|
 Hunter Mountain Road Trip
 This Road Trip will take you to some of the most
remote and extraordinary parts of northwestern Death Valley!
There are absolutely no services along this route so make
sure you have fuel and supplies! This Road Trip is one that we consider to
be a "classic" off-road experience! You'll experience everything from
well-graded, wide dirt to soft, powdery dry lakebed to steep inclines/declines
where 4WD is necessary. It's great fun!
You have a choice of two routes for this Road Trip. The easier
of the two starts and ends at Stovepipe
Wells and is on both paved and dirt roads. The other, more difficult route,
starts and ends at the intersection of Saline Valley Road and S.R. 190 and
includes the difficult but fun 4WD journey along Lippencott Road.
This Road Trip is one of the longest and will require a
full day. If you start and end your trip from S.R. 190, include
Racetrack and the challenging Lippencott Road, you will have traveled a total of
approximately 94 miles.
 Things
To See:
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Hidden Valley |
|
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Lee Flat
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Lost Burro Gap
& Mine |
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Racetrack Area |
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Sand Flat |
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Teakettle Junction |
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Some great views of
both the Saline and Panamint Valleys |
Be sure to read the Trip Log for details about where
you'll find these places along the way.
|
|
|
Vehicle Class |
Road Type |
| A |
X |
| B |
3 |
| C |
2 |
| D |
1 |
|
|
Getting There
The most popular way to enjoy a trip through
Hunter Mountain is to start and stop at the junction of Saline Valley Road and
S.R. 190. This junction is well marked on S.R. 190.
From the west (Lone Pine or Olancha): From
the junction of S.R. 190 and S.R. 136, go east for just over 17 miles.
Turn left onto Saline Valley Road and continue reading directions at the *
below.
From the east (Stovepipe Wells): Take S.R.190
for 50.7 miles (20 miles past Panamint Springs). Turn right onto Saline
Valley Road and continue reading directions at the * below. If you are returning to Stovepipe Wells, your quickest route
home will be to take Racetrack Valley Road east towards Scotty's Castle, then
turn south on S.R. 190 back to Stovepipe Wells. Be advised
that even though Racetrack Valley Road is wide and frequently used, it often
contains long stretches of "washboard" that will rattle the teeth out of any
living thing! We have had to turn around before because it was just
intolerable! To plan your best route, check with the National Park Service
to see when the road was last graded.
*After turning onto Saline Valley Road, travel north 15.2
miles to the junction with Hunter Mountain Road. Bear right on
Hunter Mountain Road (Saline Valley Road continues straight and down to the left) [see
picture]. If you are taking the
loop route via Racetrack and Lippencott Road, you will return to this junction at
the end of the day.
Be aware that some maps show a different alignment for
Saline Valley Road leaving S.R. 190. They show Saline Valley Road leaving
S.R. 190 2.8 miles west of the intersection of S.R. 190 with Darwin Road.
In reality, it is 4.2 miles east of Darwin Road. You can travel
this other route, which goes through several talc mine ruins, however, it is a
dirt road as opposed to the rough pavement on Saline Valley Road.
The Road
As you can see from the Difficulty Chart above, this Road Trip is not for
your standard car. The road is dirt all the way with many of the
"standard" off-road challenges. There are narrow spots, steep inclines/declines,
sharp drop-offs in some portions, possible soft sand and large boulders in the
wash areas and, depending on weather conditions, you may also encounter mud
and/or snow. Please read the Trip Log before
taking your journey. It offers not only the mileages to the different
(unmarked) turning points along the way but details of the possible road
conditions you might run into.
Because of the many possible side trips on this Road Trip,
there really isn't a recommended direction of travel. We started at Hunter
Mountain and went through Hidden Valley first because we included the Lippencott Road.
If you plan to incorporate the Lippencott Road,
be
sure to read that chapter before going.
And remember, there are no services so make sure
you have everything you need including fuel, water and food before starting your
journey.
History
There are several areas of historical interest
along this route including the Goldbelt Mining District (found by
Shorty Harris in 1904), the Lost Burro Mine
(that operated from 1907 until the 1970's) and the area around Racetrack Valley
including the Lippencott Mine.
Shorty Harris lead the first rush into the
Goldbelt Mining District after he discovered gold a few miles south of the
area's namesake, Goldbelt Spring.
There was talk of building a town site but, the ore
didn't amount to much so, the talk fizzled. Later, in the 1940's, talc was
discovered and mined in various locations. Although no large talc deposits
were ever discovered here, many smaller mines operated until 1976. One of
the more successful talc mines was the Quackenbush Mine operated until the 1970's.
