Death Valley?
- Thread starter jwhit88
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v_man
New member
You will love DV , it's an off road paradise , second only to the Moab area as the best 4x4 destination in the US (my opinion of course) .
It's hard to steer you in one direction or the other, what are you looking for, harder trails, scenery, hiking, mine sites, soak in a hot tub? Good news is you can see all that , often in just one day...
Anyway I'll toot my own horn here and share some of my past DV trip reports... lemme know if you want some more info or specifics...
DV with family, Argus Mtns. and Mengel Pass... - Expedition Portal
Across 4 mountain ranges in Death Valley ... - Expedition Portal
Another DV report. Eureka, Saline , Lippincott, Racetrack, Echo Canyon - Expedition Portal
It's hard to steer you in one direction or the other, what are you looking for, harder trails, scenery, hiking, mine sites, soak in a hot tub? Good news is you can see all that , often in just one day...
Anyway I'll toot my own horn here and share some of my past DV trip reports... lemme know if you want some more info or specifics...
DV with family, Argus Mtns. and Mengel Pass... - Expedition Portal
Across 4 mountain ranges in Death Valley ... - Expedition Portal
Another DV report. Eureka, Saline , Lippincott, Racetrack, Echo Canyon - Expedition Portal
98WhiteT4R
New member
Check the SoCal section of the American T4R club section, we do a run at least once a month (Anza Borrego tomorrow). Some of us have been kicking around the idea of a DV trip soon.
2003-4x4runner
New member
Great photos and trip reporting. Ive backpacked Death Valley a couple of times and I always wanted to do an off road trip.
jwhit88
New member
v man, that was awesome thanks for sharing your trip reports! My rig definitely can't handle a lot of what you were doing. I have a 2wd 4runner lifted 3" on 32" nitto's. But I'd like to get out there for it all, camping, hiking, and moderate wheeling.
98whitet4r, I will check that out! thank you!
98whitet4r, I will check that out! thank you!
BrianSD_42
New member
I'd recommend you don't go alone. Bring two trucks.
jwhit88
New member
Yeah definitely, so far I have two other buddies (another 4runner and a jeep) coming up Monday the 11th til Wednesday the 13th. I will be heading out there Sunday the 10th. If anyone else wants to join let me know!
BrianSD_42
New member
Sound like you've got it covered. As someone who recently (and seriously) broke down in Death valley I will be recommending don't go alone for years to come.
Desert_Runner
New member
Going to hit this trail with some other 4R's soon.
s20004runner
New member
I just came back from DV. Weather in Feb was great.
I didn't hit much trails since it was my first time (already plenty to see w/o off-roading) and I went alone w/ 3 other ppl in my t4r.
The only real off-roading was at the Lippincott mine road from the race track playa. Some portions were pretty gnarly. Do not attempt if you are not lifted, do not have proper tires, and don't have 4x4. We made it out, but I can't imagine breaking down and being alone out there.
Impressions / thoughts:
- Washboard roads (even the short ones) sucks!!! the trail to the race track playa was the longest (20+miles) and I thought my car was going to fall apart, but it held up great!!!!
I remembered watching Mythbusters so I aired down to 20-25psi, turned off abs, 4Hi, then went fast on the straights (hit 40-50mph). I was careful not to slam on the brakes on curves/turns and let the car slow down on its own.
- to see the moving rocks, you have to go to the south tip of the race track playa. Looks like ppl took the smaller rocks as souvenirs so there weren't much to see.
pic of my car heading down the lippincott mine road.
I didn't hit much trails since it was my first time (already plenty to see w/o off-roading) and I went alone w/ 3 other ppl in my t4r.
The only real off-roading was at the Lippincott mine road from the race track playa. Some portions were pretty gnarly. Do not attempt if you are not lifted, do not have proper tires, and don't have 4x4. We made it out, but I can't imagine breaking down and being alone out there.
Impressions / thoughts:
- Washboard roads (even the short ones) sucks!!! the trail to the race track playa was the longest (20+miles) and I thought my car was going to fall apart, but it held up great!!!!
I remembered watching Mythbusters so I aired down to 20-25psi, turned off abs, 4Hi, then went fast on the straights (hit 40-50mph). I was careful not to slam on the brakes on curves/turns and let the car slow down on its own.
- to see the moving rocks, you have to go to the south tip of the race track playa. Looks like ppl took the smaller rocks as souvenirs so there weren't much to see.
pic of my car heading down the lippincott mine road.
