Infos zum Death Valley NP

Heißester Septembertag weltweit
Neuer Hitzerekord im Death Valley aufgestellt

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Mit extremer Sommerhitze hält der September in Kalifornien Einzug. Seit Tagen warnen die Behörden vor möglichen Rekordtemperaturen, die bis Mitte kommender Woche über 40 Millionen Menschen in dem Westküstenstaat und benachbarten Regionen drohen.

Im kalifornischen Baker wurden am Mittwoch Höchsttemperaturen zwischen 108 und 110 Grad Fahrenheit gemessen, umgerechnet 42 bis 43 Grad Celsius. Noch heißer war es am Donnerstag im Furnace Creek Visitor Center im Death Valley National Park. Hier wurde sogar eine Höchsttemperatur von 53 Grad Celsius gemessen, der bisher heißeste aufgezeichnete Septembertag auf der ganzen Welt. Wetterexperten halten weitere Rekorde in den kommenden Tagen für möglich. Das Death Valley hält den Weltrekord für den heißesten Platz der Erde. Am 10. Juli 1913 wurden dort 56,7 Grad Celsius registriert.

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Remnants of Hurricane Kay cause road closures
CA-190 and Badwater Road temporarily closed

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Storms fueled by the remnants of Hurricane Kay caused localized, heavy damage in Death Valley National Park on Saturday afternoon, September 10. California highway 190 (CA-190) is closed from CA-136 junction to Stovepipe Wells Village. Badwater Road is fully closed. Many other park roads are still closed from floods five weeks ago.

The flooding across Badwater Road was concentrated from Natural Bridge to Badwater Basin, mileposts 10-16. Park rangers received warnings about the storm’s path about an hour in advance from the National Weather Service. Rangers warned people to leave the area. One RV was unable to leave until the National Park Service (NPS) road crew cleared a single administrative lane Sunday morning.

Also on Saturday afternoon, about 40 vehicles were blocked by active flooding CA-190 west of Towne Pass. At the same time, a tour bus got wheels stuck in soft sand while trying to turn around. The bus blocked both lanes of CA-190 for about an hour, east of Stovepipe Wells. Most vehicles were able to get around the bus on the shoulder, but a semi truck and an RV had to wait.

CA-190 has at least once section of missing pavement across both lanes on the west side of Towne Pass. Caltrans has not provided an estimate for when the road segment will reopen.

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Mexican earthquake sloshes Devils Hole

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In a surprising quirk of geology, Monday’s magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Mexico triggered four-foot-tall waves in Devils Hole, located in Death Valley National Park. Video footage of the “desert tsunami” is available below.

The earthquake shook the Mexican states of Colima and Michoacán at 11:05 am Pacific Daylight Time. Twenty-two minutes later, water started sloshing 1,500 miles away in Devils Hole. The waves reached 4 feet high around 11:35 am.

Devils Hole is a partially water-filled limestone cave in a Nye County, Nevada unit of Death Valley National Park. The cave is hundreds of feet deep, but the endangered Devils Hole pupfish depend upon algae that grows on a shallow, sunlit shelf.

Monday’s waves, technically known as a seiche, stirred the sediment and rocks on the shallow shelf, also removing much of the algae growth. In the short term, this reduces food available to the pupfish.

“The pupfish have survived several of these events in recent years,” said Kevin Wilson, National Park Service aquatic ecologist. “We didn’t find any dead fish after the waves stopped.”The Devils Hole pupfish population have been on an upswing lately.

Nine years ago, there were only 35 fish in their natural habitat. In March this year, the population was up to 175 fish. The annual fall pupfish count is planned for this weekend.

