Death Valley, Panamint Valley Road
We just spent four days (early December) in Death Valley. If you have never been there I strongly recommend it. Lots to see, good hiking, very quiet, beautiful scenery. We came in from Pahrump, NV on Bell Vista Road through Amargosa and then Hwy 190 to Furnace Creek. We stayed at the NPS Furnace Creek campground. When we left we took Hwy 190 to Panamint Valley, then went south on Panamint Valley Road (Hwy 178) through Trona and Ridgecrest where we connected up with Hwy 395. It was a great drive. Panamint Valley was beautiful. The road has been closed for some time due to flood damage. It opened recently and is in good shape. There is a two mile section that is not paved. I drove the unpaved section at 35 or 40 mph with no problem. The rest of the road is old pavement in good condition. On some of the road I felt the expansion cracks across the pavement but certainly not as bad as some of I-5 or Hwy 101 that I have been driving on since. I've attached two photos. The first is looking south on the Panamint Valley Road. The second is looking east from the road toward the Panamint Mountains. There was so little traffic I just stopped in the road and took these photos. There were no other vehicles in sight in either direction. What a great drive. When I was back on the freeway I sure missed it.
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John and Karen
2012 Thor Challenger 36FD
2013 Fiat 500 Toad
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