We took a family vacation to Death Valley during the winter on President’s Day weekend on February 16-18, 2008. Our trip consisted of the following:

Wildrose Campsite
Jeep Trail to Marble Canyon
Sand Dunes
Jeep Trail to Inyo Mine
Badwater

This was our family’s first experience going to Death Valley. Why Death Valley? I had no other reason except that a ranger in Olancha told me that the back country trails in Death Valley are tremendous. Also, I got a 4WD Honda Ridgeline, and I have wanted to learn about traveling the back country roads since I was young. Also, I have been looking for a good outdoor place to go to while the Sierras are all snowed over.

Wildrose
We entered Death Valley by driving through Ridgecrest and taking highway 178 to Death Valley. The drive was really a beautiful desert drive. After passing Trona, you kind of go over this small peak and then enter a large empty valley with Telescope Peak and other moutains of Death Valley on your right with other lesser known mountains on your left. It seems very remote. Very little highway traffic. And it is just a beautiful ride. Towards the end of the road when you enter the park, you have to decide if you will go straight in over a well maintained partially dirt road or go around taking the long way in.

We went straight in until we arrived at the first camsite on the map called Wildrose. Wildrose was a very nice site with a picnic bench per site, a fire pit, and a good flat spot for your tent. They also have water and an outhouse. There is no fee for this campsite and it is just a few miles from Telescope Peak.

Telescope peak was inaccessible due to snow. Maybe with two sets of tire chains and 4WD you may be able to make it to the peak is what the park ranger told me. We did not do much at Wildrose except sleep and enjoy the fire. You have to bring your own wood. They do not sell wood at the campsite. During the day, the temperature was very nice; however, it gets near freezing at night, so be prepared.

Stove Pipe Wells
We randomly choose one of the dirt roads found on the map handed to me by the ranger. We chose to go to Marble Canyon. We left our camping gear at Wildrose (which was a mistake), and took the highway to Stovepipe Wells Village. Stovepipe Wells Village is a place that has the following:

1. An RV Park with electricity
2. A Hotel
3. A General Store with Gas Station

Jeep Trail to Marble Canyon and Cottonwood Canyon
The beginning of the road to Marble Canyon starts where the RV Park is.

There was a sign that said “No camping next 8 Miles”. This road was very sandy. I kicked in the 4WD and had no problem. I did see some large vans that were not 4WD and they seemed to have no problem as well. I do not recommend this road without 4WD. At the end of the 8 miles, there was a spot that had about 4 vehicles parked with several tents about it. Next, there was a jeep sign signifying that the grade of the road is now changed from well maintained to Jeep quality. The Honda Ridgeline did okay on this road. I did hit some rocks underneath me; however, all in all, it did well. But go slow and be careful. This is where the fun began.

The first 8 miles were used to travel across the valley and get you to the mountains. The jeep trail is near the foot of the mountains and in no time, you find yourself going between huge walls of rock on both sides of you. The geological makeup of the walls is truly a wonder. I am no expert in this field; however, everywhere you turn, the mountains are different.

After a while, we got out to just look around. We found a crevice with a small amount of water that when you go into it, it acts like an air conditioner. We found rock with a crystal like shell. We found this rock hoisted upon a neck of dirt where you could see that erosion had worn away about 8 inches of dirt below it. Who knows how many years it took to create that.

We continued on our way and met and spoke with several people hiking the jeep trail on foot. We also saw quite a few ravens and they seem to prosper in this valley.

One thing we discovered is that many people get beyond that 8 mile mark and then camp anywhere. Had we not left our tent at Wildrose, we would have stayed there and camped for the night. That was our only regret of the trip.

Sand Dunes
Our first stop the next day was at the Sand Dunes which are located just east of Stove Pipe Wells.
As soon as the kids saw that huge sandbox, they went running. There was one very large dune out in the middle that everyone went to. It wasn’t that far from the road to that large dune, maybe a mile or so. One person brought a snow sled to slide down that large dune. It did not work too well. The recommendation is to bring some cardboard with you to slide down with.

The picture of the scaly looking surface is the ground that you often encounter in-between the individual hills of sand.

After leaving the Sand Dunes, we went to the Furnace Creek Visitors Center and asked the ranger for a recommended stop. She recomended we take the truck through another Jeep trail to Inyo Mine.

Inyo Mine
We missed the trail at first and had to literally check the mileage on the Speedometer, for this trail was not marked. It starts about 2 miles southeast of the hotel resort located at Furnace Creek.
The road was very scenic. Once again, we could have easily just picked a spot and camped for the night.

The mine itself does not allow camping. What we found there was a small abondoned area with a about three broken down homes and the remnants of an old mine with equipment. We stayed away from the area up above which is probably where the digging took place….I didn’t want my kids falling down any mysterious big holes.

Badwater
Our last stop before going home was to see Badwater. When we got there, it was already getting dark. Badwater is named Badwater because the water is bad. Salty and nasty tasting. However the land we saw was crusted salt. And just like everything else at Death Valley, it just leaves you in awe.

Conclusion
There is a reason that Death Valley is a National Park. All of the pictures in this blog entry are originals taken on this trip by my own digital camera. While I will probably never go there in the summer time; during the winter, it is just beautiful. We barely scratched the surface of what you will be able to find there. I guarantee you, we will be back.