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Badwater And Wildrose Reopen But Many Roads Still Closed In Death Valley

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Death Valley National Park is still recovering from flash floods in August and September. While the National Park Service (NPS) opened parts of Badwater Road and Wildrose late afternoon on September 21, many roads are still closed, leaving no road connecting the eastern and western parts of the park.
Badwater Road is open from CA-190 to Badwater Basin. This provides access to the iconic salt flats located 282 feet below sea level at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the United States. Artists Drive and Golden Canyon Trail are also open. Natural Bridge, Devils Golf Course, and West Side Roads are closed pending repairs. Badwater Road is closed from Badwater Basin to CA-178 and Shoshone, CA.
Emigrant Canyon and Upper Wildrose are also open. This provides access to four high-elevation free campgrounds: Emigrant, Wildrose, Thorndike, and Mahogany Flat. Wildrose Peak Trail and Telescope Peak Trail are available, and early fall is a great time to hike at high elevations.
There are no through-roads open in Death Valley National Park and most Park entrance roads are closed.
Drivers should check the Park’s website for current road conditions: nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm. Mapping apps should not be relied upon because they have been repeatedly showing closed roads as open.
Some backcountry roads have been so damaged that the road corridor is no longer clear. Those roads, including Racetrack, Cottonwood/Marble, Titus Canyon, Echo, and Hole in the Wall, are closed until the NPS can re-establish the legal route.
Flash floods occurred in the park on July 29 and 31; August 5, 16, 18, and 25; and September 10, 11, and 13. NPS, Caltrans, and Inyo County road crews have cleared and re-cleared roads over this time.

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Free mandatory permits for roadside camping and backpacking

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As temperatures cool, Death Valley National Park is opening campgrounds. The National Park Service (NPS) and Caltrans are making progress reopening flood-damaged roads. Free permits will be required for overnight camping along the park’s most popular backcountry roads and trails.

Texas Springs Campground and Stovepipe Wells Campground will open at noon on October 15. A water system issue in Sunset Campground will delay that site’s opening until October 24. All of the park’s campgrounds are first-come, first-served, except for Furnace Creek Campground, which can be reserved at Recreation.gov.

Seven storms caused a series of flash floods from late July through mid-September. Navigation apps are giving travelers incorrect information about road conditions in the park. Only sections of California Highway 190 are open. Towne Pass, between Emigrant Junction and Panamint Valley on CA-190, will likely remain closed until mid-November. Complete information on road closures are on the park’s website at nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm.

The flash floods also benefited the landscape: they erased some human impacts. The NPS is using this natural reset as a time to implement free mandatory permits for roadside camping and backpacking in the most heavily-used areas, to prevent damage from occurring again.

Free permits are required for roadside camping along Echo Canyon, Hole in the Wall, Marble Canyon, and Cottonwood Canyon Roads. Free permits are also required for overnight camping along the Cottonwood-Marble Canyons Loop. Backpacking and roadside camping permits are not required for any other area of the park, but they are encouraged.

The floods obliterated sections of many roads. In some cases, it’s not even clear where unpaved roads used to be. Park rangers closed some of the park’s backcountry roads until the legal roadways are re-established. NPS road crews are prioritizing clearing paved roads, and are likely to start work on unpaved roads in November.

“The floods gave us a chance to reconsider acceptable levels of camping impacts in these popular areas,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “Park visitation has doubled over the past decade, which has resulted in crowding on backcountry roads adjacent to developed areas like Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells.”

Permits are a way for park rangers to communicate with campers about Leave No Trace ethics, NPS regulations and other ways users can help protect the environment. Park staff compare usage information from permits with resource impacts on the ground to determine if use limitations are needed to protect the fragile desert. Permits are also valuable during search-and-rescue efforts.

Roadside camping permits are issued for nine campsites along Echo Canyon Road, six along Hole in the Wall Road, ten along Cottonwood Canyon Road, and four along Marble Canyon Road. No camping is allowed along these roads, except with a permit in designated site. The mandatory permits for roadside camping are free, and are available only in person at Furnace Creek Visitor Center (8:00 am to 5:00 pm) and Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station (intermittent hours). Roadside camping permits are issued on the day of, or one day in advance of, the first night of the permit. Permits are first-come, first-served, and cannot be reserved in advance.

Backpackers can get no cost permits for the Cottonwood-Marble Canyons Loop during business hours at Furnace Creek Visitor Center or Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station, online at nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/wilderness-permits.htm, or at the 24-hour self-service drop box outside Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station. These permits are not for specific campsites, and there are no limits on the number of permits issued.