 The Lost
Burro Mine near Lost Burro Gap is a well-preserved gold mine originally
discovered in 1907. It was worked on and off until the 1970's which is one
of the main reasons why it's still in good shape. During those years, most
of the work was done by
one to three people at a time and a rather substantial
amount of gold (about $100,000 worth) was taken out.
Jack Salsberry's Ubehebe Mine created a small rush in 1906. Salsberry's name appears on several Death Valley landmarks such
as the pass through the Amargosa Chaos.
This lead deposit was actually discovered in 1875 but was dubbed too remote to
mine. Salsberry acquired the claims and built nearby Salina City. He
organized the Bonnie Claire & Ubehebe Railroad to ship the ore from the proposed
mine to the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad to the north. He even began
working to create a railroad grade out of Racetrack Valley. The ore,
however, proved to be not very valuable and grading was abandoned in 1908. This
same grade became
today's Racetrack Valley Road. Later, in the 1950's, the
mine did generate lead and zinc.
For more historical information about
the places mentioned above and this entire area, we recommend reading Hiking Death Valley and Death
Valley and the Amargosa (see references).
Photo Tours:
Hunter Mountain
Click on picture to enlarge
Pictures taken: December 1998 and November
2002
 |
Driving across Lee Flat. Picture is
looking
northwest with the Inyo Mountains in the background. |
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Lee Flat is known for its beautiful and abundant stand
of Joshua Trees. |
 |
Riding the crest of Hunter Mountain high
above Panamint Valley. |
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Looking south, this is a panorama of Panamint
Valley near the junction of Saline Valley and Hunter Mountain Roads.
Telescope Peak is hidden in the clouds. |
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The view over Panamint Valley and
mountains beyond on a sunny day. 11,049 ft. Telescope Peak is the tallest
peak in the range. |
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Looking southwest from the Panamint
Valley overlook reveals snow capped, 12,000 ft. Olancha Peak in the Sierra
Nevada's in the distance. Hunter Mountain Road can be seen on the left of the
picture. |
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Approaching the Saline Valley & Hunter
Mountain Road junction. Hunter Mountain Road begins here, turns right
and climbs the mountain of its namesake. |
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Looking northwest down Jackass Canyon
towards Saline Valley. This is where Saline Valley Road goes. |
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A view looking back at the Saline Valley
& Hunter Mountain Road intersection. |
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Approaching Jackass Spring and the top of
Jackass Canyon. Be aware: if there is snow is on the
higher mountains, you can be sure the will be deeper snow here because this
portion of the road is in the shade. And, after the snow melts, mud
can be present for several days. |
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Some of the rocks near Jackass Spring
have difficult-to-see Native American petroglyphs. |
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A closer look at the petroglyphs. |
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A view over the Cottonwood Mountains and
into northern Death Valley. |
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A similar view of northern Death Valley
on a sunny day. Sand Flat is the playa [glossary] in the left of the
picture. |
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Descending Hunter Mountain. Again,
Sand Flat is seen in the distance. In the winter months, the playas
have an interesting orange tint to them. |
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Another view of Sand Flat. |
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As you descend from Hunter Mountain,
there are several ridges to cross that are steep going both up and down. |
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Getting closer to the other side.
The Quackenbush Mine is the white rock outcropping in the lower left. |
Back to Hunter Mountain photo
tour or
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Hidden Valley
Click on picture to enlarge
Pictures taken: November 2002
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Hidden Valley offers a lot of remote and
peaceful desert scenery. |
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Crossing over from Ulida Flat to Hidden
Valley. |
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Approaching the soft and powdery sand of
Hidden Valley. Make sure your windows are rolled up and all the vents
are closed before you cross over this powdery section (see
Trip Log)! |
Back to Hidden
Valley photo tour, Back to Photo Tours or
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Lost Burro Gap & Mine
Click on picture to enlarge
Pictures taken: November 2002
 |
Hunter Mountain Road going through the
uplifted sedimentary layers of Lost
Burro Gap. |
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Looking up one of several side canyons
while going through Lost Burro Gap. |
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Heading up the road to the Lost Burro
Mine. |
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The cabin that still stands at the mine
site. |
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Looking up from the cabin to where the
"digs" are. |
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Someone reminding future visitors to leave these ruins alone for the next person to enjoy.
