Death Valley Opens Roads to Cool Mountain Getaways After Devastating Floods
Death Valley National Park has finally reopened key mountain routes that were destroyed by historic flooding, giving visitors a chance to escape the desert’s notorious heat as summer approaches.
The park has restored access to Emigrant Canyon Road, a 21-mile paved route that leads to higher elevations where temperatures are significantly cooler. This reopening comes just in time, as Death Valley’s temperatures have already climbed into the low 100s this spring.
A year’s worth of rain
The road suffered extensive damage during flash floods in August 2023, when remnants of Hurricane Hilary dumped ‘a year’s worth of rain for the park, in just one day’, writes FOX Weather. The flooding created drop-offs up to 6 feet deep along the road, forcing the National Park Service to close it for months while conducting major repairs to protect against future floods.
Park visitors can now access Wildrose Campground at 4,000 feet elevation, where temperatures are about 15 degrees cooler than at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. For those seeking even cooler conditions, Thorndike and Mahogany Flat campgrounds sit at 8,000 feet above sea level, offering temperatures up to 30 degrees cooler than Furnace Creek.
Park’s highest point
“Mahogany Flat is where the trail to reach Telescope Peak, the park’s highest point at over 11,000 feet, begins”, the NPS noted. Officials reminded visitors that no water is available at these sites, so they must bring their own supplies.
The restoration of these routes provides crucial relief as Death Valley approaches its scorching summer months, when temperatures at lower elevations like Furnace Creek can reach record highs of 134 degrees.
