Region
Highlights
- Telescope Peak is the highest point in Death Valley National Park
Routes
/-117.0892224,36.169949,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
53 summits • 12.8 mi • 13,586 ft gain • 7 hr 40 min
1 summit • 12.2 mi • 4,041 ft gain • 6 hr 55 min
1 summit • 12.9 mi • 3,753 ft gain
Latest summits
"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
"View was pretty hazy due to the fires in San Diego, just a few patches of snow left, which came in handy as I gave myself heat stroke from being too warmly dressed, not from the weather - doh!" — HikerDan • May 16, 2014
"Climbed this along with Rogers and Bennett on a very cold and blustery day. Rather impressive hoarfrost on all of the vegetation lasting until 2PM. Very beautiful with all of the snow and well worth the trip." — Irrationalist • Apr 26, 2014
"This was an epic hike with Tim "AS73" Slaby and Randy "Thunder-4" Fleet dedicated to the memory of Tim's dad, James Slaby. We started on 5/31 at Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the US at -282 feet, and then drove up past the Charcoal Kilns to the Mahogany Flats campground where we camped overnight and started up the trail at 0700. Took our time to get to the summit and made our way back down the hill pretty quickly. Total trip time was 7 hours. The temps were ideal -- 50's when we started and 70's at the summit. Probably a bit warmer near the bottom on the way back down, but by then it wasn't a factor. Great time with great hiking buddies!! Here are our tracks on EveryTrail: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2158450&code=0a75c246ea7649978ca655e55f729b88" — FlagMan • Jun 1, 2013
"After about 10 things went wrong in Domelands, we decided to scrap all our plans and just head to Death Valley for the rest of the weekend. Totally different hike from last time, probably the ideal time of year to do it. Passed an old man on the way down who looked like he was about to die, turns out he had started at Badwater that morning! Very impressive." — Christopher • May 26, 2013
"I hiked solo to a spot along the ridge just past Bennet Peak and spent the night. Drank plenty of tequila and listened to a lot of music on my Ipod. In the morning I hiked to the summit. The climb was easy enough and didn't take me long to get back down to my truck." — brettmurphy85 • Mar 5, 2013
"Copy and past of Kevin's description... "Left Vegas at 4am & headed to Mahogany Flats." (Doug and I came up the night before and car camped near the TH). "Flew down the trail & stopped at Bennett Peak before reaching Telescope, our main goal of the day. On our way back, a few of us stopped at Rogers Peak, then took a pretty straight-forward cross-country route back to the vehicles. The trail would have been a better idea, but it would have taken longer & we wanted to see something new. After all that, we drove back to Furnace Creek for some Choco Tacos & a beer, then the long drive back to Vegas. Great daytrip!!!"" — Brenda • May 19, 2012
"Left Vegas at 4am & headed to Mahogany Flats. Flew down the trail & stopped at Bennett Peak before reaching Telescope, our main goal of the day. On our way back, a few of us stopped at Rogers Peak, then took a pretty straight-forward cross-country route back to the vehicles. The trail would have been a better idea, but it would have taken longer & we wanted to see something new. After all that, we drove back to Furnace Creek for some Choco Tacos & a beer, then the long drive back to Vegas. Great daytrip!!!" — Kevin • May 19, 2012
"Started from Mahogany Flat campground, there was some snow that started around 10,000 ft. didn't need crampons. Perfect weather great views of Death Valley and Sierras. 5 1/2 from start to finish." — nickmartin • Mar 31, 2012
"Great day hike with 3 peaks and a great friend. Had to crampon up at around 10,300ft, although you could get away without them with common sense and some trekking poles. Blew my tire in the last mile to the top of Mahogany Flats but the summit was worth it." — Christopher • Mar 23, 2012
"What a great climb! Bagged Rogers and Bennett on the way up as well. My highest peak to date with a great friend on a visit to Death Valley NP. Blew a tire on the road to Mahogany Flats in the morning. Was well worth it though with beers at the summit to celebrate. " — MooseHiker • Mar 23, 2012
"Camped at mahogany( 18 deg at night). Woke up at 6:45 and hit the trail at 8:50am. Beautiful day with some breeze that was fixed with my hard shell. snow started at 10,000 and got thick the last 100ft. Summited at 11:50. after a 30 minute rest we headed back reaching the car around 2:45pm. All in all a great hike and a amazing view of the sierras." — Ryan_Wallace • Feb 4, 2012
"It was great trip We camped out overnight at 8000ft. We drank some beers, burned some pine cones and ate some cup of noodles. The next day the CCC(Crazy Climbing Crew) smashed up the mountain. The snow was patching except for the last big push of vertical gain. The snow was had packed so kicked in steps held well. The trip took 5 1/2 hours round trip. " — snowslydder • Feb 4, 2012
"Long day hike with big altitude gain from Death Valley (Shorty's Well). Day started at 3 AM with a stove flareup/big fire that almost got the rental car. Not a good sign. Rest of day smooth - summited about 5 PM. Hot (appr. 100 F in the valley). Quite the adventure. Hiked to Mahogany Flats in dark. Hitchhiking to car the next day took a while. " — louhibbard • Oct 22, 2011
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log successful summits on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.