Good advice. |
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Excellent restroom facilities are
available at the Lost Burro Mine - just kidding. |
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A better view of the Lost Burro Mine
area. |
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The orange colored dirt are tailings [glossary]
left behind from the milling operation. Water erosion, over the years,
has washed-away the center of the tailings. |
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The mill was built on a terraced
hillside. Perhaps a bigger structure once stood here since most mills
are built on a hillside. |
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The road leaving Lost Burro Mine.
This road crosses over Hunter Mountain Road and continues towards Perdido
Canyon in the distance. There are some very remote hikes in that
canyon. |
Back to Lost Burro Gap & Mine
photo tour, Back to Photo Tours or
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Racetrack Valley
(Don't forget to read about the Racetrack Area.)
Click on picture to enlarge
Pictures taken: December 1998 and November 2002
 |
Teakettle Junction is a unique tradition
in Death Valley. The famous sign, with its collection of odd teakettles, is
easy to spot as you enter Racetrack Valley from the north (Scotty's
Castle). These days, the sign gets its collection of unusual
decorations from people who know about the custom and make special trips
to Death Valley just to hang something out-of-the-ordinary on their favorite sign! |
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The back side of the sign has more
goodies. |
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Each year, the collection of teakettles
and other goodies changes. It starts empty every year and is
probably cleaned by the NPS [glossary].
This picture was taken in December of 1998. The previous two pictures
were taken in November of 2002. Notice how the "decorations" have
changed. |
 |
A distant view of Racetrack Playa and the
Grandstand as you enter Racetrack Valley from Racetrack Valley Road (north looking south). |
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From Racetrack Valley Road, a short road and canyon to the right,
just before entering Racetrack, will take you to the Ubehebe Mine site. Not
much is left except for a few shacks, a small tramway and some tunnels. |
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One of the remains of the camp at the
Ubehebe Mine. |
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An advertisement that was used for
promoting the mine and was responsible for bringing in enough money to start
building a mill and a railroad north towards Rhyolite. |
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The moving rocks of Racetrack Playa.
Be sure to read the chapter about the Racetrack
Area. |
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An example of one of the longer rock
trails. |
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Looking north from the
Lippencott Mine with the Racetrack Playa in
the distance. |
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Driving down to the lower portion of the
Lippencott Mine. |
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And, for the final leg and Grand Finale
of your road trip, a white knuckle ride down the
Lippencott Road! This will
connect you back up to Saline Valley Road. The flats in the distance is Saline
Valley - a mini Death Valley. |
Back to Racetrack Valley photo
tour, Back to
Photo Tours or
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Trip
Log
By using this Trip Log with your vehicles' trip odometer and/or your
GPS device, you'll know exactly which turn in the road to take and where the
different points of interest are along your route.
The top (larger, black) number in the Mileage
column reflects mileage based on our direction of travel as described in
The Road section above. The bottom (smaller,
purple) number reflects mileage based on travel from the opposite
direction.
Note: all GPS waypoints assume Northern hemisphere latitude and
Western hemisphere longitude. [printer friendly
Trip Log]
| What You Will See
and Where: |
Mileage:
Other Way: |
Next Event: |
Waypoints:
Latitude / Long. |
| Junction of S.R. 190 and Saline Valley
Road (reset your trip
odometer). The road at this point is old broken pavement. Watch
out for pot holes because it is tempting to drive faster than normal on this
segment of the road. |
0
57.8 |
8.2 miles |
36° 21.92'
117° 37.58' |
| The pavement ends and the road enters Lee
Flat which contains a large stand of healthy Joshua Trees. The road to
the left goes up Lee Flat and continues up the back side of Cerro Gordo. |
8.2
49.6 |
5.9 |
36° 28.00'
117° 37.66' |
| An outstanding view of Panamint Valley [see
picture]
comes into view on the right side of the road. The view continues until the
junction with Hunter Mountain Road. |
14.1
43.7 |
1.3 |
36° 31.01'
117° 33.82' |
| Junction with Hunter Mountain Road.
Bear right [see
picture]. Saline Valley Road continues straight and then left as it
follows Jackass Canyon to Saline Valley. After 1.5 miles, the road
enters a small canyon with a creek [see
picture]. Look for petroglyphys on the left across the creek. |
15.4
42.4 |
2.9 |
36° 31.61'
117° 32.83' |
| Highest summit of Hunter Mountain Road at
about 7,100 feet. This part of the road is notorious for mud and ruts
so, if going up or down this summit during wet periods,
take extra driving care if you encounter muddy conditions. |
18.3
39.5 |
4.3 |
36° 32.83'
117° 30.97' |
| Hunter Mountain Road begins to descend
steeply into the various valleys below [see
picture]. During wet/muddy conditions, this part of the road is
well known for getting very slick and "slimy". |
22.6
35.2 |
2.8 |
36° 35.02'
117° 28.58' |
| Junction with road to Quackenbush Mine,
Goldbelt Spring and Shorty Harris Canyon.