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BrianSD_42
New member
Great views on that road. We made it over Lippincott pass with a stock Tacoma 4wd last year, no problem. Perhaps the road is worse now.
s20004runner
New member
only some sections. In retrospect, I think the thought of breaking down middle of no where was more scary than the road itself. Plus, I am still a beginner so that may be more of my experience.
rossgoldie
New member
Did you hit up the Saline Valley Hot Springs? Probably my favorite spot in the park
4Rager
New member
Those are some great trips, thanks for sharing. A buddy of mine does an annual spring trip to Death Valley to camp and hike (he doesn't have a 4x4), so this year I was telling him I finally want to join him and we'll do some wheeling. I know he would be stoked to stay in one of those cabins, since I doubt he knows about those and he's a sucker for the Old West. Out of the three trips you posted, if you had a long weekend and had never been down there, which would you choose? My rig is lifted on 33's with an e-locker, so I don't mind it being technical or challenging, but I'll likely be the only vehicle so nothing too gnarly.
v_man
New member
You're rig could tackle anything in DV . Tough choice but I'd hit the Saline Valley to the hot spring , then up Steele Pass to Eureka Valley . A close second would be to start in Badwater and head out to Butte Valley , up and over Mengel Pass , and out to Ballarat.... There are 3 cabins in the Butte Valley I don't prefer to sleep in the cabins , but they're fun to hang out / stay warm in .... have a great trip .
2014 Warthog
New member
Going through Goler and over Mengle pass from west to east wasn't bad a couple months ago, but going up Mengle pass going the other direction looked a little iffy if you didn't have some oversized tires / good clearance and sliders in one spot. I rode my sliders on both sides down that section.
Goler wash pics here:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/165542-warthog-build-adventure-thread-29.html#post2195367
And a picture coming down Mengle pass here:
View attachment 181651
Steeper than the pic looks, 4 large closely spaced rocks make going up the steep incline there a little tricky. Eazy to slide down them, but you need sliders!
However, if you are coming from the east, it's still a great valley. Talc mines, Warm Springs, Burros, Striped Butte, the cabins... and if you can't get up Mengle pass, meh, turn around and go back!
Moar pics here:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/165542-warthog-build-adventure-thread-30.html#post2195374
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s20004runner
New member
#1 if it's first time in dv, there are plenty to see w/o wheeling.
#2 there is a 'super bloom" at the southeast area of the DV (Warm spring canyon area).
#3 starting from the crater, go to the tea kettle junction then head to the lost burro mine (can't sleep in the cabin, but you can camp there) go back to race track playa then go down lippincott mine road.. (that's what i did)
DV is gigantic and you will not have enough time to see everything over a weekend so plan carefully and enjoy.
I wanna go back so badly.
4Rager
New member
After reading this I spent the afternoon talking to my friend and doing some more research. All he said is he wants to spend a night at Eureka Dunes and he was cool with whatever else I wanted to explore (after all, I pretty much hijacked his trip... much like this thread). We will be coming south down 395, so the northern end of the park is better for us.
Scouring Google Maps along with info from your great Expedition Portal posts, it looks like the route in my crude map should work. Do you have any experience in the NW corner with the yellow circle? Again, zooming in on Google shows this is a viable trail/road, but is it publicly accessible? Does it have a name? Is there a better way to get over those mountains west of Middle Warm Springs to get back to 395? Thanks for the help. And sorry to threadjack, but hopefully others are finding this info useful.
Edit: Forgot to add... we would be going clockwise starting at the NE red line.
Edit #2: I can't really get a sense of scale. How many miles would this be and how long would it take?
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2014 Warthog
New member
Your lines are a tad wonky, (And that marker for teakettle junction is WAY off!)
But it's all easy from Big Pine to Eureka dunes, 2 hours or less.
Then you are going through Dedeckra Canyon and Steel Pass. Some steep narrow spots (Fun!) at the start, but 33s get you through no problem. Then 20 miles or so of baby heads! From Eureka to the saline hot springs is about 3 hours of rough travel. Kind of tedious after a while
Saline hot springs are near that 90 elbow in your rout around tin mountain.Then it looks like you are heading out the standard north pass route through the yellow circle. The only issue with north pass is that it is probably STILL technically closed. BUT the only reason is a deep trench on the road near the top of the valley. When you start going over some Small hills in the road, watch out, it comes up as a surprise at the bottom of one. You can easily go around it and continue on up into the mountains and down to Big Pine. That would be 2-3 hours depending on sight seeing along the way.
If you started at big pine and finished at big pine in one shot with rest breaks you could do it in a day.
Here is a pic of the reason north pass is (was?) closed:
View attachment 181669
And some pics of the route from Eureka dunes to Big Pine and a little beyond (Drive in mine near Manzanar)
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/165542-warthog-build-adventure-thread-30.html#post2195383
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