Active travel in Death Valley is easy – if you have time to kill. But if you don’t want to spend half your time driving, a little planning ahead will save you hours – especially if you’ve never been to Death Valley before. Read on for ideas on setting up camping base, hiking in Death Valley, exploring historical sites and what to do when the weather doesn’t cooperate with your plans!
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Fun & Active Travel in Death Valley
Leaving Boulder Beach and Lake Mead Recreation Area behind, we headed west to explore death… er… Death Valley. The names are ominous in this neck of the woods. Desolation Canyon. Badlands Loop. Dantes View. Furnace Creek. Badwater Basin.
Why would anyone want to visit this hellish hole in the ground? While these names make total sense in the heat of summer, it’s a different story for other seasons. In winter and early spring active travel in Death Valley National Park is more feasible with a much cooler outdoor playground waiting to be explored.
Hiking Golden/Gower Loop with the Crowds
Why hike with the crowds? Because this loop is a series of geological wonders – and a must-see even if you only have time for just one day hike in the park.
We reached the Golden Canyon trailhead at 11 a.m. after a slow morning start. The parking lot was almost full. We took one of the last parking spots. You have the option of hiking up Golden Canyon and across to come down Gower Gulch, or vice versa.
We chose to hike the loop in a counterclockwise direction going up Gower Gulch and crossing over to come down Golden Canyon, thus getting the open segment paralleling the highway over at the start of our hike.
The camera came out as soon as we entered Gower Gulch. Shades of beige, brown, lilac, gold, blueish green, and red were found in various configurations in the rocks. Desert holly dotted the canyon wash. We passed 10 people coming opposite direction before climbing up through the top of the Badlands, over beneath Manly Beacon – named for early pioneer William Lewis Manly – and down to Golden Canyon.
If you’ve still lots of energy, take the spur trail up to Red Cathedral. Every spectacular vista is different than the one before – and this is no exception. The narrow canyon is also just plain fun to wander through! Total distance – including Red Cathedral – was 6.7 mi (10.8 km).
Active Travel Adventure to Death Valley’s Mining Past
Keen… umm… Keane Wonder Mine adventure, anyone?
This historic gem at the foot of the Funeral Mountains was nicknamed “King of the Desert” in 1911. In just 13 years – from 1904 to 1913 – Keane Wonder Mine produced over a million dollars in gold. When Jack Keane and Domingo Etcharren cashed in on their discovery and sold their shares in 1907, production ramped up even more. A 20-stamp processing mill, housing, ice plan and mile-long tramway were built.
Hiking Keane Wonder Mine
Today the ruins are among some of the best-preserved within Death Valley National Park. We explored the remains of the mill briefly, but our goal was the steep 1.8 mi (3 km) hike up to the mine.
Following rusting air pipe that snakes up the mountainside beside the “road”, we hiked beside and under the tram, stepping over multiple pieces of broken cables. A few ore cars were still attached, hanging forlornly in the distance. Another mine shaft with wooden door partially open begged a quick detour.
As we approached the top of the tram, we could see a slash of rust on the hillside. Binos out – we took a closer look. Cans – thousands of rusting cans sliding down the hillside. It was an open-air dump site where workers tossed containers and went back to work inside the mine!
We climbed up to the mine – now fenced off for safety – and kept hiking past on the “road” that snakes around and up to the top of the mountain before heading off towards Big Bell Mine and Chloride. Options for exploration are endless. In all we climbed about 2,100 ft (650 m) in elevation and spent 5 hours wandering through remains of the past. Next time we’ll get an earlier start and go all the way to Big Bell!
To get to Keane Wonder Mine located near the north end of the Funeral Mountains, drive northeast on Highway 374 about 5.5 mi (9 km) from Hwy 190 junction. Turn south (right) onto the gravel Keane Road and follow if for 2.7 mi (4.4 km) to the parking area.
Rainy Day Adventures in Death Valley
Rain? In Death Valley? As luck would have it, there were a couple of big storm events that passed through the area the week before and while we were visiting. Several roads were still closed from storm damage.
We opted to take a leisurely day starting with the Visitor Centre before heading to the Borax Mine site. After a walk through the outdoor exhibits and reading all the interpretive signs, we followed a faint path out into salt plain, around hills and scrambled up on top. Follow the undulating rocky hill we spotted the rusting frame of Model T out in the distance.
Hiking down to explore, we wonder aloud. Why was it abandoned here? Look in wash ahead. Are those tin cans flowing down hillside like we saw at the mine yesterday? Yes. It’s a dump site. Cool car relic… but the rest is trash. Historic… but still garbage.
