returnoftheyeti

Headed to Death Valley at the end of June and currently planning on spending two nights at the Oasis Death Valley.

I am starting to rethink this, as there will not be much hiking, obviously due to the heat.

The Drive from Tonopah is only a couple hours, so we figure half a day or so in Tonopah, drive to Death Valley, and see the sights along the way.

If we spend one night in the Furnace Creek area, and drive out towards Panamint Springs, where should we go from there? Lake Isabella? Mojave?

Zorak

If you're willing to loop back north, and provided it opens in time, maybe Devil's Postpile?

Mono Lake is nearby too.

azepine00

395 corridor and all sierra passes can offer a lot of interesting options - i really dont see much appeal in DV in summer

DELee

hot.

David

mlshanks

Like to take it off the beaten path? If you don't mind spectacular mountain road driving, how about going over Sherman Pass North of Lake Isabella, and then going south along the Kern River to Kernville? You turn West off 395 onto 9 Mile Canyon Road, a bit more than 30 miles South of Olancha.(make sure you fill your tank up in Olancha, there are no service stations along this route) 9 mile Canyon Road turns into Kennedy Meadows Road and will eventually reach the Kennedy Meadows General Store, which is a great place to grab lunch. (101 miles from Panamint Springs) Heading West from there the road turns into Sherman Pass Road (Forest Rte 22S0) and winds 44 miles Westward over the pass and dowm into the Kern River gorge, where you'll turn south on Mountain Highway 99 for 20 miles to Kernville. It's about 5 hours of driving...plus any time you want to spend exploring.

Want the scenery highlights? Here's a motorcycle trip over the pass...

RichardInSF

June is a good time to tour the attractions along US395, although it is still possible that some mountain roads (especially dead end ones, like Whitney Portal) may still be closed due to snow. Probably not this year, however, so you may be one of the few who benefits from our low rainfall.

Death Valley, as others have already pointed out, is a different story. Unless this is the only time in your life that you will be nearby, I'd skip it entirely. Otherwise, I'd definitely not do more than one night.

In addition to the attractions already mentioned along US395, I'd consider visiting the Alabama Hills, Manzanar memorial, and Bodie ghost town state park. You might consider taking one of the more scenic Sierra passes to get back to SF, such as Tioga pass if it is open, or the two lane passes further north if it is not open.