Death Valley travel

[hdrider]

Highway 190 to 136 to HWY 395 at Lone Pine with a 42' Class A? Yes or no? 

We are in Pahrump and that's the most direct route, but.

[Devilishjim]

As I recall it's clear sailing and by clear I mean nothing in sight for long long ways except two CHP s working one helluva long straight stretch of highway, One at each end nailing everything between them, But wait thats been eight yrs already.  Make sure youre stacked full of fuel and travel in the cool hrs if there are any.  Give my love to the gals at the Chicken Ranch

[Lou Schneider]

I wouldn't recommend it in a 42 ft. motorhome.

CA 190 climbs from Stovepipe Wells at 5 ft. above sea level to 4,986 ft. Towne Pass in a continuous 20 mile upgrade.  Then you descend 3400 ft. in 9 miles into Panamint Valley at 1600 ft. above sea level.  Then on the other side you have a 11 miles of twisty road with tight switchbacks and a 5 mile, 6.5% climb to 4800 ft.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3466671,-117.511305,13.97z/data=!5m1!1e4

And the road isn't all that wide through those turns:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3543024,-117.5344323,3a,60y,181.56h,90.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siNkeNqrPKsRsFO-OJoiVlw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[2gypsies]

We've done it a few times with our '04 370 HP, 40' MH towing the Jeep.  Only you know how your motorhome will react on big uphills/downhills and how you react on these kinds of roads. We enjoy mountain driving. Do you?

If you get to 395 stay in Lone Pine a night or two. It has lots of interesting history. The drive north on 395 is gorgeous.  Enjoy!

[dartmouth01]

Lone Pine - Visit the Movie Museum and the surrounding Alabama Hills, where thousands of movies have been filmed.  The dentist wagon from Django is a huge highlight.  

The route you outlines is doable with a big rig, I have done it 2 times from west to east and 1 time from east to west, 35' 5th wheel.  Each time I do it (a couple times have been in the dark), I curse myself for taking the risk.   But the next best option, 178 from Ridgecrest to Panamint Valley and then 190 into DV, is alot longer coming from the north, so the draw of the shortcut gets me every time.  If you have the time, I suggest taking 178, alot less twisties and scary spots.  Still need to get out of Death Valley over Towne Pass, but if you take your time, its not bad.  Just try to drive early, when the temps are lower, to reduce your chance of overheating on the climbs!

[hdrider]

7 hours ago, dartmouth01 said:

Lone Pine - Visit the Movie Museum and the surrounding Alabama Hills, where thousands of movies have been filmed.  The dentist wagon from Django is a huge highlight.  

The route you outlines is doable with a big rig, I have done it 2 times from west to east and 1 time from east to west, 35' 5th wheel.  Each time I do it (a couple times have been in the dark), I curse myself for taking the risk.   But the next best option, 178 from Ridgecrest to Panamint Valley and then 190 into DV, is alot longer coming from the north, so the draw of the shortcut gets me every time.  If you have the time, I suggest taking 178, alot less twisties and scary spots.  Still need to get out of Death Valley over Towne Pass, but if you take your time, its not bad.  Just try to drive early, when the temps are lower, to reduce your chance of overheating on the climbs!

 We are never in any big hurry, your idea of hitting 178 before Panamint Springs might be a good option. That's 259 miles instead of going all the way to Barstow and up which is 308 miles. Still not the 163 miles by going directly through but probably a good option. Thanks

[hdrider]

22 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

We've done it a few times with our '04 370 HP, 40' MH towing the Jeep.  Only you know how your motorhome will react on big uphills/downhills and how you react on these kinds of roads. We enjoy mountain driving. Do you?

If you get to 395 stay in Lone Pine a night or two. It has lots of interesting history. The drive north on 395 is gorgeous.  Enjoy!

 Thanks, we plan to hang out in Lone Pine 4 nights before continuing north.

[packnrat]

in that part of the world.

always have gallons of extra water, food, etc.

never let your fuel tank get below 1/3 - 1/2 tank. pending milles a tank full.

any breakdown can be hrs to a day, more?

easy to death.

but take your time and enjoy the views.

[hdrider]

We will be headed out at 7am.