Anyone in Death Valley This Past Week?

It was packed. Furnace Creek Ranch and Inn have both had major renovations ($50m worth) and are looking more like high end resorts. The rush is on to bring more money and people into Death Valley. Also a JEEP rental now which is causing even more traffic on the trails.

I've never seen more 4Runners and Tacos in my life on the trail. No exaggeration, we must have seen over 100 4Runners and over 100 Tacomas, and probably 95% of those were the latest models. Saw a ton of Tacomas with the tent system that installs on top of the vehicle. Didn't realize how popular those types of tents have become. Saw many groups of 3-4 vehicles offroading together. Also saw a ton of motorcyles on the offroad trails. Most I've ever seen in a lifetime of going out there.

Titus Canyon, Racetrack Playa, and everywhere else were as packed as I've ever seen. Could not believe how many people were camping around Racetrack area (20+ vehicles). At one point on the road to Racetrack, we were following four 4Runners, 2 Tacos, and 4 Jeeps, not to mention all the traffic coming the other way on that one-lane road.

There was also a full moon each night, and it was awesome to offroad at night. Took this shot with my crappy cell phone near midnight, under a full moon.

Not sure how to make photo smaller. Sorry for large size.

 

Hi friend! How was Racetrack Playa Road? I am a new 4Runner owner (2021 SR5 stock) and I'm worried about popping a tire.

Also, what day(s) of the week were you there? My son and I are going to be up there early on a Wednesday morning, so I'm hoping we will be able to get one of the camp sites at Homesite.

 

Kitted out 4Runners and Tacos are to the 21st century as these were to the 18th-19th...meaning it's the vehicle of choice. (Trying my best not to have my rig resemble one of these when she's fully outfitted for a trip!)

 

Thanks for the funny response! We were in Death Valley a couple of years ago with an Infiniti G37 and drove the road to Darwin Falls. NOT a fun trip! I'm looking forward to going back with a real vehicle

 

Check the gov map before you go. A lot of roads are closed in Death Valley.

Road to Racetrack is open. It's usual gravel/crushed rock but you should be fine. If you get a flat there, be aware there is berm on both sides to keep people from offroading over the open desert, so you might not be able to pull off to the side. This can be a pain to change, if the road is full of traffic.

Titus Canyon is closed from damage, until 2025 (est).
Wildrose Canyon is closed, road washed away.
Westside Rd is closed from damage.

Many other roads closed as well. They had a big storm in early Feb, and some roads still weren't repaired from previous winter.

Road to racetrack

 

As you might expect, Thur-Sun are the busiest. Mon-Wed are the least busy.

I was there Thur-Sunday. We hit Playa on Saturday. If you plan to camp, get there as early as possible. In Spring, those first-come first-serve campgrounds fill up really fast.

 

You drove the wash coming off Darwin Canyon as well? Driving the canyon in a G37 is impressive alone!

I have a couple of trips planned to the DV area this year, hope to avoid the crowds, thanks for the day of week tips!