Warm Springs Road - Death Valley

When thinking overland, there is nothing more exciting and scary sounding than the words, "Death Valley." This is only a couple of the reasons Warm Springs Road makes many different top 5 or top 10 offroad / overland trails lists. That is, Death Valley National Park might just be one of the best overland and 4x4 trips in all of California and possibly the United States. This unique off-road trip takes you down the historic and scenic backcountry of what might be one of the worlds most famous locations. Along this offroad trail, you will come across many abandoned mines, abandoned cabins, trickling streams, and even water crossings. Did we mention an abandoned swimming pool? Yes, that is right, a swimming pool in Death Valley. Warm Springs trail itself is rather tame and easy to navigate for even the newest of offroad drivers. The trail is perfect for stock Toyota 4Runners, Tacoma's, Jeep Wranglers, and pickup trucks. But if you would like to make this trip into an exciting camping and overland trip, many offroad enthusiasts take this Jeep Trail all the way through the mountain range to Panamint Valley. To do this you take Warm Springs, to Butte Valley, then continue through Mengal Pass, to Goler Wash stopping at the Barker Ranch aka Manson Ranch, and dropping to Panamint Valley. Please note, the trail through Mengal Pass is much more difficult then Warm Springs Road. Stock vehicles are still capable of completing Mengel Pass but might need spotting or rock stacking to complete the trail. More equipped vehicles like the Jeep Rubicon, Toyota's TRD platform and P/U's like the Colorado ZR2 will be better suited for that section of the adventure. If you plan on this extended overland trip, plan this over a weekend because this trip takes about 2 days with all the scenic and historic stops along the trail. There is ample dispersed camping along the route and which the abandon cabins make for an awesome night of camping. Thus, when planning your next epic off-road vacation, think nothing less then Warm Springs Road / Canyon because this 4wd enthusiast overland trip is something everyone should experience at least once in their life.