“We really wanted to find a way to make the permits both free and reservable online,” said Superintendent Reynolds. “Unfortunately, we can only issue permits in person. We are likely to consider an online reservation option for 2023/2024, but that would require charging a fee.”

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State Route 190 partially reopens after floods

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Caltrans has reopened parts of State Route 190 between U.S. 395 and Panamint Valley Road after flooding closed it.
The stretch was officially opened Wednesday night, nearly a month after being initially closed.
The closure between Dirty Socks Hot Spring and Darwin Road on SR 190 has also been lifted, and vehicles can now use the west entrance to Death Valley National Park and Panamint Springs from U.S. 395 in Lone Pine and Olancha.
Emergency work will now move on to SR 190 over Towne Pass. That section of highway, which extends from Panamint Valley Road to Emigrant Junction, remains closed to all vehicles.
Caltrans will provide a detour around Towne Pass is available using Death Valley National Park roads, but vehicle restrictions do still apply.

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Decisions made on proposed Stovepipe Wells improvements

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The National Park Service (NPS) has released its decision in the Environmental Assessment of proposed improvements in Stovepipe Wells and surrounding areas. The proposed actions include upgrades and changes to utilities, roads, parking areas, campgrounds, and buildings. The original proposal to remove Stovepipe Wells Airstrip was not included in the decision document.

The proposed projects include:
Replace parts of the water and wastewater systems at Stovepipe Wells and Emigrant.
Improve flood control.
Rehabilitate and interpret the historic Emigrant Junction.
Replace Stovepipe Wells Visitor Contact Station and add an adjacent day-use area with picnic tables and outdoor interpretive signs.
Replace the emergency services building, which is too small for the Park’s ambulance.
Redesign Stovepipe Wells Campground, which is currently is a gravel parking area with only one restroom.
Improve Mosaic Canyon Road, parking lot, and trailhead. The NPS will consider a range of surfaces to reduce dust and stabilize the two-mile unpaved road.

Some members of the public suggested that Furnace Creek Airstrip and Stovepipe Wells Airstrip should be evaluated and considered in relation to each other. Park staff agreed with this suggestion, and propose to do a more thorough evaluation of pavement conditions, funding availability for maintenance, Timbisha Shoshone Tribal concerns with overflights of their village, and pilot preference. This will review options for maintaining each of the airstrips’ paved runways, converting them to gravel runways, or removing either or both of them. The NPS has struggled to obtain funding to maintain the paved runways, which are deteriorating.

The EA process allowed the NPS to evaluate the cumulative effect of multiple projects in the same area. NPS officials say they do not have funding for most of these projects yet. Once each project is funded, architects and engineers will prepare detailed designs. Additional historic and environmental reviews of these designs may be needed before construction begins.

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Beatty entrance to DVNP open
Caution required due to gravel sections

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Daylight Pass and Beatty Cutoff Roads opened on Monday, November 7. This provides access from Beatty, Nevada into Death Valley National Park. Standard passenger cars can use the road, but drivers should be cautious due to short gravel sections.

“We are so excited to reopen the road to our neighbors in Beatty!” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “Visitors now have easier access to lodging and supplies in this important park gateway community.”

Daylight Pass and Beatty Cutoff have been closed since August 5, when record-setting rainfall caused flash floods across the park. Federal Highways Administration contractors cut out damaged pavement, removed large amounts of debris from the road surface, and filled in shoulders and missing road sections. The contractors will repave damaged sections early in 2023, but the road will remain open during that construction.

Many other roads in the park remain closed, including Towne Pass section of CA-190. Visitors should check road conditions on the park webpage: nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm.

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Towne Pass section of CA-190 open

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Towne Pass section of CA-190 is now open to all vehicles. This provides access from the west into Death Valley National Park.
Caltrans completed work on this section of the road over the weekend, allowing visitors to once again travel between Panamint Valley and Emigrant via CA-190.
The Towne Pass section of CA-190 has been closed since September, when rainfall caused flash floods to wipe away pavement. Many other roads in the park remain closed due to the August and September floods Death Valley received.

