Yakima, Wa to Death Valley in November

I worked for Caltrans in this area. I agree with the posters who say do not do 190. If you are new at RVing this will be a white knuckle drive down into Panamint Valley. Beside the 9% grade this stretch is narrow and winding with drop offs and no guardrail. Hwy 95 is a good option. You can take I-80 east from Reno to the 95. Access to DV is through Scotty's castle or Beatty. Beatty has fuel, it's expensive in the valley.

Someone said DV in November is boring -- I respectfully disagree. I like DV in cooler weather -- you can hike the slot canyons without fear of heatstroke.

We did a trip like that in snow conditions from Bend a couple of times .
I had some old cable chains that I put on my travel trailer .
I have a gmc diesel Allison 4wd pickup that is 9200 # gvw and actual was about 8600 # in the pickup .
the trailer axles were about 5400# .
I did not chain up the pickup . I just went slow .
We took it easy and traffic was very light .
It took us extra time and we did an overnight stop to use 120V hookups enroute , which we generally do not .
We had our little electric heaters working away in the fresh water tank compartment under the bed in front and the bathroom in back. I had filled that tank prior to departing but I had not run the water through the lines yet . Nothing froze .

sueann51 wrote:
We are contemplating a DV trip early next month and thinking 395 should (notice I said should) still be ok. Has anyone made this trip in early November and did you have an alternate plan to compensate for bad weather and roads? We plan to monitor the weather before leaving and hope predictions are fairly accurate. We are rather new at this, but have managed to put over 13K miles on our trailer since February. Still, I plan to read the forum entries that could help if we run into freezing temps.

Thanks for any suggestions from a new newbie.

Ok, where can I start about DV? Since you don't list your rig I'll you where we been in DV in our truck camper. Hiway190 coming in from Panamint Springs is a steep climb into DV.


Darwin Falls is near Panamint Spring is a wonderful easy walk.



Fuel in Panamint Springs is expensive, more than in DV. Inside of DV fuel can be bought in two places, Stovepipe Wells (gas only) and Furnace Creek(gas & diesel).
Around Stovepipe Wells you have Mosaic Canyon,Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Devil's Cornfield. If you wish to see the Charcoal Klins there is a 25 foot vehicle lenght limit on Emigrant Canyon Road.

These are but a few of the many sights that can be seen in DV, a number of easy to get to walks and sights are along Badwater RD out of Furnace Creek and along Hiway190 from Furnace Creek going south.The Truck Camper forum has many trip reports on DV with lots of photos and videos, just click on the link below.

nevadanick wrote:
If weather is snowy then once in Nevada go Hwy 95.

Yes, then a right turn onto SR160 towards Pahrump. As you enter Parump there will be a sign to turn right For Death Valley. Nice RV park in Furnace Creek.

I have been over 190 a few times. Go slow and never really an issue.
Road itself is good, just steep at about 9% for several miles both up and down.

I just did 395 last June and it was a beautiful drive. I wouldn't go anyplace between November and March without chains. I was told that you can purchase chains at our local tire guy, and if you don't use them, return them for full price.
Yeah, DO NOT DO 190 into the park. In fact, in Reno, you might want to think about swinging over to 95 and going that way. When I went on 190 last spring, I was scared to death, and the guy behind me just completely disappeared. I think he turned around and went home because when I got to the bottom of the hill, I pulled over to "collect" myself and he never appeared and he was right behind me for miles.
If you do take 95, go in via the Scotty's Castle road (266) flat and boring

Calf 190 from the junction with 395 to Death Valley is not much fun (grades to 9%, see the Truckers Pass directory for more info)

Of course 395 from I-90 to I-84 is not on your route (and is a great road)

395 from there to US-20 is actually better then Calf 190 from 395 to Death Valley

Hwy 395 south once in California is beautiful and worth the experience. I averaged about 2 trips during the winter for the last 6 years and only once did I have to overnight in Mammoth Lakes until they had the road cleared. December, January and February can be snowy but CALTRANS does a great job clearing the road. From Reno to the first Death Valley turnoff is about 7 hours at 55MPH (California MAX Speed when towing). Be sure to do it during the day, the views are beautiful. I drive it in a 40' DP towing a Grand Cherokee.

I found 395 south of I90 to US20 to be a road I will never drive again. Did it at night and white knuckled all the way.

Have a safe trip and enjoy Death Valley.

Russ

Thanks. We kind of decided if we hit snow, we would just wait it out for a day or two. Went from west to east coast for the month of September and stuck to a schedule. It was kind of painful in the end so will give ourselves extra time if we need it for this little trip. Retirement and rv travel sure are fun. In my younger days made fun of rv'ers and now I am one of them!! Who knew.
Sueann