March update video for our 2022/23 Snowbird trip. If you haven’t caught up on our previous videos, check them out. So, when we last talked, we had just arrived at Death Valley National Park, where we spent most of our time exploring the park and the surrounding areas.
The Southwest, particularly California, was being hit by storm after storm, known as atmospheric rivers. The Sierra Nevada Mountains were piling up with snow, and we experienced some wild weather, although not as extreme as the rain in the rest of California. Despite the unseasonably cool weather for March, it made for fantastic skies for photography.
We stayed at Furnace Creek at the Sunset Campground for about 11 days. Although it’s just a big parking lot, we were lucky to find a section for non-generator use much quieter than the central area. We then headed up Highway 190 towards Nevada and found a free camping area called the Pads. It was an old abandoned mining community, but it made for a good camping location as it wasn’t crowded, and it sat at 3,000 feet, which provided a 10-15 degree difference from the heat in the valley.
We also made a side trip to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, which was terrific. We drove over to Pahrump for groceries and fuel. We also found Long Street Casino and RV Resort, where we filled our 30-pound propane for only $28 and diesel for $4.49 per gallon, compared to the $7.79 per gallon in the park.
The Pads were surrounded by BLM land, but I noticed that it was actually private land. We didn’t see any signs prohibiting camping and saw many campers coming and going. There were other campsites down some roads further away from the pads, providing more privacy.
In the last few days, we moseyed our way down Highway 127 towards Interstate 15 and stopped off at Silurian Dry Lake Bed. The lake bed is located between the town of Baker and the Dumont Dunes. Our Snowbird trip has been incredible so far, and we’re excited to see where it takes us next. Until next time, happy travels!
Related Videos
- Previous Snowbird Trip Videos
- Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
- Dumont Dunes OHV Camping
- Death Valley 2019 Visit
