Other Points of Interest, Death Valley National Park

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The ghost town is located in the Bullfrog Hills, on the border of Death Valley National Park, and close to Beatty.
A few ghosts (art from Belgian artists) along the road welcome the visitors.
There is not much left, beside a a few ruins. Furthermore there is also an obligate traditional and renovated "Bottle House". The station building is still in a rather good condition.
Difficult to imagine that this desolate, abandoned place was once a lively, flourishing town.
However, reading a bit about the history of Rhyolite on the forehand, made our visit a lot more interesting.
Glad I have seen it.

The Race Track is one of the out of the way places within the park that I have read a number of articles about, and had planned to see when we were in Death Valley. Unfortunately, my husband had neck surgery a couple of years before we visited Death Valley, and we found that rough roads bothered him. To reach the Race Track you must drive 27 miles along an unpaved, high clearance road. What you will find at the end of the road is an unusual area with about a 150 roving rocks. Roving? Yes, these rocks move. No one has actually seen these rocks move, but they leave trail marks behind them. Some of these rocks are softball size, but others larger. A National Geographic article I read estimated that the largest rock weighs 700 pounds. Some of the trails are straight, some are curved, some move in one direction, then make a 180 degree turn and move off in another direction. This area receives three to four inches of rain a year. During summer cloudbursts or major winter storms part of the Racetrack floods. The land here is made of fine, slippery clay and the winds can reach 90 miles an hour. It is believed that these rocks move because of a combination of this slippery mud and high winds, combined with the slight slope of the valley floor in this location. When dry, the playa floor of the racetrack is a hard packed surface. You may walk around all you wish here, but do not move any of the stones. Not only are they here for visitors to enjoy, but scientists are also studying them. For a few photos of the Racetrack, visit the web site listed below.

While you won't find deer and antelope grazing here, Salt Creek does have its one unique variety of aquatic life. The desert pupfish, which is unique to this environment, lives in the creek. Unfortunately, none were around in November though.

Several ghost towns remain in and around Death Valley. Most still contain remnant of old buildings and mining operations, which were the purpose of these towns original existence.

Of these towns Rhyolite is one of the only ones that can be reached by a paved road. It is located just west of Beatty. Panamint City, whose ruins are part of Death Valley National Park, is accessible by a five mile hike from the ghost town of Ballarat. Leadville is located on the Titus Canyon road, which is a 4X4 path only.

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This is new marker and is next to the other two markers on this route. It was not here the last time we pass through here. It is neat because they put a cooper tube to act as a telescope and point where the Panamint City mine was located in the mountain.

It reads:
Rich silver ore was discovered in December 1872 at the head of Surprise Canyon 12 miles northeast of here. The United States Senators for Nevada, John P. Jones and William Morris Stewart, invested in and promoted the camp which drew a peak population of 2000 to the steep, mile-high canyon. Wells Fargo refused to serve the lawless camp, and bullion was shipped out in 400-pound cubes to deter thieves, to connect his Santa Monica property with the Mines Jones build a half-mile pier and began a railroad, which reached only as far as Los Angeles. Jones and Stewart floated 15 stocks on the San Francisco mining exchange with a face value of over $61 million, on July 4, 1876the camp celebrated a new 30-stamp mill, and strings of ore cars moved at full speed. The celebration ended 20 days later when hours of heavy rain flooded the Panamint Peaks and sent a wall of water down Surprise Canyon's Main Street, wiping out cabins, stores & saloons to end the boom. One of the departing miners, Isadore Daunet, crossed the summit and discovered cottonball Borax at Furnance Creek.
Plaque Dedicated November 9 2002
By Yerba Buena No.1 Slim Princess, Billy Holcomb & Platrix Chapters of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus in cooperation with the Death Valley 49ers.

