Saline Valley Road

bikepsych,
jefe4x4 reference my TCTR (DV Trip) which covered the area from Homestake campesite near the Race Track to Panamint Springs via Lippincott Pass and Saline Valley road. The DV links includes two videos that my DW and I did.
It did get tight in one spot (Lippincott Pass) due to edge erosion and I had to hug the mountain side

Cannon George posted a good link that has information on the South Pass dated 3/16/2015.

If you decide to go watch the weather, things happen very quickly out there.

I have a 2007 F250/LB....Lance 815

+1, two way traffic would worry me. Backing up a mile would be a slow pitn.
Then you chance doing it all over again. Uphill has the right-of-way yes?

This might be the thread
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28246703/

I'm not sure if the road out to race track is the same road you are discussing? I did it with my truck/Outfitter several times but not sure I would do it with my same truck and Adventurer 86FB. Not because my truck isn't capable but because I went from a 7' wide camper to an 8' wide camper. Passing vehicles was often quite a challenge.

bikepsych ~ Bruce, what you should search is click on Jefe4X4's profile and look through his posts. Especially the ones pertaining to something he pioneered; XTC It is within these, you will find many places to explore in California and fodder for discovering your own locations to investigate. If you are interested in Utah, look for SeldomSeenSmith, Whazzo and Sheepcamp and a new one up and coming, trackhead, for Arizona.

Just those people alone should keep you busy and the topography companies well feted with your money.

Death Valley is a wonderful land to explore, just like many of the National Parks. Most just see 2% of the parks by staying on the paved roads. What is unique about Death Valley there are only about 150 of paved roads in America's 2nd largest national park. What is remarkable, is there is over 1,100 miles of back roads to explore with some of the most spectacular scenery still to see. That is one of the things that has brought me back to this park 5 times out of the last 6 years. And there is more to see!

Have fun and make sure someone knows where you are and where you are going and when you will be back. Plus, you can afford to fix anything you break and have the money that can tow you out.

b

The Saline Valley Road can be negotiated in a well outfitter 4WD. I've done it many times with many different 4-byes. The principal determinant is the weather, both from the south entrance from hwy 190, or the north entrance from 168 out of Big Pine. Saline Valley road from the north end: there is a lot of washboard and it's pretty rocky, depending on when the Inyo county road grader has come through.

Why the weather? If there has been recent snowfall over either the north or south passes, it may be slippery or even impassable. There should be a sign posted at either end if impassable. There is yet a third option which is from the Racetrack down the Lippencott Lead Mine road, which I have only been on with my jeep. At that time we went uphill and parts were very steep and narrow, maybe a jeep's tread width across in places and with full lockers and low gears had no woes. I've 'heard' that the N.P. Service upgraded this road so the traveling ranger/inspectors had a shorter route between the Warm Springs and the Racetrack, cutting out the long loop around Hunter Mountain, which gets up pretty high and dicey, especially this time of year. Upper lippencott rd near the Racetrack:

Yet another entrance I've done in my jeep is from The Eureka Dunes on the N-E on a jeep trail into the springs in Saline Valley. I have an acquaintance who took this road in his VW Synchro campmobile! Alex Blasingame (traveling man) on here has taken that road in his Ford F250/Lance/4wd and made it through. I'm thinking he posted a trip report on same. You may have to go back to the archives to retrieve it. He will probably chime in here regarding that road. Also weather related are the many gullies and cross washes you must traverse on the valley end of the lippencott rd. After some big rain storms, the drop off's can be 10 feet or better. BTDT. I always enjoyed barely making it over some route and living near the edge when you didn't have the bucks to upgrade your rig but had a memorable time anyway.
jefe

I rode the road about 4 weeks ago and it was passible, but our group were riding adventure bikes. Jefe4X4 would not have any issues, but I choose not to take my camper on a road such as this, even if I had the clearance. Something like CannonGeorge has, yeah. But I am using my TC for different reasons but am in awe of those, like Jefe, that does these roads with a TC.

b

Do a search for jefe4x4.

Thanks to all. Would love to find the post of the pictures of the road from a few weeks ago. Does anyone recall the name? Nothing came up when I used the search tool with "Saline" in the search box.

Thanks in advance.
Bruce

I've done in with 4WD Dodge 2500 and Outfitter Apex camper. Passable when I went but washboard conditions in some stretches rattled us and camper contents a bit. A couple of stretches with soft sand but nothing 2WD couldn't handle provided you drive with some common sense. I think they grade that road maybe once a year but have no idea how it is now. As with any desert driving, conditions can and will change with weather.

Here is a Linkthat you may find useful to get current road conditions.

A couple of co-workers decided to take the road in a company 4X4 instead of going around. Unfortunately they weren't very offroad experienced and ended up rolling the vehicle. So now their unfortunate mistake is used as a training example of what no to do when someone is out in the field in a company vehicle.

They were not hurt....