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Death Valley-Southern

Southern Death Valley region of California, including the Greenwater, Funeral, Black, Owlhead, and Panamint mountain ranges

58 posts

Panamint Valley Geoglyph #1

Panamint Valley Geoglyph #1

Out in Panamint Valley, near an old camp, My buddy Dan took me to a geoglyph site on the desert pavement. The geoglyphs here are primarily linear, with a few spurs. It is a small site, but I have a feeling there are more in the area. I am planning

Striped Butte Fallout Shelter

Striped Butte Fallout Shelter

Was this old mining adit made into a fallout shelter? Maybe it is one of Charles Manson’s secret hideouts? Or the Ballarat Bandit? Perhaps a local resident and miner set it up as an apocalypse bug-out shelter? Maybe it is one of many in the area? Perhaps I know

Panamint Treasure Mine

Panamint Treasure Mine

Finding this great little gem of a mine is a bit of a hike. The mine was worked as early as the 1890s and again in the 1930s. The miners walked away from the mine in 1941 when World War II broke out, and a presidential order closed many “non-essential”

Ryan Mining Camp

Ryan Mining Camp

In 2013, I joined a Searles Valley Historical Society field trip to see the well-preserved borax mining camp of Ryan in Death Valley. Having never been in the mining camp before, I jumped at the chance to visit. Francis Marion Smith founded the Pacific Coast Borax Company in 1890. He

Red Amphitheater Pictographs

Red Amphitheater Pictographs

I’ve been to this hidden pictograph site in Death Valley National Park several times over the years. Our first time was in 2007. Recently, in 2020, we went out there twice. Most pictograph sites are small, and while this is no exception, it is a great find. Most of

Arcturus Mine and Buckwheat Wash Dunes

Arcturus Mine and Buckwheat Wash Dunes

Down in the southern end of Death Valley, a small group of mines lies hidden in a low set of hills. Also known as the Ibex, it was first prospected for copper and silver in the 1880s but was developed as a mine in 1914 by the Ibex Spring Mining

Geologist’s Cabin

Geologist’s Cabin

Geologist’s Cabin is an icon among the many Death Valley backcountry cabins. It stands picturesquely at the western end of Striped Butte Valley above Anvil Spring with a majestic view of the Striped Butte itself. It is a fantastic place to visit. The cabin itself is a fine, well-built