2023-02-08, 11:59 PM
(2023-02-08, 09:40 AM)DAW89446 Wrote: Eureka Valley, past the sand dunes campground, are numerous areas a 2WD can park a few yards off the road and set up camp on the east side of the dune field. A friend of mine with a 2WD Toyota Highlander did it about 20 years ago without traction or clearance issues. The road is two track and may have a high enough center to snag a sedan, but soft enough to be plowed by the car’s underbelly. Drive as far as you feel comfortable, the road gets sandier as you progress. The campground at the end of the bladed road is also among the least used.
Mesquite Spring below Scotty’s Castle is also among the less crowded improved camp sites that aren’t of the dirt parking lot style of those in the Furnace Creek / Stovepipe Wells area.
Oriental Wash, in the northern part of the park, leaves the park and the state. Esmeralda County, NV routinely blades the road freeway smooth starting in late March and early April, the CA side gets less love. Several scenic ghost towns, however the elevations here will be prohibitive in March due to snow.
Off of CA168 between Big Pine and Oasis and as you approach Oasis, North Eureka Valley Road heads south and t-bones into the Big Pine-Death Valley Road near the South Eureka Valley Road (to the sand dunes) junction. It gets annual maintenance but is often washed out at the confluence of Cucomungo Canyon. However, the first few miles in from CA168 travel through Joshua trees with piñon pine on the hillsides. The elevation is +/- 5,000 feet, so might be nippy. A few miles in there is a mill site with a nice, large and flat terrace with nice views east and up north through the Fish Lake Valley, that might make a nice camp.
There is another byway off of the North Eureka Valley road that is cherry stemmed through wilderness area that returns to the Big Pine-Death Valley Road at the end of the pavement on the west side of the valley, which my buddy traversed in his 2WD Highlander without issue (though I was guiding him in my 4x4 Tacoma), which has some scenic places. That byway is little known and seldom used. It is two-track all the way but firm with a few brief, shallow, wet weather water crossings and a mile long hard packed sandy stretch at the end.
You can also take North Eureka Valley Road north out of Eureka Valley as well. It’s signed and graded annually. Depending on the storms this winter, you might be able to travel its length to Oasis in Fish Lake Valley.
The afore mentioned Greenwater Valley road area is also nice. But your elevation, especially along the northern end, is well above 4,000 feet, so nights and mornings will be brisk.
I don’t keep a close eye on the road conditions any more since I don’t live in the area like I once did, so don’t know how well they’ve fared in the flash floods, winter storms since, and how much the park has repaired and improved them.
Thanks so much for your suggestions!
Eureka Valley and Dunes seem pretty far from pavement --- also at the moment, it appears that the entire, paved road from the park center, to Scotty's Castle, is closed. So I don't see that it is very doable to go to the north part of the park if I want to spend time in the middle and south, as it would require a big detour....however, I would like to visit this area in the future when road conditions are better. I haven't been in that part of the park much at all.
Mesquite Springs camp does look attractive but as the road to it is closed I'll have to wait for another visit to go there.
I don't mind brisk weather, actually prefer cold to heat, so Greenwater Valley Rd sounds suitable.