{"id":2364,"date":"2015-02-20T22:45:47","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T22:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backroadswest.com\/blog\/?p=2364"},"modified":"2022-09-21T19:57:07","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T19:57:07","slug":"titus-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.backroadswest.com\/blog\/titus-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Titus Canyon Road Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Titus Canyon is one of Death Valley\u2019s most distinctive canyons with a dirt road that passes through some beautiful desert mountain scenery, an extremely narrow canyon and is part of some unscrupulous Death Valley history.<\/strong> It is also one of the most popular off-road adventures in the Park.<\/p>

Traveling this road can be quite an adventure.\u00a0 At one point you\u2019re hugging the side of a steep mountain that might make those afraid of heights a little nervous.\u00a0 At another spot, you\u2019re in a narrow canyon with towering vertical walls that rise up to over a thousand feet high and, in some spots, are no more than 20 feet wide!.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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The Road<\/h3>

The road through Titus Canyon would probably never have been built if it weren\u2019t for a crooked mining promoter named Charles Courtney Julian. Starting on the Nevada side, the road was built in 1926 as a way to get investors to his \u201cmines\u201d and resulting town of Leadfield. As it turns out, Julian was responsible for one of the biggest mining scams in Death Valley history by taking in just over a million dollars in investor money for mines that never produced a cent!<\/p>

Titus Canyon Road is one-way and travels east to west \u2013 Nevada to California. It starts on State Highway 374 (also named Daylight Pass Road) and the turnoff is located 6 miles from Beatty, Nevada, or about 23 miles from the Furnace Creek area. The road is dirt for its entire 25 mile length and passes over the rugged Grapevine Mountains of Death Valley. A typical driver takes 2-4 hours to travel it, depending on how many stops is made.<\/p>

Although we\u2019ve seen regular passenger cars on Titus Canyon Road, we strongly discourage it. There are many places where low-clearance vehicles will bottom out and it\u2019s hard to believe that a passenger car would get to the end of the road without a few dents or damaged suspension. 4WD is recommended but 2WD vehicles with high-clearance will make it just fine. As mentioned before, this road trip is quite popular, so unlike other 4WD roads in Death Valley, expect to see a fair amount of traffic on this road.<\/p>

The first six miles of Titus Canyon Road passes through wide-open desert and can sometimes have a lot of washboard making for a teeth-rattling ride. Hopefully the Park Service has recently graded the road before your trip. In the first mile, if you look to the north, you might spot the skeletal buildings of the Rhyolite ghost town. At about 8 miles, the road crosses into California and, at 9.4 miles, it reaches the first summit of nearly 5,100 feet.<\/p>

Titus Canyon Road then dips down into a small valley. This is the head of Titanothere Canyon. Looking left, you\u2019ll see that the small valley narrows into this canyon as it goes through the Grapevine Mountains on its way into Death Valley. The strange name of this canyon comes from a prehistoric creature whose fossilized remains were found near here. The creature looked like a large rhinoceros and used to roam this area 30-40 million years ago.<\/p>

The road climbs out of the bowl, goes through a few switchbacks and goes over the highest point of the road which is the colorful Red Pass at 5,260 feet. Be sure to stop here, at the 11.8 mile mark, and enjoy the views including a look down into the top of Titus Canyon. Also stop and think about what an engineering masterpiece this road is, given that it was built hastily back in 1926.<\/p>

More…<\/p>

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Pictures<\/h3>

Below are some pictures of what you will see along the way.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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