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Cottonwood Canyon and Marble Canyon backcountry roads reopen
Free permits required for roadside camping and backpacking

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Death Valley National Park opened Cottonwood Canyon and Marble Canyon roads on Wednesday, November 23. The National Park Service (NPS) road crew re-established these backcountry roads after damage by flash floods this summer. A free permit is now required to camp along these backcountry roads and for backpacking along the Cottonwood-Marble Canyons Loop.
The Cottonwood and Marble Canyon Roads are accessible to high-clearance vehicles with all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. The road corridor beings with 4 miles of deep sand that is not typically passable for a low clearance vehicle.
There are ten campsites along Cottonwood Canyon Road and four along Marble Canyon Road. For information on how to acquire a free permit, visit nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/wilderness-permits
Roadside camping has greatly increased over the past decade. As sites filled, people drove off road to create new sites. Permits are a way for park rangers to communicate with campers about Leave No Trace ethics, NPS regulations and other ways users can help protect the environment. By limiting roadside camping to designated sites, the NPS hopes campers can experience the solitude and quiet of the surrounding wilderness and limit the human impact on the desert.
Many other roads in the park remain closed. Visitors should check the most up to date road conditions on the park webpage.

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Badwater Road & Shoshone entrance re-opened

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Badwater Road and CA-178 opened on December 7. This provides direct access to Death Valley National Park from Shoshone, CA via the park’s southeast entrance. Some park roads remain closed as recovery continues from a series of flash floods in August and September.

“This opens up the southern end of the park,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “People can now visit Ashford Mills and enjoy the popular hikes in Sidewinder and Willow Canyons.”

Many unpaved roads in the southern end of the park also reopened on December 7, including Harry Wade, Owls Hole, West Side, Trail Canyon, Hanaupah Canyon, Johnson Canyon, Queen of Sheba Mine, and Galena Canyon Roads. The National Park Service (NPS) warns drivers to expect rougher conditions than normal, especially on the 4x4 roads.

The popular 4x4 route through Warm Springs over Mengel Pass to Goler Wash is only partially open. No through traffic is allowed between Warm Springs Camp and Butte Valley until the road route is re-established by the NPS.

North Highway, Mud Canyon Road, Titus Canyon Road, Racetrack Road, and some other roads remain closed while debris continues to be removed and they are made safe for travel. More information on park roads is online: nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/conditions.htm.

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Park reopens more flood-damage areas

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North Highway reopens

On Thursday afternoon, the National Park Service reopened North Highway. This paved road had been closed since August 5, 2022 due to extensive flood damage.

North Highway provides access to Mesquite Springs Campground and Ubehebe Crater, both of which are also now open.

A contractor replaced washed-away asphalt and road base, removed up to 3 feet of debris from the road surface, and filled in undercut shoulders. Drivers should use caution until the end of February as road striping and other detail work will continue with delays possible.

The project was funded by Federal Highway Administration via the Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads (ERFO) program. ERFO assists federal agencies with the repair or reconstruction of federally owned roads that are open to public travel, which are found to have suffered serious damage by a natural disaster over a wide area or by a catastrophic failure.

Some northern park roads are still closed. Mud Canyon, Racetrack Road, and the two-way end of Titus Canyon Road are likely to open by late February. Scotty’s Castle will remain closed through August 2024.

Park is beautiful without a ‘superbloom’

‘Superbloom’ is an unofficial term used to describe unusually spectacular spring blooms. In Death Valley National Park, this event happens about once a decade.

“Death Valley is beautiful – with or without a carpet of flowers,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “This spring we are predicting an average flower bloom.”

While the park is not forecasting a superbloom, there should be flowers in low elevations from late February through early April. Higher elevations will bloom through June.

The park received record rainfall during last summer’s monsoon season. August 5 was the rainiest day ever recorded at the Furnace Creek weather station: 1.70 inches. For context, the park averages 2.20 inches -- over a full year.

However, timing is everything. “Rain on Tuesday does not always yield flowers on Thursday,” Reynolds quipped. “But rain in August may be too early to sprout flowers in March.”

