Death Valley National Park's Telescope Peak reaches for the sky at 11,048 feet (3,564 meters) of elevation. From the top, hikers can look down onto Badwater Basin in the heart of Death Valley, the lowest point in the United States at 283 feet (85.5 meters) below sea level.
Telescope Peak is the highest point in the park and breaks all the rules in a location known as the hottest place on earth.
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Snow in Death Valley
Telescope Peak is covered in snow much of the year, and the climb to the top can be bitter, cold, and windy. In winter, steep, icy slopes hundreds of feet high surround the trail, and the inexperienced or unlucky climber can slide down the mountain to their demise.
However, during the summer, climbing Telescope Peak is a risky, way-too-hot 14-mile climb in a National Park with "Death" in the name.
Finding the right time to climb the peak is tricky. In late April, we did the climb one day before my 54th birthday, when most of the snow would be gone, but the summer heat would still be a few weeks away.
Where is Telescope Peak?
The trailhead for Telescope Peak is at an elevation of 8,133 feet (2,624 meters) on the edge of Mahogany Flat Campground.
Mahogany Flat Campground is a site in any internet mapping application, and entering the name will give you excellent directions. Spending the night there is a good way to acclimate for the high elevation climb the next day.
Related: How To Prepare for a High Altitude Climb
Joshua Tree National Park and Sequoia National Park are less than half a day's drive from Death Valley. One reason Telescope Peak is a place to find solitude and peaceful hiking is that it is not accessible from the main part of Death Valley or vice versa without a very long go-around drive.
For example, even though you can see right down onto Badwater Basin from Mahogany Flat Campground, it is an 80-mile (121-kilometer) two-hour drive to get there.
Very few visitors to Death Valley National Park visit the Telescope Peak area. That's unfortunate because there is a lot to see.
Wildrose Charcoal Kilns
On our way to Mahogany Flat Campground, we encountered an impressive sight. We had no idea this colossal 140-year-old set of ten charcoal kilns would be here.
Made of 25-foot-high masonry rock, these kilns are in near-pristine condition. Many historians say they are the best-preserved example of a charcoal production plant in the western United States.
Experts say the area is inside a protected national park, the air and climate are dry, and the kilns were only used for two years, which is why they're so perfectly similar to the day they were made in 1877.
Death Valley National Park's Telescope Peak is not, as it turns out, the only great thing to do or see on the park's western side. The road turns to dirt from the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns and continues steeply uphill for 1.6 miles to Mahogany Flat Campground.
The campsites have a parking spot, a flat area for a tent, a steel campfire ring, and a bathroom building at one end of the camp. There is no running water, so come prepared.
Telescope Peak Hike
Hiking the regular route up and down Telescope Peak is a round trip of 14 miles (22.5 kilometers), but we plan to add Bennet and Rogers Peak (each at nearly 10,000 feet or 3,050 meters) on the route back to camp.
These additional peaks will make the hike a bit longer, add a considerable amount of off-trail hiking, and create a rollercoaster profile of elevation gain and loss.
The views in all directions from the trail as we climb up Telescope Peak are breathtaking. On this day, we can see nearly all of Death Valley and the mountains eastward into Nevada. We are delighted to have a clear enough day to see the snowcapped peaks of the Eastern Sierra Mountains to the west.
From this vantage point, we calculated that we could see Mount Whitney and Badwater Basin simultaneously. Thus, we are looking at the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States from the one magical place where this is possible.
At the top, we celebrate by eating a small lunch and making coffee. It is frigid at this elevation, and the wind chill is well below freezing, so the hot coffee is a welcome and warming luxury.
Eventually, another small climbing group approached the summit and took our photo. They were also very envious of the hot coffee and wished we had some to share.
The hike back to camp includes stops at Bennett and Rogers Peaks, which brings our total elevation gains for the day to over 5,000 feet (1,613 meters) of climbing over a distance of 16 miles (25.5 kilometers).
In addition, there is no trail to these peaks, and the rough and steep terrain makes it even more taxing. By the time we summit Rogers Peak, I am exhausted and feel lucky that the remaining two miles back to the truck are steeply downhill.
An Emergency Back at Camp
When we arrive back at Mahogany Flat Campground, we are greeted by a group of hikers who did not make the summit but returned to camp to seek transport to their car parked at the Charcoal Kilns.
A woman in their group was very ill with severe altitude sickness, dehydration, or exhaustion-or perhaps all three. The sick woman's friends planned to rush her to the nearest hospital, which was two hours away in Ridgecrest, California.
This experience was a reminder that hiking in isolated locations with dangerous mountain conditions should not be taken lightly. Hiking in remote places and on challenging mountains requires high fitness and preparation.
Too often, we encounter people who are very underdressed, very underfit, very out of water, or very lost, with no map, compass, or GPS device.
Back home the next day, we celebrated my 54th birthday and our safe return from another adventure. Telescope Peak turned out to be one of our most memorable mountain climbs. At the time, the addition of Bennett and Rogers made our list of climbed mountains grow to over 300.
So, if you want a unique challenge and an experience unlike any other, plan a trip to climb Death Valley National Park's Telescope Peak.
