overland

Death Valley Conditions?

kevinkem-3607

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After my first visit to death valley in March of 2022, I started planning a return trip. I had hopes of doing the Racetrack and Lippencott Road. With the recent storms, there was extensive damage to the roads a few months ago. The Death Valley NP website showed those roads (racetrack and lippencott) in red on their map indicating they are closed. I looked again today, and now they are yellow. They are basically saying that 4WD is required and travel is not recommended. It's all pretty vague though. I'm currently traveling in a stock 2 door JL wrangler with an adventure trailer. It would be pretty disappointing to drive all the way from my home in Utah to find those roads impassible. However, I'm not naive, sometimes that's just how it goes and you may have to make an alternate plan. But I'd like to have a reasonable level of confidence that those roads are passible. I have plenty of 4wd experience, I've been driving Jeeps etc. for 50 years. If anyone has been there recently, or plans to go real soon, I'd love to hear how it went for you.

Kevin
 

OTG Ben

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Hey Kevin,

The best place to check is the DV NP Road Conditions Page. Scroll down until you see the interactive map:

https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

It looks like the Racetrack and Lippincott are now open, but Titus Canyon, Steele Pass/Dedeckera Canyon, and the North Pass remain closed (but you can come in from Big Pine via 168).
 

kevinkem-3607

Trail Grom
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Hey Kevin,

The best place to check is the DV NP Road Conditions Page. Scroll down until you see the interactive map:

https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

It looks like the Racetrack and Lippincott are now open, but Titus Canyon, Steele Pass/Dedeckera Canyon, and the North Pass remain closed (but you can come in from Big Pine via 168).
Thanks Ben, That's the first place I looked, but it's a bit vague. The yellow colored roads are open, but at the same time they say travel is not recommended. That's not very helpful. I guess I should just call and talk to someone there. My experience this national parks though is they are non-committal. I thought I'd try here in case someone had been there recently.
 

OTG Ben

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Thanks Ben, That's the first place I looked, but it's a bit vague. The yellow colored roads are open, but at the same time they say travel is not recommended. That's not very helpful. I guess I should just call and talk to someone there. My experience this national parks though is they are non-committal. I thought I'd try here in case someone had been there recently.

I've seen folks posting to social media going thru Lippincott and out to Chloride City (sounds like it's pretty rough out there), and then some folks going places are are currently closed, like Steele Pass (please respect the current closures). If you find anything useful from DVNP, please post it here. My rec would be to carry as much extra fuel with as you can, hope for the best, but be prepared to turn around if need be. Also lots of snow up in the mountains, so the passes could be closed right now as well.
 

kevinkem-3607

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Sounds like it would be worth holding off and doing a trip around Thanksgiving, the roads should be in better shape by then. I have enough adventures coming up soon that I can hold off for a while going for Death Valley. My wife and I are going to do some canoeing in Florida in early April, then shortly after getting back, we are doing an overnight trip in Canyonlands on the White Rim Trail.

Thanks Ben for you input.
 

OTG Ben

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Sounds like it would be worth holding off and doing a trip around Thanksgiving, the roads should be in better shape by then. I have enough adventures coming up soon that I can hold off for a while going for Death Valley. My wife and I are going to do some canoeing in Florida in early April, then shortly after getting back, we are doing an overnight trip in Canyonlands on the White Rim Trail.

Thanks Ben for you input.
|Awesome! Don't forget to try and get your permit for the White Rim well in advance. Seems like it's getting harder and harder to get the backcountry camping permits, but there's a ton of other great places to explore in Canyonlands.
 

kevinkem-3607

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Yep, I've had the permit for a while now. The White Rim permit is especially hard to get these days. BTW, in 2006, I visited all 3 sections of Canyonlands. It was a phenomenal trip. Back then, getting a permit was no problem.
 
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