Fall rain appears to be a key ingredient in the last three superblooms. The spectacular flower displays of 1998, 2005, and 2016 were preceded by 1.6, 2.7, and 1.3 inches of fall rain. Death Valley received about 0.3 inches of rain last fall.

“The canyons, sand dunes, and night skies here are amazing,” said Reynolds. “And spring is an ideal time to visit Death Valley.”

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Mud Canyon and Racetrack Roads opened

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Death Valley National Park recently reopened Mud Canyon Road and Racetrack Road. Both roads were closed since August 2022 due to flash flood damage.

Mud Canyon Road is a paved road that links the park to Beatty, Nevada. A contractor rebuilt destroyed sections of the road, under a project administered by Federal Highway Administration.

Racetrack Road is an unpaved road from Ubehebe Crater to Racetrack Playa, the infamous location where rocks occasionally slide around, leaving tracks in the dry lakebed. Flooding had erased sections of the road. National Park Service maintenance workers graded the road and reestablished the route. Racetrack Road is only suitable for high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicles with sturdy tires, due to sharp rocks.

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Death Valley National Park to move to cashless fee collection starting June 1, 2023

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The National Park Service (NPS) will only accept credit or debit card payments for camping and entrance fees in Death Valley National Park starting June 1, 2023.

Last year the park collected $22,000 in cash, which cost over $40,000 to process. Cash handling costs include an armored car contract to transport cash and park rangers’ time counting money and processing paperwork.

The transition to cashless payments will allow the NPS to redirect the $40,000 previously spent processing cash to directly benefit park visitors.

Entrance and camping fees are used to improve visitor experiences in national parks. In Death Valley National Park, these funds are currently used to clean public restrooms, lead school field trips, host distance learning classroom sessions, provide emergency medical services, repair flood damage at Scotty’s Castle, and more.

Visitors can use cash to purchase the $30 per vehicle park entrance 7-day pass at several partner locations:

Charles Brown General Store (Shoshone, CA)

Death Valley Natural History Association (Furnace Creek Visitor Center)

Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association (Lone Pine Visitor Center)

Panamint Springs Resort

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Park rangers warn about interacting with wildlife

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Park rangers are reminding the public not to touch, handle, or feed wildlife. Two recent incidents Death Valley National Park show the risks to human and wildlife from these interactions: a woman was bitten by a bat with rabies and a coyote was struck by a car.

On April 28, a bat was seen behaving strangely. It was sitting on top of a garbage can outside the Stovepipe Wells general store. A concession employee moved the bat away from the public space. The bat bit her through her nitrile gloves. National Park Service employees collected the bat, and California Department of Public Health tested it for rabies. On May 2, the woman was informed that the bat did have rabies. She is being treated for rabies exposure.

Anyone who may have had contact with this bat should contact Inyo County Health Department at 760-873-7868 for medical guidance.

Rabies is usually fatal, unless treated before symptoms begin. Humans can get rabies through contact with an infected animal's saliva, such as a bite or scratch. Any mammal can carry rabies. People should be especially concerned when an animal is behaving aggressively or does not show a normal fear of humans.

Bats are an important part of the ecosystem. At least nine species of insect-eating bats live in Death Valley National Park. Typically, less than 1% of bats have rabies. Bats—and all other native wildlife—are protected within the park.

On April 20, a coyote was struck by a vehicle on CA-190 near the intersection with Badwater Road. The coyote limped away, and it is not known if it survived.

Some coyotes in the park have learned to associate vehicles with people feeding them, which is illegal in the national park. Habituated coyotes have learned that they can stop traffic by walking in front of moving vehicles.

How to stay safe around wildlife

Never approach, touch, feed, or pick up a wild animal. Please enjoy wildlife from a safe distance.

If you see sick, dead, or erratic behaving wildlife in the park, notify a park employee.

Consult with your doctor in the event you have contacted an animal thought to be rabid.

In areas where pets are allowed, make sure that pets are always vaccinated and kept on a leash.

Stay out of mine openings and other places bats are likely to roost.

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