Death Valley Books

Death Valley Road Trip, Camping Death Valley National Park, Mojave Desert California

Dante’s View, DVNP

Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is one of the hottest places on Earth.

Bad Water

The Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. It is located 85 miles east-southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet.

Tallest Peak

The highest point in Death Valley National Park is Telescope Peak, in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet. This is one of the few spots that you can see the lowest point and the highest peak in the lower 48 states.

Lying mostly in Inyo County, California, near the border of California and Nevada, in the Great Basin, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve. It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west; the Grapevine Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 sq miles.

Desert Climate

Death Valley has a subtropical, hot desert climate, with long, extremely hot summers; short, mild winters; and little rainfall.

The valley is extremely dry, because it lies in the rain shadow of four major mountain ranges (including the Sierra Nevada and Panamint Range). Moisture moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass eastward over the mountains to reach Death Valley; as air masses are forced upward by each range, they cool and moisture condenses, to fall as rain or snow on the western slopes. When the air masses reach Death Valley, most of the moisture has already been lost and there is little left to fall as precipitation.

Amargosa Opera House @ Death Valley Junction

Death Valley Books

Cucamonga Wilderness Map

USDA Cucamonga Wilderness Map

2024 update: USGS may actually have this older paper map

alternate map:

San Gabriel Mountains Map
by Wilderness Press

w/ Cucamonga Wilderness, Sheep Mountain Wilderness, San Gabriel Wilderness and Magic Mountain Wilderness

Cucamonga Wilderness Hiking Map, Angeles National Forest, San Gabriel Forests, Lytle Creek Routes, Mount Baldy Ski Area, West Baldy, Devils Backbone, Mt. Baldy Trails, Manker Flats, Stockton Flats, Mt. San Antonio, Telegraph Peak, Icehouse Canyon, Thunder Mountain, Timber Mountain, Cucamonga Peak. Waterproof plastic map.

Mt Baldy photo by Chris DiNenna

trails

Hiking trails reach the summit from four sides of the mountain, and one route can be completed with assistance from the nearby ski lift. The trails vary in difficulty, and there are plenty of options for novices, as well as experienced hikers.

Mt. Baldy Notch – (3.5 miles one way): The trail begins at Manker Flats, where the Baldy Notch Service Road can be taken to the notch. The trail provides scenic views at the notch, and other trails ahead.

Devil’s Backbone – (3.2 miles one way from Notch: A service road at Mt. Baldy Notch leads to the Devil’s Backbone trailhead and continues to the main peak.

Mt. Baldy Trail – (6.5 miles one way to Mt. Baldy Summit): This is the oldest and longest trail to the summit. Because it starts at Mt. Baldy Village, it has almost 6000′ of elevation gain.

Icehouse Canyon – (3.7 miles one way): The Icehouse Canyon trail begins in the parking lot at Icehouse and goes all the way up to Icehouse Saddle where a number of trails can be taken either to the Notch or to nearby peaks such as Ontario and Cucamonga. (5.5 miles).

Ski Hut Trail – This trail follows the east side of the San Antonio Creek canyon to a small backcountry ski hut owned by the Sierra Club. A use trail continues around the left side of the bowl and then to the summit.

Three T’s – (5.3 miles one way): The trail starts and ends at the Icehouse Canyon Trailhead. It leads to views from the summits of Thunder, Timber and Telegraph Mountains.

hikers map

Red Rock Canyon Map

Spring Mountains
Red Rock Canyon
Vegas Hiking Map

Spring Mountains National Recreation Area / Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area / Las Vegas District BLM

Red Rock Canyon Map – VEGAS RED ROCK: BLM & USFS paper map includes a few parks and hiking trails near Las Vegas, NV. Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest, BLM lands, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, plus the very popular attraction, Red Rock Canyon (only minutes outside of the city). Nevada Travel Outdoors. USDA National Forest Map. Printed on paper in 1997.

Red Rock Canyon Map

Red Rock Canyon Maps

hikers map

best vegas outdoors

One of the cheapest winter vacations around – ONLY IF you can stay outta the casinos!

Desert day hikes, snow play, waterfalls (Mt Charleston) and petroglyphs (Valley of Fire), plus cheap hotel at night. Make VEGAS an outdoor destination, instead of an indoor, air-conditioned fantasy land.

camp map

Camping near Las Vegas can be windy during any time of year, or brutal triple-digit heat during the summer months.

Red Rock BLM Campground is located in a very windy location and situated near a busy main road. Best bet is to camp further up the mountain (Mount Charleston) – up in the canyons, with the trees, for a better experience. It can be colder in higher elevations, so always bring a jacket (at any time of year).

LOCALS TIP:
Valley of Fire State Park actually has a much better Campground than Red Rock.

Vegas Hiking Map

Ansel Adams Wilderness Map

Ansel Adams Map USDA

Ansel Adams Wilderness, part of Inyo NF and Sierra NF

This High Sierra terrain spans some of the most majestic areas of the Sierra Nevada – the youngest mountain range in the U.S. This wilderness is bordered by National Parks, National Forests, and other Wilderness Areas – all the way around it. Kaiser Wilderness and Lake Edison inside Sierra NF on the west, Yosemite National Park on the north, Inyo NF on the east side, and John Muir Wilderness on the south end. Wow!

This 230,300 acre, high elevation wilderness was formerly the Minarets Wilderness, renamed in 1984 to honor the pioneering landscape photographer, Ansel Adams. Known for spectacular alpine scenery, elevations range from 7,000 to 14,000 feet. Rugged granite peaks and passes, with alpine lakes, includes high country east of the Sierra crest. Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail cross this High Sierra Wilderness region.

This USDA map is also available at Ranger Stations.

Perfect for packing and hiking references, fishing lakes, creeks, high altitude camp sites, horse packing routes, or extended backpacking adventures. Map Scale = 1″ to mile; Printed on waterproof plastic paper. Updated in 2011. ISBN# 9781593515188

minarets

see also –

Ansel Adams Wilderness Trail Map
by Tom Harrison Topo Maps

OLDER EDITION

NatGeo Ansel Adams
Map #309 Yosemite SE

Ansel Adams Trailhead locations include –

Eastern Sierra: Lee Vining, June Lake, Mammoth Lakes, CA

Western Sierra: Edison Lake (pictured below), Huntington Lake, Shaver Lake, Clover Meadow, Mammoth Pool Reservoir, NorthFork via Bass Lake and Yosemite National Park.

Edison Lake