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.

My wife and I will be in Death Valley at the end of March. We will be in the park about mid afternoon (coming from LV), staying at Furnace Creek Ranch for an evening, then spending the entire next day in the park. We will have a regular car, no jeep or 4x4. Questions:

Good place to see the sunset?
Good place to see the sunrise?
Some of the can't miss sights?

We're in decent shape, can walk a couple miles if we need to, but we'd like to see the maximum we can in our time there.

Thanks for any input.

I have a few quick questions.

I am working on a film project and want to do some time lapses on my HD Camera in Death Valley and have 4-5 days there to get some footage and enjoy the beautiful landscape. I doubt I'll be able to get back to DV in the near future since my project calls for other places and locations in the future, so it's imperative that I maximize my trip and get all the goodie sights before leaving. Can anyone give me a 'must-see' list from best to not as great. The 5-10 must see places?

Zabirskie Point, Badwater (is it dry during this time of year), Dante's Devil's Golf Course...are what i have heard thus far.

Basically, I am looking for great surreal images to be intercut with a surrealist film, so I want to maximize my experience and images there. Quick question -- those beautiful looking sand dunes -- are there a number of different spots/dunes or is there one or two amazing, photogenic spots to see...that particular landscape is very appealing to me, and I still haven't heard THE place to go to yet - dune-wise.

Also, what about places to stay in the 100, around 100ish or less than 100...it's somewhat important if the lodging has food nearby and/or at the hotel, and most importantly, that the lodging is closest to the majority of scenic places which we are ultimately there to get -- so being close to those places proximity-wise is key. Furnace creek, Stovepipe...?

basically, any and all information to ensure a great experience visually, come home with amazing footage, and a big smile on my face to pacify my return to madness here in Los Angeles would be soooo great ;) -- I am most appreciative in advance for any and all help.

cheers and be well,
JC

I would like to get a death valley cap for my dad ,he has one from when he and his wife went. his wife has past away but he thinks a lot about there trips . his hat is getting old so i would like to get him another. do you know how i can get one

How would one plan a trip to Death Valley, particularly to retrace Charlie's living space with the family....any tips?

We are from the UK and flying into LV late Sat. Night in November and on the Monday setting off for 4/5 days visiting Grand Canyon/Monument Valley and looping round southwards on the return journey (maybe taking in Sedona, if we have time). However, the one day we have free is the first Sunday, when we would like to do a day trip to DV. We are renting a 4x4 and are thinking of taking the following route:

Route 95 to Beatty (fill up with gas, as recommended on this site :-)
Route 374 into the valley, which I believe is a nice scenic route in) forking left down the Daylight Pass Cutoff to Join Route 190.

We have decided against going to Scotty's Castle this time, as we feel it is too far north and will add too many miles to the trip (besides we are more into scenery than property/castles etc). What is so special about SC as I have noticed that everyone here recommends it?

We'll stop at Furnace Creek as I think, this is where the Visitors Centre is?

We'll then carry on down Route 178 and do a loop around Artists Drive, then literally carry on down 178 until we reach Shoshon and Pahrump, then back to LV on Route 160.

I'd be grateful for any views/advice anyone can offer as to if I've got anything wrong or if you can offer any better routes or stop off points along the way.

Many Thanks

Hi, We have a week's holiday booked in Vegas from 7th November and plan to hire a car to see Death Valley and as many points of interest as possible. We had hoped to see the Sequoia National Park as well, but on reading previous correspondence in the forum we realize this is totally impractical and could be impossible anyway with the weather at this time of year. We thought Ridgecrest might be a good location for our overnight stay, travelling back through Barstow and visiting Calico en route. Has got anyone got any 'really must see' ideas for us as the trip is a totally open book at the moment. All suggestions gratefully received!

Hi

We are planning a road trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas via Yosemite, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon in mid October. We will be driving from Furnace Creek to the Grand Canyon South Rim in a day. This looks like a long drive so any tips for the best, ie quickest and/or easiest, route would be good. We don't need to go via Las Vegas as we are going there after the Grand Canyon (looks stupid on the map but that's where we fly home from). Should we still go through Las Vegas or is there a better route?

Our other problem is that the Tioga Pass may be shut if there are early snows. We will be staying in Yosemite Valley on Thursday night and in Furnace Creek on Saturday and Sunday nights. Any ideas for an alternative route? Where would it be best to spend Friday night?

Thanks in advance for your help

MW

Hi!

We are looking at various day-tours that go to Death Valley. Does anyone have any recommendations? We only have a day to dedicate to the area (based out of Vegas), and thought that we would get more information on the area, and have the freedom to look around more if we had someone else do the driving. Originally, we wanted to go to the 'Racetrack', but don't see that it's a point normally visited.

Any guidance / recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

PS. We'll be in Vegas mid September, so some of the tours are not in operation due to the heat of the summer months.

Hi,

following a business trip to California I will take the opportunity to extend it for three weeks. I always wanted to see Death Valley NP and now I am not sure if it is a good idea to go there alone. Would not be according to the travel plans to get lost there and being boiled.... :)
Do you have any idea what is possible and how to do the most of the visit for someone alone?

Thanks!
Christian.

Is gas more expensive around Death Valley?
Are there a shortage of gas stations around there?

I'll be there next weekend and my only fear is my car running out of gas in the middle of nowhere.

What is the frequency of gas stations around the Death Valley region?

