Detour #46: Death Valley, USA
Welcome to the hottest place on the planet. This unforgiving moonscape reached a temperature of 56.7 degrees centigrade in 1913. And even on a brisk winter’s day seldom drops below 20 degrees. It’s so harsh that there are parts where nothing - not a living thing - grows.
Like many people I first drove through Death Valley on my way to Las Vegas from San Francisco. Our rented Cadillac De Ville was a pig to manhandle on the twisty roads through Yosemite, but, with its Northstar V8 advertised to be able to run for 100 miles with no coolant, we reckoned it’d be just the job to to take on the world’s hottest road.
Leaving the forests behind we headed south on 395 to Olancha where the journey into Death Valley begins. But before taking 190 east, we stocked up. Water (for us, not the Caddy obviously), snacks and a full tank of gas.
With the epic Mount Whitney in our rear view mirror we passed the mostly dry bed of Owen’s Lake, the 190 reaching for the horizon, and the Caddy’s cruise control engaged. Not for long, though. Approaching Panamint Springs the road took a series of unexpected twists and turns, the De Ville lurching from corner to corner on its wallowy suspension. In another car this might be an excuse to press on and enjoy the odd apex. We slowed down to avoid motion sickness.
We soon descended into Panamint Valley, the road once again arrow straight for miles until the climb over Towne Pass (taken slowly, thank you Cadillac suspension). Officially now inside Death Valley National Park the 190 meanders gently towards Stovepipe Wells before veering right to Beatty Junction and then Furnace Creek, the ultimate hotspot where that temperature record was set. People actually camp here, hiking up to Zabriskie Point for the all-important social media shots. It was only a matter of minutes outside in this vast, desolate oven before we were pining for the car’s ice cold a/c.
Death Valley Junction sits on the California-Nevada border and marks the official end of the drive, but by now, like us you’ll be looking for civilisation. Just don’t expect to find it in Pahrump. You will find fairground rides, gambling and hookers (welcome to Nevada) but the bright lights of Las Vegas are only an hour down the road, where you can cool off by a pool, chilled beer in hand.
Words Nik Berg Twitter | Instagram
Photography Pietro de Grandi / Yannic Alderach / Thomas van der Vennet / Sung Shin / Unsplash
ROADBOOK
Class: Desert Drive
Name: Death Valley Road
Route: Olancha, CA to Pahrump, NV
Country: USA
Distance: 160 miles