Billy Holcomb Plaques No. 102

It is located along Trona-Wildrose Road (Highway 178) off a dirt road off of Panamint Valley road west of Death Valley. Look for the Historical Markers

The Marker Reads:

3.5 miles east of this point lies Ballarat. Established in 1897 as a mining camp and supply center for gold and silver mines located on the western slope of the Panamint Mountains. It was named after a well known gold producting area in Australia boasting a population of nearly 500. It has Wells Fargo station, post office, school house, jail, morgue, 3 hotels, and 7 saloons. When the Ratcliff Mine suspended operations in 1905. Ballarat began to rapidly decline. After the post office closed in September of 1917 became a ghost town.

Billy Holcomb Plaques No. 102

It is located along Trona-Wildrose Road (Highway 178) off a dirt road off of Panamint Valley road west of Death Valley. Look for the Historical Markers

Hello there! My name is Steve Greene, and I have been a Death Valley regional enthusiast since 1955, and have driven nearly every road, dirt and pavement. Your adventure will be heightened by taking the DV/BP road. Pavement will take you just past the Scotty's Castle turn-off, and then the graded dirt road begins. It is wide and flat, and poses no problem whatsoever for a Jeep of any kind. The only concern, albeit a minor one, is the fact that there is a washboard surface to the road from people who drive too fast. Since the road is straight, many people do not adhere to the legal speed limit, although most folks I've seen on the road do keep the speed down. In a stock Jeep, the ride should be fairly nice, as the suspension is soft enough to absorb most of the bumps.

At the northern end of the straight portion of road is Crankshaft Crossing, a quaint little sign post that is adorned with, yes, old rusty crankshafts. You may even notice an engine block or two, depending on the year. Stay to the left (west) at the junction, where the wide graded road heads up and over some small mountains, and keep your camera ready if you enjoy desert landscapes! On the way down the other side, you will travel through Hanging Rock Canyon, a very short but dramatic slice in the rock. Here for a bit, the road has some pavement, as workers from an old sulfur mine used to use the road years ago.

Then it's westward through the Eureka Valley. The Eureka Valley Road cuts off here, and ten miles south brings an explorer to the Eureka Valley Dunes, over 689 feet tall, three miles long, and one mile wide, with a primitive campground on the north side (outhouse only). If you have the time, and like hiking great dunes, it may be worth the 20 mile roundtrip sidetrip to see the dunes, but the graded dirt road to them is also very washboarded. If you don't wish to see the dunes, just continue on westbound where the road takes off, and as you ascend up the western side of Eureka Valley, you can look back to the southeast and see the Eureka Dunes National Natural Landmark off in the distance.

After the Eureka Valley, the road again rises and snakes through some picturesque mountains before dropping you on the descent towards Big Pine. Yes, this is a very cool roadtrip indeed! You can learn more by visiting my Death Valley websites if you wish:

WildDeathValley.com and oldtrailmaster.wordpress.com

Have a wonderful trip. -Steve

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In 1897 Radcliffe mining produced 15,000 tons of gold ore from 1898-1903. Ballarat was named after Australian gold camp and home of 400 people. It boasted a community of 7 saloons, 3 hotels, Wells Fargo station, post office, school, and a morgue. It lacked a Church, oops! Soon like others started to decline when the mine ended its operation. Businesses folded up and people moved on, except those hardy inidividuals who were determine to continue mining on their own or just because they called it home like die hard Frank "Shorty" Harris who remained till his death in 1934 and Charles "Seldom Seen Slim" Ferge in 1968. The evil Manson family even left their mark here with some graffiti behind while hiding out at the Barker ranch just south of here.

There is a store here and its popular for the 4x4er's who like to use the trailer park.

Ballarat is privately owned and the only structures left are several adobe ruins and a cemetery, which is neat to explore.

It is located off a dirt road off of Panamint Valley road west of Death Valley Highway 178. Look for the Historical Markers

The charcoal kilns stand in Wildrose canyon, in western Death Valley, at an elevation of 6,800 feet. They can be reached by a good dirt road where you can drive a regular car. In early April, there was still some snow remaining. When you arrive and discover the kilns, the view is stunning. What is that, is that a village ?

Golden Canyon's light colored walls contain deposits of silt and clay which were once located at the bottom of a lake. This narrow passageway was once submerged and the area now explored as a canyon would have required scuba gear as opposed to hiking shoes. Another example of how dramatically this landscape has changed