Death Valley Road Update

A little off-topic, but I know several people plan rides to DV every
spring (not to mention Death Valley Daze).

I saw an interesting article posted on the Las Vegas Review Journal
website over the weekend. It' mostly a general vacation piece, but had
this to say about the recent road closures south and east of Furnace
Creek:

"This road [Hwy 190] remains closed until crews complete repairs in a
couple of months."

I guess that means February. Probably not a big issue for the DVD
folks, as many of them don't need paved roads to participate, but just
thought I'd pass this along to anyone looking to travel down that way.

Full article is here:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Dec-19-Sun-2004/living/25456281.html
EJ

 

its 190 east out of the park (towards Death Valley Junction), and
including the route to Dante's View. Most of the rest of the park is
fine. OK, Titus Canyon Rd is closed, too.
http://www.nps.gov/deva/Morning.pdf has details, updated daily.

btw, the bulk of the DVDaze attendees are the IBMWR set, touring bikes for
the most part. The dual-sport set is limited to the AdvRider crew

 

Killer link John. What's interesting is all the flood-closed roads with ytd
precip. less than 3". Doesn't take much!

Later!
Alex

 

the storm that caused the flash floods dumped about 2" of that total in an
hour or so. 2" of rain from a few 100 square miles or so all came
roaring down the Furnace Creek Wash that 190 is in...

check out these picture of the flood damage.
http://www.nps.gov/deva/Photos.htm

 

Yeah, that kind of thing can happen any time in much of the southwest.
A gazillion years ago, I was on a geology class field trip down that
way, and the driver of the long-haul bus had to pick his way across a
washout that looked much like that, save for being further from
civiliazation.

Up here, it only happens in wintertime, but when it does, you need to
be paying attention: http://www.bcfd.com/El Nino.htm

Al Moore
DoD 734

 

Holy smokes! My bf is planning on camping very near there over New
Year's, and wants to take my Kendon-like motorcycle trailer along to
carry his dirt bikes. Anybody know if they've repaired these roads, or
should I tell him "no way" on my trailer? It's not a four-wheel-drive
accessory, after all.....

 

check out these picture of the flood damage.

190 east of Furnace Creek is closed. Pretty much everything else is
fine. If you're coming from the Las Vegas area, either go around to the
south via Shoshone, or take 95 north to Beatty, then 374 into the park.

Where does he plan on riding his dirt bikes? Only street legal bikes
are allowed in Death Valley National Park, and then only on marked roads
(including a fair amount of 4x4 only dirt roads). Most of these are
traversable by a big pig dualsport like a BMW GS if you got the 'nads.

anyways, if your trailer is built for a big Harley kinda bike, its not
even gonna notice a few 200 lb dirtbikes are on it, and would bounce its
way over most any obstacles w/o a thought.

 

I just double-checked, and they're actually going to be on the edge of
Death Valley, rather than in it as he alluded earlier.

Well, my concern isn't the weight of the bikes--it hauls my race bikes
all over the place, and they weigh more than his dirt bikes. My
concern is it having the crap bounced out of it. I just spent $$
having the wheel bearings replaced. It's really only designed for
highway use, and has low clearance.