High Sierra Topix

At the end of November I will have 1-2 days to spend in the Death Valley area. I will be coming in from the Ridgecrest side. What are the must sees, especially for photography? My friend will be meeting me from the north...coming down 395. Should I meet him in Big Pine and go in from the north?

Much appreciation for any suggestions.

So many places! Last December we went in from Big Pine and started with Eureka Sand Dunes. We had 3 days, and spent the other two days hiking.

The Race Track is cool, if the dry lake isn't flooded. Its a long drive in, though.

You can go in from Lone Pine (or south of it) and go thru Stovepipe Wells. There's sand dunes there, and you can do the drive to Badwater, Golden Canyon, Artist's Pallet (?)r drive, and a bunch of other places that I can't remember offhand.

The trip thru Butte Valley is pretty cool, a few cabins, and Striped Butte is photographed a lot.

My 2 favorite places are Zabrisky Point at sunrise and everything at Eureka Dunes.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=530908

Thanks nymph and doug.

Wow! Doug! Awesome pics. This one is incredible.


I will have to get there for sure!

Okay, just talked to my friend. Preliminary plans call for us to meet in Big Pine and take in the Bristlecone pines on the way to the north entrance. How is the north entrance for interesting exploration?

I am going to have to check out a more detailed map.

Thanks again.

Nice shot, Doug!

We hiked Manly Beacon, after we did Corkscrew, so we missed the colors.

http://www.deathvalley.com/exploring/ma ... p.deva.pdf

The 168 from Big Pine is in the upper right. You can kinda see where things are on this map from there.

Have fun!

If you can't get to the Eureka Dunes, the Sand Dunes near Stovepipe Well are great - especially in the early morning light. I also like Zabrisky Point and the Artist's Drive/Palette.

I hear the road to Dante's view is open again. I haven't been out there yet, so I'm going to head out to check it out sometime this winter.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I am going to enter from the north and go the entire length of the park and come out through Ridgecrest.

If you're exiting through Ridgecrest and have never seen the Trona Pinnacles, they'd be worth a visit.

Though I haven't been there, you might consider Darwin Falls (seems very un-Death Valley). The link below is someone's trip report from November 2004:
http://www.toddshikingguide.com/Hikes/C ... y/DV11.htm

For scale, check out this site:
http://www.dankat.com/swhikes/darwin.htm

Of course, check out road conditions before you go.

A little addendum to my last post: I went to darwin falls last weekend and it was cool (both literally and figuratively). Not sure if it's that great for photography, though. We didn't, however, make it to the upper falls because it required a lot of routefinding (no trails, loose/steep rock) and we didn't have much time to explore. Very green area for death valley, though, and about 15 degrees cooler. If you're going for pics, I'd probably avoid that area unless you have time to make it to the 80 ft upper falls.