Southern California Club Xterra (SCCX)
Death Valley National Park
11/8-10/02
Location:
DVNP is located in southeastern California and
also parts of it are in Nevada. It is between the Amargosa Desert in Nevada and
the Inyo National Forest in California. California Highway 190 transects the
park from east to west. On the east in Nevada, Highway 95 parallels the park
from north to south with connecting highways at Scotty's Junction (State Route
267), Beatty (State Route 374), and Lathrop Wells (State Route 373).
Highlights: More than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert
scenery, interesting and rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed
wilderness, and sites of historical and cultural interest. Many Backcountry
unpaved trails, camping, hiking opportunities, ghost towns, Badwater, the lowest
point (-282 feet) in the western hemisphere, and other interesting sites such
as Scotty’s Castle.
Difficulty: Most of the trails are easy/great for beginners but
some are sandy so its best to air-down a bit for added traction. New
off-roaders/members are especially encouraged to participation in this run
regardless of what you drive and/or experience level. Echo Canyon, Pleasant Canyon, and Mangel Pass are best suited for
4x4’s and offer some challenging rocks/climbs for those interested. All the other
trails are suitable for all X’s with LSD. As always, senior SCCX members will
be readily available to make sure everybody is having a good time, give
advise/suggestions, and makes sure that all participants are
helped/pulled/towed out of trouble if necessary
Time & Distances:
Rhyolite Ghost Town / Titus Canyon: ~ 30+ miles starting from Rhyolite / 4+ hours with lunch.
Scotty's Castle and Ubehebe Crater: ~ 10 – 35 miles (depends on racetrack route option) / 4+ hours
Butte Valley via Warm Springs: ~ 21 miles / 3+ hours from W. side rd just N. of the
Ashford Mill
Cottonwood and Marble
Canyons: ~ 13 miles to
Cottonwood, 5 more to Marble from Stovepipe Wells / 3+ hours
Pleasant Canyon /
South Park Loop: ~ 28 miles
or more with side spurs / 6+ hrs
w/lunch
Getting there, meet time & place(s):
11/8
SoCal Xvoy Meet: 630pm @ Ontario Mills Krispy Kreme, 4485 Mills Circle Ontario,
CA 91764. View Map
11/8
Night Run Meet: ~ 9pm @ Baker Ultramar Station. 71808 Baker Blvd. View
Map
All
the meets inside the park will take place at the Texas
Springs campground in the Furnace Creek area:
11/9
(AM) Sat. Meet: 9am; Night Run
meet: 8pm
11/10 Sun Meet: 9am
Park Map (1MB) in acrobat
.pdf format can be found by clicking here
Drive / Trip:
Rhyolite Ghost Town / Titus
Canyon
This popular scenic road is ONE-WAY
from east to west. To find the beginning of the drive, follow the highway
toward Beatty, Nevada. Turn left 2.7 miles east of the park boundary. The road
re-enters the park and winds through the Grapevine Mountains, then drops down
through one of Death Valley’s most spectacular canyons. Along the way watch for
the ghost town of Leadfield and petroglyphs at Klare Spring. A self-guided booklet describing geology and trip
highlights can be purchased at the visitor center. The road is graded and very easily and offers much
more in terms of site seeing them off-roading, can be combined with Scotty’s
Castle for a leisurely day.
Scotty's Castle,
Ubehebe Crater, Racetrack /
Teakettle Junction
Scotty's Castle and the Gas
House Museum are located at the north end of Death Valley National Park 53
miles from Furnace Creek and approximately 45 miles from Stovepipe Wells
Village. Exhibits cover the fascinating history of the Castle with special
emphasis on the two personalities Death Valley Scotty, Albert Mussey Johnson
and artifacts from the Castle Collection. Tours last 50 minutes and
usually run every hour.
The crater from a giant
meteoroid impact is 5 miles W. of the Grapevine junction. Past the crater the
dirt/sand/trail begins and ends at the
Racetrack playa, an ancient lakebed famous for its "moving rocks".
The trail is easy and fine for just about anybody. From Teakettle Junction, a
road leads south and west through Hidden Valley, over Hunter Mountain, and
finally to Highway 190.