Take in an Interpretive Talk!
Walking back over the hills on a beaten path and down to interpretive site we spy a ranger in dark green uniform with plastic cover over her hat. The interpretive talk is just underway.
Ranger Anne had us all thinking about how short periods of time can have such a major impact on our lives or even shape history. Think of the pandemic. The short period of time that Harmony Borax mine operated had a major impact on the history of Death Valley as well.
Coleman and Smith were competitors. Coleman sent an employee to scope out the Death Valley area. He ran out of water and came across homesteaders Aaron and Betsy Winters. They gave him water and food. Over dinner he told them all about his quest for borax. He couldn’t find it, but he did mention that when you burn it, borax turns green.
The Winters knew where there was a lot of white surface salts. They burned a bit. It was green. They sent a letter to Coleman. “For $20,000 – that’s $600,000 today! – we’ll tell you where it is. Coleman said yes. Then Coleman sent an olive branch to his competitor Smith.
“I have expertise, you have the equipment. Let’s work in harmony.”
And Harmony Borax works was established.
Harmony Borax Works By the Numbers
- 3000 gal dissolving tanks
- 8 2000 gal settling tanks
- 57 1800 crystallization tanks
- 30 employees (20 of whom were Chinese)
- 20 mule team (actually 18 mules and 2 horses)
- 17000 lbs weight of wagon train when empty
- 7-foot tall back wheels
- 3 week round trip to deliver borax and return with food, equipment and alchohol
The Borax Museum and The Death Valley Ranch
With the clouds still sprinkling, we headed over to The Death Valley Ranch. Inside the compound is the Borax Museum. Although the building exhibits were closed, we picked up the one-page guide from the box near the door and toured the outdoors artifacts.
We strolled through the General Store/Gift Shop before heading to the pub for pizza and a beer in the rustic, western-themed pub. Perfect way to end a rainy day!
Another Happy Hike Off the Beaten Track
Can funerals be happy? Not normally but hiking up from our campsite to the hidden recesses of the Funeral Mountain was definitely a joy.
Reading through the new hiking book (see pic below) we bought at the Visitor Centre on our rainy day, I found a hike right from camp up the wash to Funeral Slot Canyon. To quote the author of Hiking Death Valley, “the canyon holds what are quite possibly the longest, tightest, and most exciting narrows in all of Death Valley.”
There are colours and shapes, hoodoos and falls and geological wonders of almost every description on this spectacular treasure hunt.
That being said, it is still a hunt for the right route as this is not an official trail. In fact, after we left the horse path, there was no trail. If you’re up for a bigger adventure, buy the book, take a good topo map and compass and set out!
The mouth of the canyon is just over 2 miles ( km) from Texas Spring Campground. We wandered about 2.2 mi (3.5 km) up through the canyon and into narrow side slots before reaching a roughly 15-foot (4.5 m) dryfall.
Again, not enough hours in the day to continue. Next time, we go early – with a bigger lunch!
Pick a Camping Base Near Furnace Creek in Death Valley
Looking for an active travel base for your Death Valley adventures?
Seven of the national park campgrounds in Death Valley are open in the mid-October to mid-April timeframe we’re looking at for winter and early spring (see full list below). Three of these – Furnace Creek, Sunset and Texas Spring – are located in a hub near the Furnace Creek Visitor Centre.
We chose Texas Spring as we have solar and don’t need a generator. We also chose it because multiple roads on the north end of the park were closed due to recent storms. It’s a perfect base for hiking a little distance to the north, a little bit to the south and filling time during unsettled weather in between.
Camping in Death Valley National Park
- Furnace Creek (open year-round, reservations recommended mid-Oct to mid-Apr)
- Sunset (open mid-Oct to mid-Apr, no reservations, back-in sites only)
- Texas Spring (open mid-Oct to mid-Apr, no reservations, no generator use)
- Stovepipe Wells (open mid-Sept to mid-May, no reservations)
- Mesquite Spring (open year-round, no reservations)
- Emigrant (open year-round, no reservations, tent only)
- Wildrose (open year-round, no reservations, 25-ft length limit)
- Thorndike (closed during winter, no reservations, 25-ft length limit, 4×4 recommended)
- Mahogany Flat (closed during winter, no reservations, 25-ft length limit, 4×4 recommended)
- Private campgrounds in Death Valley (non-NPS) include Stovepipe Wells RV Park, Fiddler’s Camp & Panamint Springs.
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