Methusela gove in Enyo?

I will be in Death Valley for a few days this June, and have always really wanted to visit the Methusela Grove trail in the Enyo mountains. Really inspired also by James Balog's work there in "Trees."

I am having a hard time getting firm information, many web sites seem to contradict each other. I know the Methusela grove trail itself is 4 miles long, but some sources seems to make it sound like this is a rigorous all day hike at high elevation, others suggest there is a visitor center very close. If anyone has ever been there can you please clarify how long and difficult it is to hike there, if you want to park where you can keep the hike as short as possible?

I will be driving up from Death Valley, which is about 6 hours away, so any pointers on time of day for best light would also be appreciated!

Thanks

I believe you're talking about the Bristlecone Pine SP area out of Big Pine. One reason
why it's rigorous is because the elevation is over 11,000 feet which makes breathing more
difficult. As I recall the visitor center is about 15 to 20 miles south at Schulman Grove.
To Schulman the road is paved. Beyond that it is unpaved and extremely bumpy. It's
passable with a regular passenger car, but I wouldn't use one because of the bumptiness.
I always took my truck on that road because it had better suspension to handle the
rough road.

There are two good trails to walk at Schulman. As I recall, one of them is about a mile and
a half round tirp and the other is 3 or 4 miles round trip. The higher area of the park that I spoke of about after making the drive on the unpaved road doesn't involve such great distances to walk. Be sure to take water on the trail and keep yourself hydrated to reduce the chances of altitude sickness, characterized by getting a headache. If that happens, I would suggest driving down out of there as soon as possible. When I've been there for
several hours on some occasions, I never saw anbody else. It's very isolated. To read
more information, go to BRISTLECONE PINE STATE PARK, CALIFORNIA. Have fun;
it's a great place to photograph.

Many of us know the Methalusa Trail is in the White Mountains, through the Schulman Grove. The visitor Center is right there and is now a trailer since the nice structure burned down last year. There is also a shorter Discovery Trail that is quite pleasing. It's only about four hours from Death Valley (Furnace Creek). Well worth it!

There are two trails right by the visitor center: Discovery Trail and Methuselah Trail. Discovery is relatively short and Methuselah is longer as you say. I stopped at the visitor center when I was there last year, but went on to Patriarch Grove and didn't do either Discovery or Methuselah trails. (Drove my Impreza to Patriarch Grove, long bumpy ride but no problems.) Expect to be a little extra winded, especially just after leaving DV below sea-level, but it won't take you all day. I think that area is all predominantly west-facing, so I'd recommend sunset. Galen Rowell took some amazing sunrise photos there, and those areas might be more out of the way, but that's just a guess.

Philip, all the comments listed have excellent information here. The only thing I might ask is what is your own ability at adjusting to altitude? Especially coming from DVNP at sea level and below, and then going possibly as high as the Patriarch Grove area.
I personally have never been one to adjust to altitudes easily, even at a very young age. My last trip to Patriarch Grove my wife and I had to hike almost 4 miles in and back out on the main dirt road as it was still closed due to spring thaws. I even have one image I captured back then with my wife standing right next to one of the 11,000 ft. level road side markers.
At the end of the day I knew the effect was taking over on me and I was moving toward the goofier side of things, more so then normal I might add. So, it is only a word of caution if you have issues with any altitude sickness.

The road to the Patriarch grove is easily done in a passenger car, but I recommend taking it slow. That road cause flats for me on two different trips. I was trying to glide along the top of the bumps. Going faster makes it smoother, but also increases the chance of a flat. I suggest letting some air out of your tires, then topping them off again in Big Pine.

As Paul said, the altitude can be a factor. The air is thin up there when coming up from sea level. But it is a very unique and beautiful spot, well worth the drive.

http://mapserver.mytopo.com/homepage/index.cfm then search for "Roberts Ridge" .

The Schulman Grove that contains Methusela is a bit southwest. The tree itself is near the east end of the dotted trail and for protection, not id'd.

As others have already stated, both Patriarch and Schuman Groves are well worth the drive. They are at high elevation and the road probably will not be open until mid-May. The drive out to Patriarch isn't too bad, just drive slowly and save your tires, as Harley recommended. Have fun. Best Regards.