Charcoal Kilns, Death Valley NP

The Wildrose Charcoal kilns are a bit of a drive to get to, but in my opinion, worth every mile.  They are on the opposite side of the mountain range from Badwater Basin with about 24 miles of dirt roads once we left the pavement.  They were built in 1877 to produce charcoal for the Modock smelter about 20 miles away.  Burning the piñon pine logs took six to eight days to turn them into charcoal, then another five days for the charcoal to cool enough to be hauled to the smelter.  The kilns closed after only three years of use.  They are incredibly well preserved, and you can stroll through them at your leisure.  The parking lot isn’t very big, but we had no problem finding a spot.  It seems like March would be prime season at Death Valley, but we haven’t encountered crowds anywhere, even though the park campgrounds are all full.

The kilns are made of rocks and mud and are about 24 inches thick with air vents all around the bottom.

A view from the kiln door of the beautiful mountains we are in…yes, in Death Valley.

The drive through the mountains was cool and beautiful, but before we knew it we were back in the desert.