Park #1: Death Valley NP (California)

The adventure begins! Although I didn't know it at the time, Death Valley would be stop #1 on our quest to hit all 59 National Parks. We visited DV in April 2017 on our trailer's inaugural voyage. Death Valley has a desolate beauty that has to be experienced to be truly appreciated. We marveled at the fact that, at times, we were likely the only people within a square mile or more of our location. That is not something that one can often claim. We went with friends of ours who had been to the park several times before and acted as our guides. A few things to keep in mind about our trip:

We stuck to the backcountry of Death Valley and traveled by windy, bumpy dirt roads for the majority of our trip. In order to visit the areas discussed below you will need a 4WD vehicle--the shorter the wheel base the better as some of the roads have tight curves and narrow dramatically. Developed campgrounds are available off paved roads within the valley. The only one we saw personally was in Furnace Creek and it was mainly an exposed, dirt area. If you can handle it, I recommend the back country 100%.
Print your maps and know your way. You will get no cell service in the backcountry. Know where you are going, download maps ahead of time or throw it back to the time of paper maps. The park is huge. Know where you are headed. We brought a satellite phone just in case but never had to use it (which is, after all, the goal).
This is dry camping. Bring all the water you will need and, I would suggest, some sort of bathroom facility (either a portable toilet or a shovel, your choice). While we stayed in a campground 3 out of 4 nights, the "facility" at one campground was a potta-potty that had seen better days... in the 70's... when it was likely placed there.
We went in the spring and the weather was in the 70s and 80s during the day. If you go in the summer, it is a whole different ball game. Signs recommend not hiking past 10am. So there is that.

Our goal for the first night was to reach Warm Springs in the Saline Valley. Warm Springs has a campground with pit toilets and several warm spring pools. The pools are fed by a natural spring that have been piped into concrete pools. While they are not hot springs, they are certainly comfortable enough to hang out in. The campground is manned by a full time resident who has set up a dwelling for himself and maintains the facilities. The pools are regularly drained and cleaned. We watched them do this once a day while we were visiting. While it is free to stay at the campground, the general rule is that you bring something to leave behind for residents and visitors (toilet paper, food, water, etc).

Note that we are clothed (#yourewelcome). This is not the case for all visitors. We had to have a conversation with our 10-year olds as they struggled with the idea of "clothing optional." At one point they were completely thrown off by a guy wearing only flip flops with a town draped over his shoulder. Why a person with a perfectly good towel would choose to use it as a shoulder drape and not a sarong of some sort was a conundrum that almost caused their 10 year-old heads to explode. Our three year-old however, was totally cool with it. He is a man to which no pair of pants is a friend. As evidenced by the double thumbs up above, Saline Valley was his happy place.

While all pools are clothing optional, one of the pools in the upper springs, where we camped, is generally agreed to be the "family spring," where people mainly wear swimsuits. This was true 90% of the time (for the other 10% there was an older gentleman doing a back float with not a care in the world for a solid 10 minutes)--do a quick sight check if you are worried about it.

We entered the park and drove to Warm Spring through Big Pine, CA. You drive a short, paved section on Highway 168 and then take a right onto Death Valley Road. From there you are on dirt roads. Google Maps will give you turn by turn directions that you can download ahead of time. Once you enter the Saline Valley you will see a group of palm trees--that is the campground. If you pass a huge metal weather vane, and a few donkeys, you're almost there! Although still rocky, this drive was the easiest of the roads we drove during our trip. If you want to experience the backcountry without getting too crazy, Warm Springs will be your jam.

We stayed in Warm Springs for two nights. During our full day we walked down to the lower springs, the kids splashed to their hearts content, and we played a few rounds of bocce ball. Fighter jets regularly make practice flights over the valley so we were also able to watch them and the contrails that they left behind.

Following Saline Valley, we decided to head to Racetrack. Racetrack is pretty much the coolest place in the whole world. The science nerd in me was buzzing with intrigue at the rocks that move along the playa, leaving trails behind them. Read a National Geographic article on the Racetrack rocks here.

We took a plastic bowling set out on the playa for a quick game. Although the playa is a very hard, dry, cracked surface, you have to be careful as it can chip. Once a chip or gouge is made it stays for years as the area gets very little rain.

We camped at Homestake Dry Camp (home to the porta-potty from the dark ages). This was a one nighter as the campground is pretty exposed and can be windy. It was worth it for the proximity to Racetrack, however. In the morning the kids climbed the Grandstand for awhile before we headed out for our last stop.

After playing on the Grandstand we drove through Tea Kettle junction and a beautiful Joshua tree grove on our way to Panamint Valley. We tried to camp in Panamint but the wind was too intense. After being poked in the eye by dust, my own hair, and several chid fingers and/or elbows (this was unrelated to the wind), we packed it up and found a more sheltered spot.

The following day our friends headed out and we checked out the Furnace Creek area, sand dunes (spoiler: they were unbearably hot), and Mosaic Canyon before heading for home.

Although this was my first time, I will be back to Death Valley. It is beautiful in a distinctive and unique way that I have never experienced before. Here are the take away messages about what we learned and loved!

Moisturizer is your friend. This place is dry. Like, real, real, dry.
A solar shower is a must. After several days of dust and grime, taking a walk into a tiny canyon with some hot water and a container of Dr. Bronner's soap was like a day at the spa.
Donkey's eat sponges. At night. While you are sleeping. Put those things away.
The travel between spots is short in milage and long in hours. The going is slow. Enjoy the ride but stay a couple of days at each spot if you want a more relaxing trip.
Bring sand toys. My son spent many a happy hour in the dirt with a shovel and a bucket.
Bikes are a great thing. Our kids rode all over at each campsite. You can see for miles (although they didn't go that far) so they aren't apt to get lost. They were able to have mini-adventures of their own while we made dinner or, let's be real, had drinks.
Inflatable solar lanterns are a wonderful invention. Get some!
Check the phase of the moon before you go. The stars at this place are supposedly off the chain. We wouldn't know because it was a full moon most nights we were there. The place was lit up like a football field each night, which meant we missed out on Death Valley stargazing--which is supposed to be epic.
Slot Canyons! There are so many of them and we did not have a chance to check any out. Supposedly you can drive into some of them and find awesome camping spots. Next time!

One park down, fifty-eight to go. Happy travels!