"After making the long drive to Mahogany Flat the previous day, the stage was set to ascend Death Valley’s highest point, Telescope Peak. While spending the night at Mahogany Flat, all I had to do was walk over to the trailhead. The trail elevates to the ridge connecting Rogers Peak to Telescope Peak. Bennett Peak sits right in between. The trail starts in a pinion forest. On the ridge, it is mostly treeless. When approaching Telescope Peak, it becomes a bristlecone pine forest. The hike has no switchbacks until the final stages of the climb up Telescope Peak. The summit is highly regarded for its views, although this summer visit was obscured by seasonal haze. Got to spend time with the donated telescope sitting on the summit, though! On the way back, I diverted from the trail to summit Bennett Peak. There was no use trail, I just went right up the side when the feeling felt right." — MikeTeeples • Jul 28, 2022

"My annual birthday "Suffer-Fest" this year was to do Telescope Peak in Death Valley and of course add 2 other nearby peaks, Roger's and Bennett. Warm day but their was a lot of wind so ot wasn't too bad until the hike down the fire road from Roger's Peak. " — acekelly • Jun 26, 2022

"Summited these peaks in a vation in Death Valley. When my non-hiker friends were still sleeping at 8:00 AM, I cooked a small breakfast consisting of stuff I found inside Trona. Stashed my flying broomstick under my tent. Then started out on the hike. Passed through a nice pine forest w/ lots of big trees. Visited Arcane Meadows after a long slog around Rogers Peak (summited later). Then tried to summit Benett and failed. Then went for a long while on this trail w/ bristlecone pines, beautiful views, greener meadows, and more. Then after 14 switchbacks finally summited. Beautiful views from the summit made me forget everything! Decended to the faint trail to Rogers then aseneded it. Rogers summit had some eqipment blocking the summit views. Then looped down on the fire road back to TH. By then at 5 PM my non-hiker friends were yelling at me WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!! Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA8XTjj7OLE " — lc444 • Jun 2, 2022

"Telescope Peak, Bennett Peak and Rogers Peak from Mahogany Flats Campground. Started up the trail right out of our tents and were treated to a beautiful sunrise. Easy bushwhacking over Rogers and Bennett Peaks. The bristlecone pines on Telescope Peak are phenomenal. " — wacbravo • Nov 18, 2021

"A winter storm system came in a day earlier than forecasted, making this a more exciting outing than expected. I set out at ~7:30a from Thornndike CG to flurries but conditions steadily deteriorated over the rest of the day with temps in the teens, 30-40 mph winds, and marginal visibility. Some parties turned back. Another group decided to shelter in their tent in the middle of the trail. Only about 3"of snow at the summit, but very inhospitable conditions and no views. Fortunately I brought enough layers to stay reasonably comfortable throughout the trip." — klotito • Dec 27, 2020

"7.15.2020...Telescope (11,331’), Bennett & Rogers Peaks, solo. Telescope is the Highest peak in the Panamint Range and in Death Valley, CA and a lot of other amazing Mtn stats. 13 miles, 4,200’ gain, 5:37hrs including :25 min on top and stopping to take pics since it was my 1st time. I was shocked My Kia Soul made it to Mahogany Flats Campground. Telescope peak is a giver. The route is a mellow, wildflower lined trail along the crest of an expansive ridge with views 100 miles in all direction. You can see the Sierras, Spring Mtns. and all of Death Valley. It had a pretty meadow section too (Arcane Meadows). I was surprised to see lizards and cactus at such high elevation. I didn’t get started til 12:40pm and it was 92 deg at the trailhead (8,100’). The heat was oppressive, especially on my way back when I tagged the 2 bonus peaks. The 2.5 liters I had was barely enough and I had to ration towards the end. I was attacked often by big chunky black bees when scampering through the Lupines and wildflowers. Not sure why they were so aggressive. Actually, the theme of my trip was animal attacks. An unknown animal took off with one of my Luna Sandals in the middle of the night ($100 sandl..." — paula.raimondi • Jul 15, 2020

"Drove in from Las Vegas on Friday night, and camped at Mahogany Flat campground (8,133' elevation) the night before hiking/summiting. Windy as heck at the campground! Road from the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns on up was kinda rough. Glad I have a 4x4 HCV, it would have been dicey in a lower-clearance vehicle. Some serious (6-8" deep) washboarding on the last mile or so of the road. Started on the trail to Telescope Peak at 6:23 AM. Reached the summit around 10 AM. Was back down to the trailhead (and logged in the register) at 1:32 PM; a 7 hour hike. Not too shabby for my first ever solo out-of-town overnight road trip and out of town solo peakbagging attempt! The weather was clear and gorgeous - not too warm, not too cold. Only windy on a few bald spots at the saddle before the ascent to the peak. A very well-maintained trail. Poles would have been nice for coming down off of the switchbacks right before the peak - it gets a little slippery with the loose gravel/dirt. This marks #16 of my LVMC Classic 50 peaks. I'd do Telescope again; it was a very nice hike. Gorgeous views - sunrise over Death Valley is amazing. " — psychikingjes • Sep 22, 2018

"California. Parked at first campsite after charcoal kilns. What a horrible road! Walked the rest up to the trailhead. Camped on the ridge before the top. Lots of wind at night. Hiked up the day after in the morning. A group of 3 young and 2 lesser young men at the top. They pointed out Mt Whitney in the distance." — Pieter • Aug 12, 2017

"After a long long drive from Ridgecrest through the Pantamint Valley and then over Towne and Emigrant passes, we spent the night at Wildrose campground. Drove up to Mahogany Flats early and summitted around noon. Epic views back to the Sierra and down into both valleys. Wind picked up significantly on the way back but we made it back without blowing off the mountain :)" — edg • Apr 5, 2015

"Drove up from Las Vegas at 2am. Started the hike at 645am & followed the trail to the saddle between Rogers & Bennett. From there, we hiked cross-country up the sometimes snow-covered slope to Bennett Peak. After quickly signing the summit register, we continued down the ridge, back to the trail & up to Telescope Peak. Due to the VERY cold temps and the long drive back to Vegas, we did not also do Rogers on the way back, as we had originally planned. I doubt the temps got over 40 today & there was a steady, biting wind the whole time. Yuck!" — Kevin • Nov 16, 2014