panamintcity.com
In my opinion, Panamint City is the ultimate backpacking destination in Death Valley. But you probably realized that, since I decided to name my Death Valley web site after it. Now that I've been there, it's hard for me to believe that it took me ten years of visiting the park before I came to Panamint City. Without question, it is a place that I will be visiting for years to come. There's so much to see and do at Panamint City, that I don't know where to start. There are a vast amount of mining ruins, old buildings, equipment, vehicles, cottages and much, much more. And the ruins are scattered over three main areas-- Panamint City, Sourdough Canyon & Water Canyon. Then of course there is the most famous landmark of the city-- the smelter stack, which has stood for over 100 years. If you backpack in on the right day, you can claim one of the first come-first serve visitor maintained cabins to stay in, instead of pitching a tent. It is also a great base camp for day hikes to places like Sentinel Peak. For more information about the area, be sure and read my two Backpacking Trip Reports and the Sourdough Canyon, Water Canyon, Wyoming Mine, Sentinel Peak, and Hemlock Mine reports.
This first picture is the Panamint City Smelter Stack in a morning sunrise. It is one of my favorite pictures out of my Death Valley collection of photos:
View of the smelter stack from a short distance away while still inside Panamint City:
Rob took this amazing photo of the smelter stack blocking out the afternoon sun:
This is looking up inside the smelter stack. There was an opening where some bricks were missing so I popped my head and camera inside:
There are quite a few ruins to check out just in this one area, as you can see in the next three photos:
We found this old shovel next to the base:
A close-up of the top of the smelter stack. Notice the intricate brick work, which was done in the 1880's:
These small shops and courtyard area are very close to the Panamint Hilton:
This long-distance photo of Panamint City was taken from near the weather station on the outskirts of town:
We found this pump for getting fresh water to be working perfectly near one of the machine shops. But we still ended up filtering our water before drinking:
This rusty old wagon is forever parked in the center of town:
This photo is taken from a great place to relax on the Sourdough Canyon shortcut trail:
The legendary Panamint Hilton welcomes visitors to Panamint City:
Inside the Panamint Hilton everything is in place for up to 4 people to enjoy a comfortable stay. Just make sure you spend some time cleaning up after your visit to get the Hilton ready for the next set of visitors:
The wood burning stove is great to have on cold nights. In this picture, Ryan is keeping warm by the fire:
The Hippie Cabin, otherwise known as the Overflow Cabin, is a secondary rooming option if the Panamint Hilton is already taken once you arrive in town. Not quite as nice, but it still has a couple of beds and running water (sometimes):
A look inside the Overflow Cabin:
The view looking straight up the smelter stack really makes you feel small. Notice how near the bottom, quite a few of the red bricks have fallen away. The sad truth is that it is only a matter of time until the smelter stack falls down:
These next two photos show you some of the old Panamint City ruins which you can find west of the new city:
These next eight pictures are all outtakes from a photo shoot I did in June of 2009 to get some new pictures of Panamint City for the main page of the site. These were taken both during the day and at sunset in the city center:
And these final three pictures are the ones we ultimately chose for the main page of the site, although they are not currently being used as the theme right now:
