Hello, everyone! I'm a new member here, and as my handle suggests, I'm from the midwest. I love traveling in the southwest, and I'm a moderately experienced dayhiker in desert terrain. When I visit a wilderness location, I like to split my time between hiking and sightseeing from my car. I'm the type of person who pulls over at as many interpretive signs as possible to read about the science and history of a location.
I have an upcoming trip with only a precious 2 1/2 days in the park, and I'm looking for feedback on my itinerary. Is there anything you would add or subtract from it? Thank you in advance!
Day 1:
start driving from Las Vegas in early morning
breakfast at The Inn
Furnace Creek visitor center
Harmony Borax
Mummy Canyon
check in at Longstreet Inn
Day 2:
sunrise at Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie, Golden Canyon, and Gower Gulch loop
lunch at Stovepipe Wells
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Devil’s Cornfield
Day 3:
sunrise at Badwater Basin
Artist’s Drive and Artist's Dips
lunch at Last Kind Words
Dante’s View
Day 4:
check out of Longstreet Inn
Ash Meadows
drive back to Las Vegas
Looks reasonable and you aren’t overdoing it either - which is a good plan. So my suggestions are just going to be things you could add on if you find a particular day has spare time in it.
Day 1 you might very well a have extra time. Desolation Canyon is a fun short hike a few minutes drive from Furnace Creek, could be an outing that takes only and hour. Twenty Mule Team Canyon is a usually good condition dirt road suitable for most passenger vehicles (nothing with really low clearance though) that is also just up the road from Furnace Creek and is also less than an hour.
Day 2 you might do the lowest part of Mosaic Canyon right by Stovepipe. You can hike all day in this canyon, but the “mosaics” are right at the start. Less than an hour, though often pretty crowded.
Day 3 I’d invert your day to be honest. Dante’s view is actually best at sunrise - though it is going to be cold this time of year! Also if you are going in the next week or two have an alternative plan - very cold weather and precipitation coming in which can close the road for ice. Badwater is in my opinion better at sunset than sunrise. I always recommend folks at least once head out onto the salt far from people a bit before sunset and bring a flashlight/headlamp. Plan to stay out there twenty to thirty minutes past sunset and just watch the light. (Don’t do this on a cloudy day). The parking lot is so obvious it is safe to head back in the deep twilight (but be sure to bring a light, the surface can be rough out there). Canyon at second dip on Artist Drive is a favorite. Do that for sure. Devils Golfcourse takes a few minutes, do that. With extra time do Natural Bridge canyon. Less than an hour to just go to the bridge and back.
Day 4 if you didn’t do Twenty Mule Team already maybe do it on the way out.
Let us know when you are visiting approximately and what type of vehicle you are renting and you might get additional advice.
Enjoy your first visit!
EDIT: Canyon at second dip does involve some rock scrambling which makes some folks uncomfortable. You have to climb up a slick rock section right at the start. If you get up that you can probably tackle the rest. A few spots can require a little pondering to get around but the canyon usually has had enough traffic to follow use trails. BUT, this canyon may have flowed this summer and so may be entirely different now.
Staying at Longstreet is an interesting option, since the road to Beatty is closed. Let us know how it is. Many people here are Beatty regulars.
I agree largely with what DVExile says, especially about Dante's at sunrise, Badwater at sunset. And it's really fun being out on the salt as it gets dark. If there is a moon when you there.... real magic (best is at least 3 or 4 days after full, as it takes a while to rise above Dante's, and probably for the week or so after that). At Dante's, if you are not freezing, take a stroll on the use trail that runs north along the ridge from the parking lot. In terms of Badwater, the mountains to the west tower above you, so sunset is earlier than you might think by an hour or so!
Gower Gulch loop is good. It was one of the first places I ever went, but no one told me that a loop was possible, I just sort of discovered it, much fun. As you get down Gower to the end it looks like you might be stranded high (imagine me carrying a sleeping 3 yr old on my back) but the passage back down appears magically.
Agree that you might add stuff to Day 1. Another option which involves 0 extra driving is the old RR grade that runs from DV Junction to Ryan. There is a clear area to park on the south side just over the high point out of DV - people camp in there often. There's old road grades to the RR bed. Take the one on the right side of the ravine as the trestle up the ravine is out, leaving you stranded if you go up the left side. The RR grade starts to bend around to the left. There's some ruins there (marked on the topo). You can just follow the grade or take off around the ruins and head for the high point straight ahead. Either way you get some very nice views down into the valley. The nice thing here is that you can edit it in or not, depending on how much time you have on the way out.
