I had the oppurtunity last weekend to spend a few days in Death Valley with my wife and son. It has was a great time especially with my 17 month old. I have always wanted to check out the racetrack and finally went out there with the family. After getting there I was impressed with the beauty of the area and my son could run to his hearts content on the playa, but where are the tracks? I checked every single rock (walked over 6 miles in the process) and only found a couple very, very faint tracks. I also found multiple fake tracks where someone obviously dragged a rock. There were also tire tracks, but not many rock tracks.
I assumed the tracks were more of a permenant feature, but after viewing first hand it looks like they must change on a regular basis (human timeline not geologic). I also assume the hand of man has had an unfortunate effect on this area. So is there a better time of year to visit the racetrack, or is just hit and miss? Or have I missed the oppurtunity to view another area that has been ruined by the disrespectful masses?
Thankfully we had fun as a family adventure...glad I didn't head out solo on this one!
Posted by Bill Langton on February 21, 2007 at 12:06 AM
Southeast corner of the playa is the best spot...not real obvious on your first visit.
Sounds like you had a good time anyway...
Bill
Posted by Jason Kim on February 21, 2007 at 12:08 AM
Jonathan,
Sorry to hear about your experience at the racetrack, but consider yourself lucky... I made a trip out there a couple of months ago and we blew TWO tires on the road out to the racetrack. That put a quick end to the trip. $900 bought a tow to Vegas, where we rented a new car and finally made it home to San Diego about 20 hours later. What a nightmare.
I am curious if it is worth giving it another try...
Tracks in playas - no matter the source - generally stay for a tremendous length of time (thus the admonition to never walk on the Racetrack Playa in wet conditions). You likely didn't go far enough to find the tracks. However, you may have encountered far fewer rocks than you should have. Being that it is the cosmic place that it is, and people love to collect tokens of their trips, it's my opinion that a great deal of the playa's rocks have been pilfered. I can find no other reason for a track without a rock at its terminus. The good news is that they constantly replenish from the slope on the south side that feeds rocks to the playa. The bad news is that if people continue to steal them at the rate they seem to be, it's not going to be the place that it once was.
Jason: blowouts seem to be commonplace on the road to the Racetrack. My advice for those inexperienced in offroad driving is slow way the heck down and/or air down your tires to 20-25 psi. You can refill them when you hit a service station. Watch your speed when you get back on pavement if your tires are aired down.
Posted by Kent Staubus on February 21, 2007 at 1:07 AM
it's my opinion that a great deal of the playa's rocks have been pilfered.
I never could understand people who like to screw things up for others, especially people who realize just how special a place like that is.
Well, I guess I didn't wander around enough. Next time I will check out the southeast corner. Are they pretty close to the edge of the playa?
Posted by Adam Kavalunas on February 21, 2007 at 9:14 AM
Johnathon,
When i first visited the racetrack myself, I felt the same way UNTIL i found the rocks. I originally stopped around the middle, where the main sign is, and just started walking around. Eventually i wandered over to the southern edge and found them. Just take the road all the way to the southern edge and park there. Its just a short walk over by the edge of the dark slope to find the majority of the rocks. BTW, after all my wandering, I read the main sign on the road near the middle of the racetrack, and it says that most are located at the southern edge, maybe from now on i should take my time and read a little more thoroughly! Take some binoc's next time and do a little surveying before you head out, you can see the majority of them with a good set of binoculars.
Posted by scott lanz on February 22, 2007 at 11:21 AM
I live in Ohio, and just returned from a trip to Death Valley which included a visit to the racetrack last weekend. I made it in a rented SUV with no problem, but was very nervous about getting a flat (having experienced that on the West Side road during my last visit to Death Valley). I drove slowly, and it took me over 1 and 1/2 hours to cover the 27 mile access road. I was able to find plenty of rocks w/tracks in the SE corner. Finding them without "people tracks" (i.e., footprints from idiots walking on the muddy playa) was harder. I also found lots of tracks without rocks, and I thought that the rocks must have been taken, as stupid as that sounds. Also, because it was President's Day weekend, there were lots of other people and photographers. I spent the night at the campground a mile or two past the racetrack, and had the racetrack to myself at dawn the next morning, at least for awhile. There was absolutely no wind that morning, and far out on the playa at dawn, there was complete and utter silence. The weather gods also provided some nice light and clouds at sunrise. It was the highlight of the trip. The racetrack is incredible.
Discussion
8 repliesI assumed the tracks were more of a permenant feature, but after viewing first hand it looks like they must change on a regular basis (human timeline not geologic). I also assume the hand of man has had an unfortunate effect on this area. So is there a better time of year to visit the racetrack, or is just hit and miss? Or have I missed the oppurtunity to view another area that has been ruined by the disrespectful masses?
Thankfully we had fun as a family adventure...glad I didn't head out solo on this one!
Sounds like you had a good time anyway...
Bill
Sorry to hear about your experience at the racetrack, but consider yourself lucky... I made a trip out there a couple of months ago and we blew TWO tires on the road out to the racetrack. That put a quick end to the trip. $900 bought a tow to Vegas, where we rented a new car and finally made it home to San Diego about 20 hours later. What a nightmare.
I am curious if it is worth giving it another try...
Jason
I never could understand people who like to screw things up for others, especially people who realize just how special a place like that is.
Kent in Chicago
When i first visited the racetrack myself, I felt the same way UNTIL i found the rocks. I originally stopped around the middle, where the main sign is, and just started walking around. Eventually i wandered over to the southern edge and found them. Just take the road all the way to the southern edge and park there. Its just a short walk over by the edge of the dark slope to find the majority of the rocks. BTW, after all my wandering, I read the main sign on the road near the middle of the racetrack, and it says that most are located at the southern edge, maybe from now on i should take my time and read a little more thoroughly! Take some binoc's next time and do a little surveying before you head out, you can see the majority of them with a good set of binoculars.