Page 8 - Volume 14 Number 1

A solitary Union Pacific caboose is just one of the many abandoned items and structures at the Rhyolite Ghost Town Site, near the current town of Beatty, Nevada, and near the entrance to the one-way Titus Pass Road. Titus Pass is one of the most picturesque ways to enter Death Valley from the east.
the bathrooms (adjacent to the parking apron). With pre-arrangement, either resort will pick up incoming guests at the airport. Similarly, arrangements for rental vehicles can be made to coincide with arrival at your chosen resort.
Stovepipe Wells might not check the “lowest airport” or even the “below sea level” box, but it is a viable alternate to Furnace Creek. All the same caveats apply, but L09’s runway (05/23) is a bit longer at 3,260 x 65 feet and in similar condition. Situated essentially across the street from the tiny village, it’s only about a 10-minute walk to the local resort (Stovepipe Wells Village Hotel), with its western style restaurant and saloon, perfectly adequate rooms and amenities. Rental cars here require pre-arrangement and may be more difficult and expensive to reserve. But, if you are looking to avoid the crowds without totally abandoning the civilized trappings of climate-controlled lodging and prepared meals, Stovepipe Wells can fit that bill nicely.
Of course, Death Valley is also relatively close to Las Vegas, opening many additional options for airports, FBOs and high-level aircraft services. Since I’d already flown into Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells multiple times, and I was traveling with my wife and two kids, we elected to fly into Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS). Rental cars are plentiful and inexpensive in Vegas, as is lodging, allowing us to get a full night’s rest before launching into DVNP the following morning. We rented a high-clearance vehicle and found the two-hour drive to Furnace Creek to be quite pleasant.
6 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
By leaving Nevada on Highway 160 and entering California on Highway 190, you pass through Death Valley Junction and enter the park from the southeast, only a few miles from Furnace Creek.
Ghosts and Aliens
As with most national parks, Death Valley has a tourist season and an offseason. Summers (May-Oct) are brutally hot. So hot, in fact, that the highest temperature ever recorded on earth (134.1° F) occurred at Furnace Creek Ranch in 1913. Thus, November through April are far more popular for tourism, with March and April being particularly common in years when the spring desert wildflower bloom is forecast to be especially abundant. We chose April mostly to coincide with our kids’ school spring break schedule but were pleasantly surprised by the relatively uncrowded conditions and amazing desert diversity on display that time of year. Even at that, the temperatures in the low elevations were hot and we planned our days to be in the valleys in the early morning and again in the evenings, while spending the peak-heating hours in the higher elevations of the park. It’s a strategy that worked well, allowing us to enjoy reasonable temperatures throughout the day, while avoiding most the extremes that Death Valley is famous for.
It’s important to understand that covering the distances between points of interest within DVNP without a car isn’t feasible. For getting the most from touring, a Jeep ›
JANUARY 2020