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This spot offers picturesque views of Panamint Valley and is inside Death Valley National Park. To the west is the famed Rainbow Canyon (aka Star Wars Canyon) and to the east is the gorgeous Panamint Range with its layered rocks.
2 Notes:
This spot can get very hot in the summer. Temperatures will hit the high 90’s at the very least with temperatures hitting low to mid triple digits on most days.
I've had pretty bad luck here. This isn't the spot to go to if you want to get a lot of low jets
Where is this spot?
Where is this spot?
***IMPORTANT*** To get to this spot, you must at least have a high ground clearance vehicle. AWD/4WD can help in some places but is not necessary (I've seen minivans drive this road). Sedans most likely cannot drive on this road. The ground clearance is needed mostly because as water flows down from the Panamint Range, it cuts washes into the valley floor. These washes can create cuts at least a foot deep into the road that vehicles have to be able to get in and out of. Unless you have a Jeep or equivalent offroad vehicle, I would generally recommend taking this road at around 10-15 mph to avoid damage to your vehicle (that being said I've bottomed out a time or two while driving this road). Also be sure the check and make sure that the roads to get into Death Valley are open.
To get to this spot, start by driving into Panamint Valley. You’ll eventually end up on 190. The turnoff for 190 if coming from the Eastern Sierras area is around the town of Olancha. Generally the faster way to get here is from the south by coming up 178 (the same highway that gets you to Kern River Valley). As stated earlier, be sure that roads are open before embarking on your journey.
You’re looking for a small turnout to the north. If coming from the west on 190, you will just start climbing out of Panamint Valley just before the turnoff to the left. If coming from the east on 190, you’ll descend almost completely into Panamint Valley before turning off to the right. This is also the road that goes to the Panamint dunes. Note that it can be quite easy to miss the turnoff as it is not well marked. There is a sign just after the turn off if coming from the west/just before the turn off if coming from the east, but the sign has nothing to do with the turnoff.
Drive about 3 miles up the road until you get to around the pin to the right on a computer and below on mobile. Park your car next to the northmost hill on the west side. You should see a saddle between what looks like a more steep ridge and a hill. That is where you will hike up. There are small pullouts on the road where you can park and not block the road (note that most people on this road are trying to get to and from the Panamint Dunes so please be sure to leave ample space for vehicles to get by).
The hike itself it pretty straight forwards and laid to the right. From parking, hike up the saddle. There's no trail, but it's a pretty direct route up.
Above is the hill
Above is the rough hiking path up the saddle.
Spotting Logistics from here
Spotting Logistics from here
Unfortunately this spot is not a choke point along the route. The good news is that you should still be able to get jets that take the Jedi transition. That being said (and as stated in other places), a good chunk of aircraft don't fly past point Charlie so don't expect this spot to be as busy as Kern River Valley (on one of the days I went here, Kern got 30 passes and only 10 jets made it to Panamint). There is also no telling whether aircraft will fly to the east or to the west of the hills. From this spot, you're best set up for passes to the east, but can see jets fly to the west. I have also seen jets fly sky high over the hills. In general, most jets fly down the center or west side of valley meaning that most jets won't fly to the east of the Chocolate Drop hills. In my 4 trips here I have seen 0 passes low and to the east (I guess 1 pass if you count the C-17). Every pass that has flown to the east of me has been high/not landlocked.
Since this spot is in a fairly wide valley, you can pick up a decent amount on scanner (roughly the same Owens Valley). You can usually hear jets call Point India as they're approaching you. Even though you can pretty clearly see north up the valley where jets should approach from, they will be quite small and can be difficult to pick out.
The nearest services are at Panamint Springs on 190 on the west side of Panamint Valley. These are very basic services with gas and food, but not much else.
Lighting
Lighting
The closer you are to winter, the less time passes to the west will have good light on them. This makes winter the ideal time to spot here. Passes to the east can start to have sun on them as early as 10AM. This is because as jets pass to the east, they bank towards you. That being said, jets generally aren't in good light until around noon.
Pros and Cons
Pros and Cons
Pros of Spotting Here:
Fairly easy hike up the hill/not too long of a hike
Lighting can be pretty good most of the day in the winter
You pick up a pretty good amount of communications on scanner in the area. You generally have very good situational awareness as to what is going on. You can also hear the controller side of Joshua Approach from here.
Cons of Spotting Here:
The road to get to the spot is in very poor condition and very much limits the types of vehicles that can get to this spot
Even though point juliet is on the east side of the valley, aircraft tend to fly anywhere and everywhere down the valley. You’re very much not guaranteed to see a jet low passing to the east
Point India is just over a ridge, so it’s very hit or miss whether or not you’ll pick up a call on the low level frequency
As you may notice from the lack of sample pictures despite 4 trips to this spot, this is the most dead spot I've been to on Sidewinder (either that or I'm extremely unlucky, which may be the case). Don't expect to get a lot of passes here
Sample Shots
Sample Shots
Pass to the east, 600mm 1:10PM winter
Pass to the east, 900mm 3:35PM winter
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