Overview
East of Panamint Springs on CA 190 in Death Valley National Park, the road begins climbing in earnest to Towne Pass in the Panamint Range. As it makes that climb from the flats of Panamint Valley and into the foothill-less mountains, the road passes by some colorful peaks shortly before reaching Towne Pass and then making its long, steep descent to Stovepipe Wells.
These peaks, the "Towne Pass Buttes," are not named on any maps, and I know some would question their having a page on SP, but they make compelling objectives for short, though brutally steep, peakbagging adventures, and since they are so prominent from the road, I thought some beta on these interesting little peaks might be worth sharing.
The Towne Pass Buttes are also along a ridgeline that connects to Towne BM, and they can be part of a longer, harder route to that summit.
Getting There
Drive east from Panamint Springs or west from Towne Pass and just look for the buttes on the west side of the road. There is no way to miss them. Between Towne Pass and a pullout for radiator water on the east side of the road, there are several turnouts. Any one of them will do. The place where I parked was about two miles south of Towne Pass, at a spot where the drainage on the west side of the road rose to road level and enabled me to access the ridges without entailing a significant elevation loss first. This parking area was less than a mile north of a culvert running underneath the road.
Route Information
This page's primary image shows some ridgelines that seem to offer some good scrambling, but there is a catch; between the road and the buttes, there is a deep drainage that will cause you to lose and then regain 200-300' of elevation before you really even begin approaching the peaks.
I started from higher up the road (details in the previous section) and just hiked up to the ridgeline. "Just hiked" is a little misleading, though; in the 0.15 mi it took me to reach the ridgeline, I gained 500' of elevation. For those of you without a calculator handy, that is a slope of 3333' per mile. That's steep.
Atop the ridgeline, head north or south. Heading north takes you over some fields of interesting volcanic rocks as the ridgeline defines one edge of beautiful Dolomite Canyon and heads for the ridge system connecting Towne Pass and Towne BM. Heading south takes one over some lower summits but into some areas that offer some interesting scrambling.
Views are excellent in all directions. Trees are few and far between in most parts of Death Valley National Park, and there are none here. Gaze into deep, wild canyons of the Panamints and catch occasional glimpses of Telescope Peak and its high neighbors. Look across the flat expanse of Panamint Valley, punctuated by Lake Hill, and then let your eyes carry you over the far ridges to the snowy heights of the Sierra Nevada.
Return the way you came or scramble down the rugged slopes (steep Class 3 in places, sometimes loose, never easy on the ankles and the knees). I chose the latter for some extra scenery and adventure.
Red Tape, Camping and Lodging, and Links
There is an entrance fee of $20 for Death Valley National Park. You can also pay at a visitors center or ranger station. Because there are no entrance stations in Death Valley, it is easy to cheat on paying the fees. Remember, though, that your fees help support your parks.
You are in one of the earth's harshest environments. There is no shelter from the sun and from bad weather. Dress accordingly, and remember the water rule-- one gallon per person per day.
The nearest developed campgrounds are at Panamint Springs (about 10 miles away) and Emigrant (also about 10 miles away), which is at the junction of CA 190 with the road through Emigrant Canyon.
You can backcountry camp here without a permit.
Xanterra operates lodging facilities at Stovepipe Wells, which is about 20 miles northeast. Rates are pricey, but a stay there often beats camping in the area, where nighttime temperatures are frequently uncomfortably warm.
There is also lodging at Panamint Springs.
Death Valley NPS site
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Death Valley
