Death Valley National Park reopens roads destroyed by historic floods
Park visitors will now have access to high-elevation sites with less stifling temperatures, particularly as temperatures at the park have already reached the low 100s this spring.
Death Valley flooded by remnants of Hurricane Hilary
Flooding caused by heavy rain on Sunday, August 20, 2023 in Gower Gulch near Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park.
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – Death Valley National Park has reopened routes to cooler, high-elevation areas for park visitors ahead of the scorching summer months.
The reopened route includes Emigrant Canyon Road, a 21-mile paved road that was one of several park roads damaged by flash floods in August 2023. At the time, remnants of Hurricane Hilary dropped about 2 inches of rain, or a year’s worth of rain for the park, in just one day.
Federal Highway Administration engineers inspecting the damage to Emigrant Canyon Road after Hurricane Hilary. (NPS / FOX Weather)
Flooding caused drop-offs of up to 6 feet deep along Emigrant Canyon Road, according to the National Park Service. This led the NPS to close the road for months after Hilary and then again this past winter so long-term repairs to protect the road from future flash floods could be made.
DEATH VALLEY TRANSFORMS INTO LAND OF EPHEMERAL LAKES AFTER HURRICANE HILARY
Now that the road has reopened, park visitors will have access to high-elevation sites with less stifling temperatures, particularly as temperatures at the park have already reached the low 100s this spring.
Contractors installing rock-filled gabion baskets adjacent to a vulnerable section of Emigrant Canyon Road. (Federal Highway Administration / FOX Weather)
One of those sites is Wildrose Campground, which is located at 4,000 feet and is about 15 degrees cooler than the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. Standing at about 200 feet below sea level, the visitor center has recorded world record temperatures as high as 134 degrees.
Those looking to cool off even more can take Emigrant Canyon Road to two other campgrounds at higher elevations, the Thorndike Campground and Mahogany Flat Campground. At 8,000 feet above sea level, the sites have temperatures that can be 30 degrees cooler than those at Furnace Creek.
The NPS noted that Mahogany Flat is where the trail to reach Telescope Peak, the park’s highest point at over 11,000 feet, begins.
Officials added that no water is available onsite, so park visitors must bring their own water.