Dumont Dunes-Amargosa
OHV area (BLM info)
The riding area is south of
the Amargosa River and east of State Highway 127, about 31 miles north of Baker
just outside the park boundary There are two ways of getting to the dunes. The
Little Dunes staging and camping area is directly off Highway 127, conveniently
located for immediate staging. One mile north of here, just off Highway 127, is
Dumont Road, a dirt road that follows and crosses the river, leading to
the main field of large dunes. This is a great place to catch the sunset and
features “vehicle friendly” dune running/
Echo Canyon
The trail road begins two
miles east of Furnace Creek Inn along Highway 190. The road tends to have deep
gravel and is quite rocky 3 miles from the highway (4X4 required). The Needle’s
Eye, a natural arch, is located within the canyon narrows. The Inyo Mine is up
the right fork 9 miles in and contains several old structures and remnants of
mining equipment. The left fork continues past other old mines eventually
becoming very rough 4x4 and features a challenging waterfall obstacle before
exiting the park in Nevada.
Cottonwood and Marble Canyons
The road begins east of the
Stovepipe Wells airstrip and travels up the broad alluvial fan before reaching
the canyon mouth. 8 miles in, the road drops into the wash and becomes rocky
and rough. One mile past the end of the first narrows, a side road leads up
Marble Canyon. Hikers can continue up this canyon beyond road's end to see some
of the finest petroglyph-bearing canyon narrows in the park.At the road's end
up Cottonwood Canyon is a flowing stream lined with cottonwood trees. Please
remember, camping is not permitted within 1/4 mile from any water source in
Death Valley National Park
Butte Valley via Warm Springs
Heading west off of the
West Side Road, this road follows Warm Springs Canyon past several talc mines
before leading into scenic Butte Valley, at an elevation of 4500 feet. (4X4
required beyond mines) A rough road leads out of the park over Mengle Pass and
into Panamint Valley to the west via Goler Wash.
Pleasant Canyon / South Park Loop (BLM MAP)
If
ascending Pleasant Canyon, expect the fun to begin about five miles up the
road, which heads east straight behind Ballerat. Here the trail joins the
riparian streambed made of wet soccer-ball sized rocks and occasional granite
steps. At times the vegetation is quite thick in one's windshield, limiting
visibility to only a few feet. This stretch is nearly a half mile long,
concluding with a stair step that for some requires the help of a strap. High
clearance is most helpful here.
Upper
Pleasant Canyon yields visitors a glimpse of Panamint Valley's rich mining past
with the Radcliff Mine and the remains of the Clair Camp, and the World Beater
Mine and cabin. At the top of the canyon is Rogers Pass, 6,430 feet in
elevation, high above eastern Butte Valley. Route choices are continuing south
along the ridge (careful! steep grades), or west descending into Middle Park,
an open valley near the crest of the Panamints. Both routes meet and cross
South Park valley and descend back to Panamint Valley via South Park Canyon.
About
two miles below the trailside Colter Spring begins the half-mile long shelf
road featuring the downward-tilting Chicken Rock and the famous log bridge.
High up along the cliffside these two normally-tame obstacles present a
challenge to one's nerves. At the bottom of the cliff is the fabulous Briggs
Camp, and the boulder-sitting Thorndike Camp.
Below
the camps the canyon narrows dramatically, and the route winds over the
occasional staircase that provide those choosing to ascend the canyon an even
tougher challenge. Finally, the route leaves the canyon floor to panoramic
views of Panamint Valley, then descending the final few miles on a slow and
steep but graded road to the Ballerat Road, about 4 miles south of Ballarat.
For more information:
Death
Valley National Park (NPS)
Visitor
Information: (760) 786-3200
In-depth
by the NPS
http://www.death.valley.national-park.com/
Trail Descriptions
and Conditions
Texas Springs Campground
We have a group site reserved for 11/8-10 at the
Texas Spring campground that has water, tables, fireplaces, flush toilets, and
dump station. Texas Spring is located in the Furnace Creek area off the SR 190
just N of the SR179 intersection past the Furnace Creek Inn. For the latest
member camping plans please check the SCCX board
Bring plenty of water,
and at least an extra 5 gallons of gas, also be prepared for high gas prices at
Furnace Creek, Shoshone and Baker (over $2 per gallon). For those that do not
want to carry loaded gas cans from Baker, Logan will empty his truck so he can
carry your spare gas cans during the trip.
Also remember that the entrance fee
for Death Valley National Park is $10 per vehicle or a National Parks Pass.
FRS Channel 11, sub code 24 will be used for
communications
