Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Northern California → Death Valley → Charcoal Kilns

Location: Wildrose Canyon, Southeast of Panamint Springs, Death Valley

Time Required: 15 minutes to view the kilns, but unless you’re hiking one of the nearby peaks, you’ll also need to account for a 30 minute – 1.5 hour driving detour (roundtrip).

Red Tape/Notes: Access to Death Valley is $25/vehicle for a 7 day pass. Access is via a 4 mile dirt road that sometimes requires high clearance/4WD, but can generally be navigated with a normal sedan. The kilns are located at 6800 feet of elevation, so be aware that it can be cold up there in winter (20 – 35°F cooler than Furnace Creek)

What’s Nearby?: Darwin Falls, Mesquite Flat Dunes

At over a hundred years old, the kilns in the Wildrose Complex are in remarkably good condition and look like they could easily be used today. They were built in 1877 to provide fuel for some smelters at a group of lead-silver mines, but they were only used for two or three years before being abandoned. There are other beehive-type kilns elsewhere, and they were used throughout the western states, but these are thought to be the best surviving examples. It’s a bit of a detour to get here, but if you’re in the area the drive isn’t too bad (especially if you overnight at one of the nearby campgrounds: Wildrose, Thorndike, or Mahogany Flat) and the kilns are pretty cool to see (plus at 6800 feet in elevation, you’ll get some relief from the heat). You can walk inside them and still smell the smoke.

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Northern California → Death Valley → Charcoal Kilns