Pleasant and South Park Canyons - Death Valley - California

[Air2air]

I'm about 12mpg. Talked to a guy today with an F350 dual-cab and he is happy when he gets 7!! Says he's about 9,000 lbs, has highway tires.

[sdgator]

Great pics and writeup on the thread. I'm heading up to Death Valley in a week and plan on doing this loop.

[sdgator]

Great pics and writeup on the thread. I'm heading up to Death Valley in a week and plan on doing this loop.

[nevadaesh]

Very excellent. Great pics and writeup.

[mtrent3450]

sdgator previously said:

Great pics and writeup on the thread. I'm heading up to Death Valley in a week and plan on doing this loop.

Death Valley is a great place to wheel. You can dry camp in Ballarat. If you dont want all of the extreme desert pinstriping you can go up Gohler wash. That is also the way to the Barker ranch where they caught Charlie Manson.
Mengle pass is fun and can be done with a stock FJ. I did it last year with paper plates. There is a ton of history in the canyons there. My buddy has a book I believe it is called "These canyons are full of ghosts" It tells alot of the history and the prospectors that used to be in that area. Before you go do some searches on the Panamint mts, Surprise canyon, and Gohler wash and get some history it makes for a very interesting trip. My small 4wd group is doing the Panamint mts again the end of April.

[sdgator]

Thanks for the info. I'm in the planning stages right now. It seems like there's so much to see out there. Any other trails that you would really recommend? I also plan on doing Titus Canyon, the Racetrack, Lippencott, and maybe Cerra Gordo. Thanks for any help.

[Fjamming]

I just noticed the vehicles look different (tires, roof accessories, bumpers). Are pictures from different trips?

[mir207]

Fjamming previously said:

I just noticed the vehicles look different (tires, roof accessories, bumpers). Are pictures from different trips?

They're from two trips. The first was my first long trail with a bone stock FJC in June 06. The other photos are (mainly) from Dec 07 with a much modified vehicle.

sdgator previously said:

Any other trails that you would really recommend?

Sorry also for the long delay in replying. I think the Goler Wash, Megel Pass, Butte Valley (all one big long run) that take you from Panamint Valley to the westside highway in Death Valley is alot of fun too. There's also a nice trail that takes you up the center of Death Valley on the north side over into the Amargosa Valley - I need to look that trail up and post it.

[Kokopeli]

Hey Mir..

It was nice meeting you towards the end of the M&G Saturday. I look forward to wheeling with you in the not too distant future.

Awesome write up and even better pics. Thanks for posting!
~Brian

[nevadaesh]

mir207 previously said:

There's just something about the scenery that makes you want to completely relax... everything



The AT's went back on because I figured I wouldn't do much rock crawling on this trip - I like the AT's better for general higher speed running. The bummer was that, no, the mpg was no better. It's railed at like 11mpg. (The Pitbulls were more like 9, but still, 11mpg sucks, not sure what else I've screwed up).

There was mention of pinstripping in previous posts so for all that are worried about the pinstripping - I did the loop April 29-30 and some group (had to be a group because of the magnitude of what they did) chopped back most all of the brush. Serious stripping is now history. The emphasis is on serious. You will still encounter stripping but it is manageable.

I think this loop somehows sucks the gas out of the tank without you knowing. I did the loop and Golar canyon/Warm Springs canyon onto the West Side road in Death Valley. Same thing happened, 11mpg. I am totally stock, except for gear on the roof rack and I've never got that bad of gas mileage. Oh Well!!!

Again, great pics. You will see a difference soon in the brush conditions.