I will visit Sequoia next Apr and after that probably would drive south to Death Valley I'm considering this route based on the map:
drive in 99 south - 58 esst - 395 north - 190 East into death valley. Just wondering if this is possible in Winter around mid Apr and how long would be driving? Thx.

End of may we will drive from Las Vegas through Death Valley to Yosemite NP. We have two days for this trip and we re driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Our first plan was to drive :

Shoshone - Furnace Creek - Stovepipe Wells - Big Pine - Yosemite

But after reading about the Big Pine road / Death Valley Road we were thinking about driving :

Shoshone - Furnace Creek - Scottys Castle - Big Pine Road - Big Pine - Yosemite

We will sleep in a tent somewhere along the road. Does someone have experience driving the Big Pine road ? We know it s a dirt road ... Can somebody tell us more about it ?

Thanks in advance !

am planning a two night trip mid march with 2 adults & my 9 year old son - any sugestions on a good backpack trip that would not be too difficult

Can someone please suggest which are the places to see

going from Los Angeles to DV saturday morning

i am staying in Furnace Creek campgroud saturday night

Hi

was reading your comment on death valley trip
i am planning to go there on march 10th with a rental economy car

do u think its ok to drive with Chevy aveo

I will be in Vegas in May. I will be renting a motorcycle on the 18th & 19th, and would like to take one of those days and do a quick tour of the park. Will the weather (heat) be OK at that time of the year? I plan to take the following route: 95 out of Vegas to NV 373, south to CA 127 to 190, at Death Valley Junction. Then, 190 W as far as Stovepipe Wells, then back to 178 to see Zabriskie Point, Devil's Golfcourse and Badwater Basin. Then I'll go back up 178 to 190 and head back to Dante's View, hopefully to watch the sunset, then back to Vegas. I'll be on a Honda Goldwing, so the distances don't bother me, but can all of this be done in a day? I'll be traveling alone, so I'll only be stopping for fuel, food and drinks, pics and a souvenir or two. Thanks.

i will be travelling through DV on HW 190, can anyone tell me what is the distance on this road entering an dleaving DV or can you tell how long does it takes to drive through

I am staying in Las Vagas for 4 days and was thinking of driving to Badwater for a day trip.
Will a Ford Taurus be OK or will I need a 4wd?

is camping in Death valley a problem at Furance Camp Ground in Early May for 1 night?

Hi We are planning to travel from San Diego to Death Valley on about 27th december 2006 yes 2006/7 would we manage the journey in one day or should we stop on route ie: barstow? we then plan to stay over night furnace creek and visit interesting places then travel to las vegas in evening for our new year stay

how long would it take from DV to LV - and how far from LV is Hoover Dam?

also what would the weather on average be like in december and would the roads be good

appreciate your replies from london uk

Hi,

Me and my boyfriend will be making a day trip to Death Valley from Las Vegas on Feb 21.

I am interested in seeing the highlights like Dante's view, Zabriskie point, artist's palette, salt formations, maybe sand dunes if we have time. Going to skip Scotty's castle - too far away.

What is a good short way into these areas from vegas. Won't have an suv - just some economy rental.

What is realistically possible to see in a day. Any suggestions for what we should do?

Thanks.

will be in dv for 5 days in the spring looking for things to do .i will be driving an suv so dirt roads are on problem thanks

We are planning to go there this weekend, but someone told us that one day is enough for the park. We are travelling with a baby, so we are not masters of our time... Are 3 days too much for Death Valley National Park?

Hi,

I'm going to visit Sequoia National Park on January/February. I need to know two things:
How long is the day - I mean at what time is dark ?
What is the weather there ? Is it snow on the road ? because I'll must to drive many miles in a day.

I'll be greatefull for answers.
tkisiel

Does anyone know of a long-term rental option in or around Death Valley? I'm looking to rent a cabin, trailer, mobile home, or house. At the very minimum I need running water. Electricity and flush toilet would be an added bonus. :)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone know of a long-term rental option in or around Death Valley? I'm looking to rent a cabin, trailer, mobile home, or house. At the very minimum I need running water. Electricity and flush toilet would be an added bonus. :)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

We'll be staying for 2 days in Death Valley Np this summer and we'd like to see the race track. We've seen some photos on the net: it's a remote place where stones are said to move by themselves very slowly leaving a trace in the sand. We'd really likee to get there to take some pictures but it's hard to know how long it takes from Stovepipe Wells (where our hotel is) and if the road is really bad ( we've read so on the net....) So if anyone of you has ever been there, thanks for sharing information!
Tigerlily

I know DV only gets about 1.9 inches of rain a year, but what i'm curious about is when does that rain come? what i am remembering is the sonoran desert in arizona, where the monsoon hits hard in Aug-Sept and it pours buckets every day for a few weeks. i know DV doesnt have the same ecosystem, but does it also experience anything like a 'monsoon'? (if less than 2 inches of rain could possibly qualify). thanks everybody!

firstly, does anybody think that the thro' road from vegas to lone pine will be open before next weekend.furness creek have cancelled all reservations until sept 1 st.
if the 190 is closed we are now considering driving towards la and having a look at anaheim disnet etc.
thus cancelling our stays at lone pine and yosemite,and maybe visiting there later 3rd 4th sept.

come on locals give us some advice we are struggling what shall we do.

deepest sympathy to the families of the couple who were killed in the floods.

finally all the best to the workers in the area who are trying to restore normality to this unique part of the world