DESCRIPTION 
 When you tell your friends that you are going to the top of Wildrose Peak in Death Valley, invariably you'll get puzzled looks. Hiking to the summit of a 9,000-foot peak in the desert? Believe it or not, Death Valley National Park is full of mountain ranges. The premier hiking destinations in the Death Valley region are Telescope Peak (elev. 11,049 ft.) and our featured hike to Wildrose Peak. Both are located in the Panamint Range, an arid chain of mountains that runs north / south for 90 miles, directly west of Death Valley, and the lowest point in North America, Badwater (279 ft. below sea level).

High above the desert floor in the Panamints’ are forests of Juniper and Pinon pines. Winter storms from the pacific dump copious amounts of snow in the mighty Sierra Nevada 60 miles to the west. By the time these storms reach the Panamints’ they have lost most of their punch, yet they retain enough moisture (which usually falls as snow above 6,000 ft.) to support timber. For this reason alone the unusual looking brick and mortar, bee-hive shaped, charcoal kilns were constructed in the 1870’s to assist Tungsten and Silver mining efforts in the area. The abundant supply of wood in the Panamints’ was utilized and burned in the kilns’ until it was converted to charcoal which was used to smelt Ore.

The miners’ left this remote area long ago but the historic and scenic Charcoal Kilns remain. After you’ve explored these strange looking structures you are in for a moderately strenuous hike thru a high desert environment of Creosote, Pinon and Juniper to the rounded summit plateau of Wildrose Peak (elev. 9,064 ft.). Your efforts will be rewarded with outstanding views of the ultimate desert landscape, majestic Death Valley.

This is the perfect place to get a sense of the vastness of America’s second largest national park in the lower 48. Only Yellowstone exceeds Death Valley in total area in our national parks system. Take time to savor the far-reaching vistas atop Wildrose Peak of this huge desert wilderness.