PDF Guide

DRIVE: From the Inyo County line just N of Trona, CA., drive 29 miles N on the paved Trona-Wildrose Road to a fork. Bear right here on the signed Wildrose Road and drive 9.7 miles to the signed turnoff for Wildrose Campground and Mahogany Flats. Turn right and drive 8.6 miles to road's end at the Mahogany Flats Campground. The last 3.7 miles are dirt road of which the last 0.75 miles is fairly steep and of poor quality. 2WD's having problems here should park down at the Thorndike Campground and walk up the road to Mahogany Flats.

CLIMB: The signed trailhead for Telescope Peak begins at the S end of the parking area located just before the entrance to Mahogany Flats Campground. Follow the good trail for 7 miles to the summit, en route skirting Rogers and Bennett Peaks. ROUND TRIP STATS: 3200 feet elevation gain, 14 miles, 7 hours

SIDELINES

  1. Telescope Peak, the highpoint of DVNP, was named by Dr. Samuel G. George of Visalia, who in April 1861 climbed the mountain while prospecting for silver in the vicinity.
  2. The summits just N of Telescope Peak are Rogers and Bennett Peaks, name d in honor of John Rogers and George Bennett. These two men were mem bers of the famous 1849 gold rush party who, while attempting a short cut route from Utah to the California gold fields, were forced to become th e first pioneers to traverse Death Valley and suffer its unimaginable hardships.
  3. 1.6 miles before reaching Mahogany Flats, you'll pass by 10 beehive shaped charcoal kilns in Upper Wildrose Canyon. These kilns, each 30 feet in di ameter and 25 feet high, processed wood from the surrounding mountains into charcoal for use in the ore smelter at the Modoc Mine, located in the Argus Range on the W side of Panamint Valley. Each kiln would burn 42 cords of wood in the absence of oxygen for about one week to produce 2000 bushels of charcoal, the high en ergy fuel required to sustain the smelting process at George Hearst's Modoc Mine.
  4. Mahogany Flats CG at 8200 ft. elev. has 10 sites, tables, pit toilets; open April-October, 1 vehicle per site, no fee. Thorndike CG at 7500 ft. elev. has 8 sites, tabl es, pit toilets; open April-October, 1 vehicle per site, no fee. Wildrose CG at 4000 ft. elev. has 39 sites, tables, firepits, pit toilets; open all year, no fee.
  5. This peak is located within the boundary of Death Valley National Park.