Death Valley

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Have you done it?

Do you have suggestions, hints, must see list??

And, of course, where did you stay?

Thanks in advance.

[Debbie Asher]

John and I just got back home from Death Valley. We camped at Stovepipe Wells full hook up water, sewer and electric $32.00 a night if you have a federal old age pass half price. You can also dry camp there not sure what the cost is. Also they have a pool, Stovepipe Wells is a lot farther out then Furnance Creek. Furnance creek has dry camping as well as hook ups but they don't have Electric on their sites yet, can use generators but limited on time you can use them. We rented a jeep at Furnance Creek and went through Titus Canyon and then we were going to go to Racetrack which is were the rocks move by themselves. They tell people if you take you own vehicle to make sure you have a lot of spare tires because the rocks cut though the sidewalls easy. This is why we rented the jeep figured let their tires get cut up. There is alot to see at death valley, we spent a week there did the sites and went swimming and rested.

[catskiner]

scottys castle and the tour is worth it.

[rollie41]

The China date ranch is a must also.

[H. John Kohl]

Thanks Carol for the question. I am in a parallel path with you and Al.
A question for those that have been there ref roads. Can I tow the Montana on SR 190. I would be coming from Las Vegas and then on to Coarsegold, CA stopping at Death Valley.

[madeforeachother]

My wife and I left Pahrump/Terribles RV Park in 2004 and next stop was Lone Pine,Ca. via 190. We did get warned by signs saying "not reccomended for big rigs ",but we were daring and will never do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!. The road started out with nice scenery and vast visability with spots like Furnace Creak and Zubriski's point to stop at, but then changed big time. The incline was long and steady for a long time and my '03 Dodge Ram 2500 w/cummins was getting 2.4 miles per gallon pulling our '04 3670rl. The switchbacks were numerous but managable as my wife was not looking out her window that had 1000's of feet dropoffs with no guardrails. The elevation signs reminded us per 1000 feet of the some 8000 feet we had to climb. We made it to the crest of the mountain chain only to realize now we had to go down from 8000+ feet to below sea level into Death Valley. Downshifting to 1st gear and standing on the brake pedal, we made it down the mountain much to our relief that we would never put ourselves through that kind of situation again. Little did we know! Driving now through Death Valley, I look west and see another mountain chain with 8000ft. or more to climb over again and worst- going down again. While driving up and around the switchbacks we noticed the expressions on the faces of the people heading eastbound as if to say, "What a couple of irresponsible knuckelheads taking this road". They were 100% correct. We reached the crest and headed down again towards Lone Pine only to have my front brakes start smoking about half way down. I pulled over to a pullover on the opposite side of the road because none was available on our side to take a break and let the brakes cool down.We made it down and were very elated to be alive,in one piece, and our equipment intact, however I did have the brakes checked out a few days later by a Dodge Dealer and all was well. While in San Francisco I found a book that explained all the conditions for traveled roads in the Western USA. and had I known that such a book existed we would have been saved a lot of grief. A book is also made for Eastern USA. A final note- when we arrived at Lone Pine RV Park their satelite cable was inoperative so we loaded a video and watched "A LONG LONG TRAILER " with Lucy and Desi. It was so like our trip through Death Valley and we laughed so much reflecting back on our "nothing like it experience". I hope our testimonial to your question helps you make a wise choice, but if you want to live dangerously- GO FOR IT AND TELL YOUR GRANDKIDS ABOUT YOUR TRIP UP AND DOWN DEATH VALLEY. Ours love to hear the story backed up with the pictures we took.

[Trailer Trash 2]

quote:Originally posted by madeforeachother

My wife and I left Pahrump/Terribles RV Park in 2004 and next stop was Lone Pine,Ca. via 190. We did get warned by signs saying "not reccomended for big rigs ",but we were daring and will never do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!. The road started out with nice scenery and vast visability with spots like Furnace Creak and Zubriski's point to stop at, but then changed big time. The incline was long and steady for a long time and my '03 Dodge Ram 2500 w/cummins was getting 2.4 miles per gallon pulling our '04 3670rl. The switchbacks were numerous but managable as my wife was not looking out her window that had 1000's of feet dropoffs with no guardrails. The elevation signs reminded us per 1000 feet of the some 8000 feet we had to climb. We made it to the crest of the mountain chain only to realize now we had to go down from 8000+ feet to below sea level into Death Valley. Downshifting to 1st gear and standing on the brake pedal, we made it down the mountain much to our relief that we would never put ourselves through that kind of situation again. Little did we know! Driving now through Death Valley, I look west and see another mountain chain with 8000ft. or more to climb over again and worst- going down again. While driving up and around the switchbacks we noticed the expressions on the faces of the people heading eastbound as if to say, "What a couple of irresponsible knuckelheads taking this road". They were 100% correct. We reached the crest and headed down again towards Lone Pine only to have my front brakes start smoking about half way down. I pulled over to a pullover on the opposite side of the road because none was available on our side to take a break and let the brakes cool down.We made it down and were very elated to be alive,in one piece, and our equipment intact, however I did have the brakes checked out a few days later by a Dodge Dealer and all was well. While in San Francisco I found a book that explained all the conditions for traveled roads in the Western USA. and had I known that such a book existed we would have been saved a lot of grief. A book is also made for Eastern USA. A final note- when we arrived at Lone Pine RV Park their satelite cable was inoperative so we loaded a video and watched "A LONG LONG TRAILER " with Lucy and Desi. It was so like our trip through Death Valley and we laughed so much reflecting back on our "nothing like it experience". I hope our testimonial to your question helps you make a wise choice, but if you want to live dangerously- GO FOR IT AND TELL YOUR GRANDKIDS ABOUT YOUR TRIP UP AND DOWN DEATH VALLEY. Ours love to hear the story backed up with the pictures we took.

2.4 MPG????? wow you have to have something wrong in your numbers, or its time to start looking for a different TV.

[Sierra 117]

There is nothing wrong with madeforeachother's mileage if they were using instantaneous mileage. I often see mileage in the two range climbing grades, but I also see better than 1000 miles per gallon in the descent. It all averages out.

[Trailer Trash 2]

sierra117. the milage gage on the dodge is an estimated average only, and is not a accurate way to read milage. on my 09 it gets close, but I never realy on any accuracy from it. (miles devided by gals used is accurate)

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

H. John Kohl, Pretty sure you have found this already, but, in the far off chance you have not:

Roads in Death Valley.

[DonandJudy_12]

We stayed at Bailey's Hot Springs cg just north of Beatty, Nv.- It is on U.S.#95 which is a pretty good road for towing- Use of the natural hot springs was included in our camp fee- We took full advantage of the hot springs- It worked wonders on our tired bodies-It is an old cg with limited fhu but has some additional sites with w/e- Scotty's Castle is a must see as well as the ruins of the boraxo mining sites- The sand dunes in Death Valley are also a must see- We spent several days in the area- Beatty has a pretty good museum of local artifacts and a small grocery- Wildlife such as coyotes are frequent visiters in Death Valley- Free rv parking was available at a casino in Hawthorne, Nv. as well- Diesel fuel was available at several towns, but we topped off at regular intervals because we were unsure of the availability in this sparsely settled area- JMHO- Don