Death Valley National Park Travel Forum

Would like suggestions for travel(July 2008)by car from Las Vegas to Death Valley to Los Angeles. Hotel recommendation appreciated.

Not to be rude, but my suggestion would be to fly, and avoid Death Valley in July. Gary

I have to agree with Gary! Don't go to Death Valley in July or August - there is a reason it's called Death Valley. Even Vegas is quite hot during those summer months but at the the casinos/hotels have great air-conditioning!

It will be hot, but beautiful, as long as you carry lots of water and stay in your air-conditioned car during the heat of the day. I prefer the park lodge in Stovepipe Wells to Furnace Creek, in Death Valley.

Ronnie, Where are you from and why are you taking a desert vacation in the summer? I respectfully disagree with the other two responses you've gotten so far: if you like the desert and heat and have a car with really good air conditioning, Death Valley won't be any (relatively) hotter than LV. You can certainly get from LV through the Valley in one day--especially if you leave very early in the a.m. Since DV isn't exactly on the route to LA, you will have to go out of your way whether you go through the Valley (my recommendation) or backtrack then go south to the Mojave Desert. If I were doing it - which I have a number of times - I'd go on through and stay at Lone Pine on Highway 395. It's at the foot of Mt. Whitney (http://www.lonepinechamber.org/)and quite the change from DV. Just pack the car with lots of water and whatever you think you might need to survive temperatures up to 132F.

The desert is an awesome place no matter the time of the year. Yes, it is hot but as long as you are prepared it is a great place to explore. How many days do you want to spend on your route?

I have driven most of the route on my motorcycle (not in July, but April) and drive to LV to visit our son several times.

If it were me I would take Hwy 160 to Pahrump then 372/178/127/190/136 to Lone Pine and spend the night. These are well traveled routes with some cel service.

Then from Lone Pine take Hwy 395 south toward LA. Depending on where in LA you want to end up you can split off on Hwy 14 over to I-5 (best for central and north LA area) or stay on 395 to the 15 and 215 for eastern LA and Orange County.

You will probably find great prices at the few places within the DV park.

Yes it is very hot in DV in July but that isn't a reason to avoid it unless you hate the heat. Remember when you hear about extremely high temperatures it is in the valley itself and not in the mountains which are also part of the park. So see all the sights in the valley but if you need escape and want to remain outdoors go up.
You could stay in Beatty, NV if you feel the accomodations in the park are too expensive. I've stayed at the Stagecoach Hotel and Casino twice and its reasonable and clean. I've also stayed at the Longstreet Inn and Casino in Amargosa, NV a few times and it is also reasonable and clean but definitely in the middle of nowhere.

We stayed in Beatty when we did the motorcycle ride and the Stage Coach was the best thing in town. There is a fun bar just down the street called the Sour Dough that has some interesting stuff hanging on the walls. However, don't just show up in Beatty and expect to find a room. During the summer Beatty is ground central for the high temp testing of new automotive designs and can book up for blocks of weeks with car people.

We stayed in Death Valley just a week ago and we had 88°F at noon in Badwater . This was already hot to me. I have some idea of what the temperatures will be in July and August. I heard that in Summer, to reach some higher points in Death Valley, it's recommended to switch off the airco in the car... (overheating)
I'm not sure you'll manage to walk over the salt lake by 122°F. At the other hand, if this visit is once in a lifetime... why not?
Furnace Creek Ranch or Inn are the only 2 hotels in Death Valley. We stayed at the Ranch and were very satisfied. Have a nice trip!

I hear that urban myth all the time about turning off the AC. Most new model vehicles have an extra fan for extra cooling when the AC is on. So when you turn off the AC it shuts down the extra radiator fan. Best thing is to keep an eye on the temp guage and if it starts to climb then turn off the AC and see what it does. If it keeps climbing into the red zone you need to pull over and let it cool off. Don't open the radiator cap only add water to the plastic fill bucket.