Turn left to follow Hunter Mountain Road. Turning right will take you
through the Goldbelt Mining District (as explained in the
History section above) and will
eventually loop back to Hunter Mountain Road. |
25.4
32.4 |
1.7 |
36° 36.03'
117° 27.14' |
| Junction with the road through the
Goldbelt district. Continue straight, following the main road.
This is also your closest spot to access the Sand Flat dry lake. About
a mile after this point, there is a faint road to the right that leads to a
few mines in the hills to the right. The main road goes around them. |
27.1
30.7 |
5.7 |
36° 37.00'
117° 27.78' |
| You will reach the edge of Hidden
Valley's dry lake which is extremely powdery. Make sure to have
all the vents closed on your vehicle! Non-4WD vehicles, be careful
because the dirt is very soft. Make sure you have enough speed and don't
stop in the soft spots. |
32.8
25.0 |
9.7 |
36° 40.30'
117° 29.77' |
| Junction with road to Lost Burro Mine.
Turn left to the mine. This road will require 4WD for the last
half of the one mile distance. If you can't make it, you can
park and hike the remaining distance. Turning right at this
intersection will take you to Perdido Canyon and Rest Spring. The
canyon is known for its fossils. Read Hiking
Death Valley [references]
for more details. If you went to Lost Burro mine, make sure to adjust
your mileage by adding 2.2 miles. |
42.5
15.3 |
1.6 |
36° 43.75'
117° 30.31' |
| You are now in the middle of Lost Burro
Gap. Hiking up the narrow canyon to the left [see
picture] reveals some interesting narrows. |
44.1
13.7 |
1.6 |
36° 44.83'
117° 31.27' |
| Teakettle Junction: a Death Valley
tradition [see picture].
Why not bring
a teakettle and add to the collection! This is Racetrack Valley Road.
Turn left to continue this trip to Racetrack Playa. Turning right will take
you to the pavement at Scotty's Castle. |
45.7
12.1 |
2.1 |
36° 45.60'
117° 32.55' |
| Road going to the right will lead you to
the Copper Bell and Ubehebe Mines [see picture]
in 0.6 miles. Read the History section (above) for more
about the Ubehebe Mine. The dry lake to the south
is Racetrack Playa. |
47.8
10.0 |
3.7 |
36° 44.72'
117° 34.51' |
| Parking area for
The Grandstand - the unusual rock
outcropping in the middle of Racetrack Playa. Do not attempt to walk
over the playa [glossary] when it is wet.
Not only will you get stuck but you will also destroy the beautiful
patterns on the floor of the playa. |
51.5
6.3 |
1.9 |
36° 41.59'
117° 34.29' |
| Racetrack parking area and NPS kiosk explaining
the story behind the sliding rocks. Again, do not attempt to
walk over the playa if it is wet or raining. Please don't destroy what
it takes Nature so long to create! |
53.4
4.4 |
3.7 |
36° 39.98'
117° 34.10' |
| Intersection with Lippencott Road.
Continue straight for ¼ mile to a campground and on to the Lippencott Lead Mine.
Or, turn right here to take the challenging Lippencott Road down into Saline Valley - if you dare!
Be sure to read the chapter on this road before you go. |
57.1
0.7 |
0.7 |
36° 38.48'
117° 34.47' |
| The camp of the Lippencott Lead Mine.
The lower road to the right goes to the bottom portion of the mine and road
that bears left goes to several of the horizontal shafts. Most of the
tunnels have been closed-off by the NPS. |
57.8
0 |
0 |
36° 37.91'
117° 34.48' |
From this point, you can return via three routes:
- Retrace the entire route
through Lost Burro Gap, Hidden Valley, over Hunter Mountain and back to S.R.
190.
- Go down the adventurous
Lippencott Road for 6.5 miles
to the junction of Saline Valley Road, turn left and go another 10 miles to
the junction with Hunter Mountain Road. Then, retrace your route
proceeding south on Saline Valley Road back to S.R. 190.
- Take Racetrack Valley Road east to the paved
road near Scotty's Castle. The distance from the junction of Lippencott and Racetrack Valley Roads to the pavement at Ubehebe Crater is
28.7 miles. Be aware: this route is over a long, and potentially
rough, washboard dirt road! We have turned back before!
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Road Trips
Last updated
March 03, 2007
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