Panamint Dunes

Driving on California Highway 190 across the Panamint Valley in the midday heat it looks like a pale smudge on the mountain range to the north. That is, unless you are passing through in the hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset when the shadows reveal the dunes silhouette.

The Panamint Dunes don’t look like they are very far away from the highway but distances in the desert can be deceiving. From the resort of Panamint Springs it’s a 7 mile hike north across the desert to reach the base of the dunes. Even driving the washboard of Lake Hill Road you still have a 2 mile hike from the trailhead parking area. There is no shade or shelter along the path, which is really only a direction as the path petered out after a few hundred yards in one of the many washes.

Hiking towards the dunes it’s easy to know which direction to head but heading back it may be difficult to spot your vehicle even though it is in plain sight. As I hiked away from my car and towards the dunes I would occasionally look over my shoulder and pick a landmark to line up with my vehicle, until I could no longer see my vehicle, in which case I chose a geographical feature that I would use to navigate on the return trip.

Because of the dune’s anonymity and remoteness, it sees far fewer visitors than the more popular Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes or Eureka Dunes. For the ambitious, a hike that starts before first light is likely to reward them with dunes that have pristine ridgelines not yet disturbed by human footprints.

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