Every Trail Tells a Story
Ubehebe Peak
Sweeping panoramas from one of Death Valley’s lonelier summits.
Overlook the mysterious Racetrack and its wandering stones.
A challenging hike with big rewards – and way fewer crowds than the crater.
Marvelous vistas are the hiker’s reward for climbing the steep trail to Ubehebe Peak, a remote summit in the equally remote Last Chance Range. The White Mountains, Saline Valley and High Sierra peaks are among the sights to be seen from the peak.
Ubehebe means “Big Basket” in the Shoshone language; such a name seems more appropriate to Ubehebe Crater, some 24 miles northeast of the rocky peak. Still, the summit does feel like a basket of views – an overflowing one at that – with panoramas spilling in every direction.
Most travelers come this way not for the peak, but for the Racetrack, the playa where rocks mysteriously slide across the mud leaving trails as if they had sprouted wheels. Scientists now know wind and thin sheets of ice play a role, but mystery adds to the magic. Standing on the peak, you can gaze down at the Racetrack and imagine boulders inching across the flats in the slowest race on earth.
The Grandstand, a dramatic outcropping rising from the playa’s northern end, is an easy side trip from the Racetrack road and also marks the trailhead for Ubehebe Peak. From this unlikely junction of curiosity-seekers and serious hikers begins a demanding trek with a big payoff.
The route follows an old miners’ trail, a remnant from the days when pick and shovel prospectors were convinced gold or silver must surely be hiding in the rugged hills. The miners never struck it rich, but they did leave behind a decent path for today’s hikers. The trail switchbacks up through desert-varnished slopes, gaining elevation quickly. From the ridgeline, the world seems to open wider with each step: jagged Cottonwoods close at hand, the massive Inyo Mountains rising beyond, and, on clear days, the Sierra Nevada shimmering in the distance.
Reaching the very top requires a Class 23 scramble – hands and feet on the rocks, but nothing most confident hikers can’t handle. Even if you stop short of the summit, the crest delivers vistas that justify the effort. Push on, and the 5,678-foot summit crowns the day with one of Death Valley’s most sweeping panoramas.
From the end of the paved road at Ubehebe Crater parking lot, continue south some 20 miles on the washboard-surfaced, occasionally rough Racetrack Valley Road to Tea Kettle Junction, colorfully decorated with tea kettles. Bear right, traveling another 5.7 miles to a turnout on the right (west) side of the road opposite the Grandstand and the Racetrack. The trail to Ubehebe Peak heads west from the parking area.
The path begins a moderate ascent through a creosote-dotted alluvial fan and after a half mile steepens and begins a series of switchbacks, climbing higher over the desert-varnished shoulder of the peak. Many a switchback brings you to the north ridge of the peak, about 1.8 miles from the trailhead.
Stay left at a fork in the trail and continue the steep ascent for another half mile, curving around to the west side of the peak. The path drops 0.2 mile to a saddle at the 2.6 miles mark, where the trail ends.
If you want to bag the peak, climb southward along a cairn-marked route, carefully picking your way around steep rock faces then rock scrambling up to the small summit area atop 5,678-foot Ubehebe Peak. Savor the panorama: the Inyo Mountains, the Racetrack, the Cottonwood Mountains, Telescope Peak and the snow-capped peaks of the High Sierra.