well for a single family. As I remember, the cabins we stayed at all had established fire rings.

Cabin availability is first come, first serve. There are flags at the cabins. The general rule is, if the flag is flying, someone is staying at that cabin.

If you take Megel Pass, it has some good sized rocks you'll have to climb over. I'm not sure what's changed in the 5 years since I was there.

 

[OC Dave]

Just saw you're the 30th birthday party guy, good luck with your planning. Making plans and doing research is half the fun IMO....

It is. haha I feel like that's all I do with my spare time. I'm either planning trips or researching new areas for future trips.

Thanks for all your info as well as everyone else. I have a roof top tent and don't plan on staying inside the cabins, just around them. So staying at a cabin is not a requirement. I'm ultimately trying to find a camp spot along Goler Canyon and Mengel Pass since going from Ballarat to Badwater in 1 day is a bit much. I'm currently thinking staying by Barker Ranch or maybe Lotus Mine. Have you been up there before?

 

[Eric Neal]

There is at least one good campsite for maybe 2-3 vehicles in the Goler Wash/Coyote canyon ride. A small shack as well as a "one holer" for potty options especiall good for RTT set ups.

We traveled thru there in very early January 2018 and set up our RTT on the "point" just outside the gate of Russell's cabin. Due to wind we opted not to have a fire, but there is a sheltered fire ring behind or beside Stella Russell's cabin.

We ran into two NP Rangers who were taking lunch at the cabin & they suggested we use the fire ring that night since we had brought firewood with us on each day of our 5 weeks in the desert (just in case).

 

[RobRed]

V_man has some good intel regarding the cabins. Check out his spot near the cabins. Keep in mind, depending on number of vehicles, the cabin sites are not super flat for parking etc if that matters to you. Depending on how many vehicles you have could make the choices for you.

Last Spring I led a trip with 16 vehicles and we used the Warm Springs Camp east of the buttes (not to be confused with the Saline Valley Hot Springs) . This site has a number of unfinished residential foundations that make a ideal for RTT camp sites. as well as a large group. We built a fire pit and dismantled it when we left... no trace.

 

[OC Dave]

Very cool, thanks for the info.
What I'm currently thinking is we'll camp near Lotus Mine located off of Goler Canyon for day 1. If not there, maybe somewhere around Barker Ranch. That way, for day 2 we have much more time exploring butte valley and warm springs.

I currently have just one rig interested. haha

 

[RobRed]

I currently have just one rig interested. haha

Here is your inspiration