Also agree with that Day 2 advice. You've got good advice there!
(2022-11-05, 06:31 PM)MojaveGeek Wrote: [ -> ]Staying at Longstreet is an interesting option, since the road to Beatty is closed. Let us know how it is. Many people here are Beatty regulars.
I had lunch once there in 1999. It was a pretty nice place. Large picture windows looking across a large pond, with the mountains as a backdrop. It was owned by Jim Marsh, owner of a Las Vegas car dealership, who also owns numerous other properties throughout the state. But that was then, I don’t know how much age and management has effected it.
(2022-11-05, 06:31 PM)MojaveGeek Wrote: [ -> ]In terms of Badwater, the mountains to the west tower above you, so sunset is earlier than you might think by an hour or so!
This is a really good point, and easy to over look! Locations on or near the valley floor have two periods of "best light" that can be separated by more than an hour because of the mountains. There is the last glancing direct sunlight (can be up to an hour before local sunset because the sun goes behind the mountains) and then there is twilight that is magical 15 to 30 minutes after actual local sunset. In between is what I'd call "blah mountain shadow light" that is boring as heck. You will see most folks pick a location for "sunset", which usually just means once the sun goes behind the Panamints, and once in shadow they pack it up and head to dinner thinking the show is over. It isn't, about 60 to 90 minutes later you'll get deep twilight which personally I find far more magical that last direct sunlight. For clarity, my suggestion for staying out at Badwater past sunset means past local sunset, not just sun behind the mountains.
Because of the large gap between when the sun dips behind the mountains and when twilight occurs it is often possible to visit two spots for "sunset"! Go to one sight to see the last rays of direct sun cast warmth and long shadows. After the sun dips behind the mountains drive some other place (usually within 30 minutes) during the "blah light" and get there in time to experience twilight at the new location.
NOTE: By "local sunset" I mean the time a sunrise/sunset app/website would tell you sunset is at. This is the time the sun drops below the zero degree horizon, not just behind obstructing mountains.
The salt sparkling by moonlight is unforgettable. Once walking the Greenwater Valley road in deep night, but with a bright moon overhead, I found a penny in the road. It's that bright!
Wow, thank you for all the helpful suggestions! I love how much knowledge there is about the park on this board! I will update when I get back.
(2022-11-06, 11:22 AM)midwesterngal Wrote: [ -> ]Wow, thank you for all the helpful suggestions! I love how much knowledge there is about the park on this board! I will update when I get back.
Welcome and please post a trip report and photos upon your return.
(2022-11-08, 07:59 PM)DeathValleyDazed Wrote: [ -> ] (2022-11-06, 11:22 AM)midwesterngal Wrote: [ -> ]Wow, thank you for all the helpful suggestions! I love how much knowledge there is about the park on this board! I will update when I get back.
Welcome and please post a trip report and photos upon your return.
Will do!
My apologies for the delayed update. My November trip now feels so long ago. I very much appreciated all the advice here. As far as I can remember, this is how things played out.
On day 1, I woke up well before dawn in Las Vegas and started driving to the park. Wow, seeing the mountains in the distance change color with the brightening of the sky was an experience in and of itself! They were interesting shades of lavender, lilac, and violet. I had breakfast at The Inn once I arrived, and then I went to Furnace Creek to see the exhibits. I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon driving Twenty Mule Team Canyon Road and hiking Mummy Canyon. I checked into Longstreet Inn afterwards.
On day 2, I woke up very early to drive to the parking lot of Dante's View well before sunrise. I saw the sun come up there, and it was truly an experience. Afterwards, I drove to Zabriskie Point to see the latter part of the morning, but by the time I arrived, it seemed like the most spectacular views had already diminished. It was still beautiful, though. Since I was on east coast time, I was already anticipating feeling sleepy early in the day, so I drove out to Badwater right afterwards instead of waiting for sunset to approach. I did a quick detour at Devil's Golf Course. At Badwater, I walked about 2 miles out to see the salt polygons and get away from the crowds, but again, the view was less than ideal because of the mid-day sun. On the way back, I did Artist's Drive.
On day 3, I did sunrise at Mesquite Sand Dunes, and it was gorgeous. The road to Beatty had just opened up right before my trip, so I took it out to Beatty and saw the Rhyolite ruins and sculptures. Then I had breakfast at Gema's Cafe. I drove back to Longstreet Inn, stopping at Big Dune on the way, which was an unplanned detour, but I saw the signs along the highway, so I said, "Why not?" Wow, it was a hidden gem.
On day 4, I checked out of the hotel and drove back to Las Vegas.
It was all great!