Dry Mountain, 8674 feet, (2644 meters) Inyo County, California

Located in Death Valley National Park

Highpoint of the Last Chance Range, Prominence value is 3614 ft.
The above map shows the route used to climb Dry Mountain. This peak is one of the longer ones on the Sierra Club, Desert Peaks List. This route was pioneered by Eric Beck and follows a nice ridge to the upper plateau which many feel is a much better route than the steep canyon ascent of the Sierra Club guidebook route. A good place to camp before this hike is at the Mesquite Springs Campground at the north end of Death Valley.

Driving Directions: Get an early start and drive west toward Ubehebe Crater. Near the Crater a dirt road starts south to The Racetrack. From the pavement follow this rough road south for 9.3 miles to a small wide spot where you can park on the right side. A high-clearance vehicle with good tires is needed for this road and four-wheel drive is normally not needed. The parking spot is waypoint DR00.

Hiking Route: Hike west around some low hills and enter a wide wash. Follow this southwest to thebase of a ridge at DR02. Hike northwest ascending this long ridge up to P7944 ft.(DR06) shown on the map. Traverse north across minor canyons to an east-west ridge and follow this ridge west past P7934. Descend this ridge and cross a valley to the base of the final hill. (DR10). It is about 1400 feet of gain up to the summit. This route is 14.2 miles round-trip with about 6000 feet of gain. This includes about 1000 feet of gain on the return. Allow 11 to 12 hours for the hike. You should start hiking by 7:00AM. Allow one hour of driving time from Mesquite Springs Campground to the starting point on the road. Take plenty of food, water and a flashlight. 4/06 RLC A GPS waypoint file is available for this route: DryMtn.gpx
The benchmark disk on Dry Mountain. Note that the elevation is off. There is no datasheet.