FJ Cruisers of Northern California

Death Valley Trip

This will be the first of many trips to death valley with my FJ! So excited. My family and I head to death valley every year for thanksgiving its always a blast! If anyone else is going to be out there from the 22nd to the 27th hit me up!

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Permalink Reply by Overlander36 on November 14, 2011 at 8:20pm

Hey Hannah,
My son (15 yo) and I are just planning a trip to DV over his Christmas vacation - probably the first week of January. This will be our first trip to DV and I would sure love to hear of any recommendations or must see locations that you know of. We are looking at one day there and one day back plus three days in DV. Is this enough time and will we be able to see a substantial amount of the sites? I know this is not in keeping with your original post, but it's important that this trip is fun for my son ((DV was his idea) so any help you can give me would be great. We were originally planing to go over thanksgiving, but its not going to fit the schedule.
Thanks - Jens

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Permalink Reply by Hannah Fortney on November 14, 2011 at 8:34pm

Three days there will give you time to see the best stuff. We usually spend 4 days there and one day traveling there and one day traveling back. My suggestions for must see sites are Bad Water which is the lowest point in the united states its really cool its a salt flat that you walk out on and the salt forms cool crystals. There is furnace creek which has a visitor center they do a lot of cool guided hikes and photography classes and things like they. There are a ton of short hikes all with in I would say 20 minutes of Furnace creek. Artist Pallet is a cool drive through one which is very colorful. There is the sand dunes of course which are always a blast to walk through. Scotty's Castle is a fun one i would almost suggest a full day to see that and to get on a tour of the house. It takes a while to drive out to it but its really pretty and kind of a strange find for such a harsh environment. I would definitely suggest hitting the visitor center and getting their map which has all the hikes and off road trails. The parks website has the map as well so you can kind of plan from their. If you like the desert the whole place is a blast to see! If you want more info just let me know I've been going out there for the last 18 years so I know the park pretty well.

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Permalink Reply by Overlander36 on November 14, 2011 at 8:59pm

So far I think we are going to base somewhere near Furnace Creek then try to hit Titus canyon, Scotty's Castle and the race track to the North, and Bad Water and other points to the South. Do you guys camp or where do you stay. We are planing on bringing our small camping trailer - probably camping some where in an undeveloped camp site or something of that sort ( could also be developed though we prefer more remote - any suggestions?

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Permalink Reply by Hannah Fortney on November 14, 2011 at 9:08pm

there are three campgrounds at Furnace creek. Texas Springs which is protected from the wind (be prepared there will be one day that is just windy as hell that's always been our experience) they allow fires but no generators. Then there is Sunset I believe is the name which is basically half paved half dirt parking lot they allow generators but no fires. Then there is furnace creek campground which allows everything there are no hook ups at any of the campgrounds. They all have water, bathrooms, and dump stations but that's about it. We always stay at furnace creek campground, we go in a big group of travel trailers and motor homes and tents and its the nicest campground for what we like. You can ride bikes into the little town and there is a pool with showers that you can use, and a little general store.

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Permalink Reply by Overlander36 on November 14, 2011 at 9:23pm

Thanks for the info - I will probably have more questions as I put my plan together - you've already been a great help, and thanks for the warning about the wind, that's great insider information that I probably would have overlooked.

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Permalink Reply by Hannah Fortney on November 14, 2011 at 9:26pm

No problem just let me know if you need more information!

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Permalink Reply by Dominator! on November 16, 2011 at 8:21pm

This a stupid question, but I'm going to ask anyway. I've never camped in the desert. My friends says bring a rake to clean the ground for scorpions. Is this true? Also, I have a dog. Should I be worried about bringing her? Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Hannah Fortney on November 16, 2011 at 8:49pm

I think it might depend on where you are going to be camping. We go camping in death valley every year and Ive never seen a scorpion out there and we bring dogs with us. We usually have to worry about the coyotes but you just need to keep and eye on your dog with that. I from eye high desert and we get scorpions every once in a while but they have never really been a problem. I dont know if that helped you out or not.