May 1, 2026 – Arrive at Maturango Museum at 9 am.
100 E. Las Flores Ave., Ridgecrest, CA  93555

Be sure to arrive fueled up. (There is a gas station just around the corner.) We’ll have a meet and greet, and a driver’s meeting describing the plans for the next three days and then get started.

We may do some Geocaching along the way. Details to be shared with participants.

From Maturango Museum, we head east on Hwy 178 and make our way to Trona Pinnacles.

The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual geological feature consisting of more than 500 tufa spires (porous rock formed as a deposit when springs interact with other bodies of water), some as high as 140 ft (43 m), rising from the bed of the Searles Lake (dry) basin

The Pinnacles are other-worldly, and as a result, are used as the backdrop for many movies, commercials, and music videos. Over thirty film projects a year are shot among the tufa pinnacles, including car commercials, sci-fi movies, and television series such as Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Disney’s Dinosaur, The Gate II: Trespassers, Lost in Space, and Planet of the Apes.

From The Pinnacles, we’ll head north and drive through the city of Trona and make our way to the western portion of the Death Valley 49er’s Escape Trail. It offers fantastic views of Panamint Valley and the Panamint Mountain Range.

Once through the Slate Range, we’ll head across Panamint Valley and make our way up Goler Canyon. We’ll pass several miner’s cabins before arriving at Charlie Manson’s Ranch (Barker Ranch). We’ll stop here for some exploration and a lunch break. (Many people have mentioned that it feels a little eerie here.) We had visited the cabin in May 2009 just the week before someone set it on fire.

Back on the trail, we’ll continue up the canyon and reach the saddle at Mengel Pass. This can be a little on the technical side. Here’s a link to a video that shows the conditions quite well, though they have changed considerably in the past 18 years.

(Thank you, John, for sharing)

From Mengel Pass, we’ll make a stop at Geologist’s Cabin. Geologist’s Cabin is a one-room stone refuge built in 1930 by Asa Russell, also known as Panamint Russ. Complete with a fireplace, furniture, and even solar-powered lights, it’s one of the best-preserved backcountry cabins in Death Valley. Over the decades, it’s been maintained by volunteers and travelers, keeping it in remarkable condition. Just a short distance away is Striped Butte, a unique rock formation sticking up out the ground unlike anything anywhere to be found.

After visiting the Cabin, we’ll continue east down the canyon on Warm Springs Road with a stop at Warm Springs Camp, the camp for workers of the local talc mining operations. There are a surprising number of buildings here in pretty good shape, and an empty? pool.

We’ll continue down canyon and eventually make our way back to black top at Badwater Road and head north with a quick stop at Badwater, the lowest place in the United States at 282 feet below sea level. It’s a huge salt flat, and sometimes it’ll have water in it. From there, we’ll continue north to our night halt at Furnace Creek.

Folks can check in, perhaps take a dip in the 87 degree, spring-fed pool, and make plans for dinner. Get a good night’s sleep – there’s more excitement in store tomorrow.

May 2, 2026 – We’ll set out shortly after our 9 am driver’s meeting from Furnace Creek and  head east on Hwy 190 to do a little hiking in Hole in the Wall Canyon.

Hole in the Wall is a scenic, 4WD accessible route through an impressive gap in a huge, hardened rock formation. 

Just a short distance away, we’ll take a short hike to Slit Canyon. The name pretty much describes it. It’s a beautifully skinny canyon with tall walls. The shade may provide a welcome respite to the heat we may encounter.

After our hike, we return the way we came and head back to Hwy 190 and drive a short distance to Echo Canyon. 

Echo Canyon is unique in that is one of the only 4WD canyons to provide driving access from Death Valley to Nevada. This route will include some of the most technical/challenging driving of the entire trip. This will take some time, some rock stacking (bring gloves), and some excellent driving skills.

Once we’re through Echo Canyon, we’ll make our way north to Beatty for our night halt at Death Valley Inn Motel. We’ll see if we can’t get a group dinner before hitting the hay.

Enough for today. Let’s see what’s on deck for Sunday.

May 3, 2026 – Today, we’ll set out shortly after our 9 am driver’s meeting from Beatty and head west back toward Death Valley. We’ll make a stop in Rhyolite and check out the ruins of one of the more interesting “ghost towns” of the gold fever that struck this region in 1905. The  gold rush drew thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners and service providers. Estimates of the town’s population are all over the place, but it’s thought that as many as 5,000 people called Rhyolite home.

After poking around a bit, we’ll  continue heading west on Hwy 374 for a few miles until we get to the turn-off to Chloride City. 

Chloride City “ghost town” was originally established in 1871 by A.J. Franklin when he discovered silver at Chloride Cliffs. Because it was a poor producer, the mine was abandoned in 1883. Some other hopeful miners re-opened the mine in 1908 but closed it again ten years later in 1918. There are a Cousin Jack  (a “cabin” or living space dug into a hillside to make up one of more of the cabin walls with rock and then a wooden or metal front, and roof.), the remains of old cabins, a number of mine shafts. Always look where you’re going in any mining area. Mine shafts are not always well marked.

Chloride Cliffs has one of the most beautiful views of Death Valley. We’ll make sure to take in the view before heading down the hill to Monarch Canyon.

The trail down to Monarch Canyon will also be a little challenging (uphill even more so), so we’re not yet done with the 4-wheeling adventure. 

Monarch Canyon is a beautiful canyon and end/starts with a fantastic waterfall that is often cited as one of the highest in the Park. It’s also a nice shady area for a lunch break before heading back into Death Valley and the end of our adventure. 

Once back on the pavement, we’ll take a few minutes to say our good-byes… until the next trip.

I’ll look forward to seeing you on the next adventure.