Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

@81Trekker The road conditions report and generous resupply of those stranded at the springs are much appreciated, however your group made quite the impression on some campers there - below are quotes from a few reports posted to the SPA forum after your visit.

While I realize backcountry travel is made "easier" by running fast over washboard - the off-road speed limit in Death Valley National Park is 25 mph. High speeds can cause severe erosion, environmental damage and is dangerous to the driver and pedestrian alike.

The Saline Valley community asks all visitors to respect the natural resources of the area as well as the diverse user groups that frequently travel there.
Thank you for your understanding


"The vibe and the attitude that group brought to Saline Valley showed a lack of respect for the valley community and the area."

"We figured they must’ve been doing 60 miles an hour when they came into camp on the bat rock Road. And we’re continuing to pick up beer cans that they left behind as they [chucked] out the windows on their way back out. It’s no doubt they damage their vehicles given the speed that they were hitting coming down the road."

 

I led our group in and out of the springs, we are well aware of the rules and weren’t going faster than 25mph. No one in our group was “chucking” beer cans out the windows and endangering others safety. I had multiple, nice conversations with folks camped there and not one person had anything negative to say, contrary to what you posted above. I understand our vehicles can be deemed as offensive because they are big, loud and intimidating but that doesn’t warrant flat out lies about our behavior.

Thank you for your understanding and welcome to Tacoma world

 

Just relaying what I'm hearing from regulars who were camped at the springs at the time. Thanks for the welcome - long time lurker, first time poster

 

Even 25mph in the area of the springs is too fast. Dependent on conditions the road through the springs is like talc and can be raised even at speeds slower than 25.

 

^^^This^^^
Lots of places to rip through the deserts of CA...DVNP...especially the springs, isn't one of them.

 

Slight derail of thread. Was anybody from here up in the Barker ranch area back in early October? Possibly remember seeing a new dark blue ford ranger with a single occupant?

My brother-in-laws vehicle was found near Barker ranch along Goler wash road, no brother-in-law.

 

Free bump.

You’re implying brother in law is missing?

 

Have you asked Diesel Brothers to look

 

@Microtus
We were in that area a month ago passing through and I hiked around a bit at barker and some mines in the area. I saw some signs regarding a missing person and a F150 iirc that had been recovered and identified as belonged to the missing gentleman. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary or signs of someone lost while I was hiking though

 

You know the rules/regs? Apparently not the one about group size.

"Group size is limited to 12 people and no more than 4 vehicles. Larger groups must split up and camp at least 1/2 mile apart."

For reference:
https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/backcamp.htm

 

Thank you for sharing, and good luck.

 

Thats correct. He and my sister have spent years hiking and camping in the desert. He went on a unannounced solo trip but in hindsight looks like possible mental/dementia issues may have played a role.

No idea who that is.

Thanks for the feedback, quite possible the same missing person. My sister and some friends went back recently and did another search but basically paralleled the road and didn't venture into any mines, canyons or vantage points/peaks. I suggested a drone, but evidently it is a no-drone area due to military flights.

 

Kind of ironic that your profile mocks California for being communist yet here you are trying to tell me what to do multiple times over.

And for the record we never spent a single night in the park but thank you for your concern.

 

That's awful. NPS was made aware of his identity? Good luck.

 

As I’m sure you are aware, OHV isn’t something people are terribly fond of to begin with and most of us here would like to maintain our access, such as it is, to the park.

 

I totally understand and the last thing ANY of us wants is for these places to be shut down.

And to be honest I’m not terribly fond of a bunch of grown men with no pants on acting like they own a portion of the park.

 

I am confused (not really but) Who is creating the biggest impact on a fragile environment? The individual traveling thru or the one that is setting up camp and staying for a while.

 

That would entirely depend on how one does it of course. I’ve seen people be incredibly destructive without camping, and of course seen very destructive camps as well.

As an aside, one of the proposals for Saline was to close Bat Rock/Steel entirely with only foot access to the springs from Saline Valley Road. Fortunately the NPS didn’t bother to seriously consider that one…

 

Wow. Extremely envious of your trip. Those are some awesome pics!

 

If you only knew what many of those nutty guys have done to preserve what is there.

If you realized the time, effort, money and history of those people, you may look at them as they as important as Ivan Stewart, Mickey Thompson and Malcom Smith combined. ...pants or no pants.