Death Valley East Entrance to Titus Canyon Rd NPS photo 2023
Motorcyclist rescued after driving on closed Titus Canyon Road;
Followed incorrect information on map app
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – Two men were rescued by helicopter after they illegally drove on a closed road in Death Valley National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) closed Titus Canyon Road temporarily due to hazardous conditions caused by flood damage.
On the afternoon of November 18, two men from California allegedly bypassed a locked gate, concrete barriers, and closure signs to drive motorcycles on Titus Canyon Road. They stated that they were following a map app that showed the road as open, so they bypassed the closure signs.
Many roads in the park have not been repaired yet after the remnants of Hurricane Hilary damaged them. Damaged roads are temporarily closed to due to safety and resource management concerns. The closures are listed at nps.gov/deva and marked with signs.
Death Valley Eroded Section of Titus Canyon Rd NPS photo 2023
One of the men crashed his motorcycle. He broke his collarbone and had other non-life-threatening injuries. The men called 911 via a satellite phone just before sunset.
Park rangers were not able to reach the injured man in a timely manner due to the road conditions, so they called for helicopter assistance. The US Navy’s VX-31 helicopter responded from Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. They transported the injured man and his companion to Ridgecrest Regional Hospital.
Charges are pending.
Titus Canyon is one of the park’s most popular backcountry drives. When open, the 27-mile high-clearance road provides access to Leadfield ghost town, petroglyphs at Klare Spring, and spectacular canyon narrows.
Death Valley National Park is the homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone and preserves natural resources, cultural resources, exceptional wilderness, scenery, and learning experiences within the nation’s largest conserved desert landscape and some of the most extreme climate and topographic conditions on the planet. Learn more at www.nps.gov/deva.
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Adventure bikes do not perform well on anything but improved dirt roads. Combine that with the skillset of a NEW GUY and the results are seen here.
I hope they don’t back down and drop the charges. If they keep letting these types get away from breaking the law that the other 99.9% of us have to follow, and DO follow, they will just keep doing it. They were lucky they were able to get a call out.
He’s got a broken collarbone, a wrecked bike, and a hellacious helicopter bill, having hurt no one or nothing but himself. But hang him high, because all that is not enough. Nothing like a bloodletting to get one into the Christmas spirit.
I’m pretty sure the military doesn’t bill for the use of their choppers , at least I’ve never heard of it . Search and Rescue , same deal . Maybe they SHOULD , in cases where common sense takes a back seat . Titus Canyon used to be a pretty easy drive , and judging by the photo , anyone attempting that boulder-strewn former road , ain’t playing with a full deck .
Putting how many people at risk ? And how much environmental destruction? Because, gee, the rules couldn’t possibly apply to ME. Sorry, it’s going to take more than a broken collarbone by way of consequences before this one grows up
Environmental destruction? Who are you to determine if the guy is grown up, or not? You are a liar. There was no environmental damage and no one said there was. Good job trying to lie though. I hope you grow up soon.
Matt
YOU are the liar….
When roads and areas are closed to traffic,whether it be because of road damage or ATV’s and motorcycles and/or dirt bikes plowing into areas they’re not supposed to be,it causes added damage to the environment, and,as in this case,needing a babysitter to save someone’s butt that lacked the common sense to obey the rules…years back, on New Years Day,there was a guy in a 4WD vehicle getting stuck in an area in the closed to traffic Death Valley dry lake,cited with a $5,000 fine and told 24 hours to get the vehicle towed out..which he did,and if you knew of the only local available tow company willing to do it on New Years day, THAT costed him another $3,000….$8,000 in one day because of his lack of common sense and his “It’s my land and I can do,come and go as I please” attitude..Happy New Year, buddy….LOL !!!
apparently you discount the impact on the teams of people who had to risk their own necks and donate their own time to rescue a nitwit who ignored all the signs and fences and barriers for a joy ride? And does anybody believe he was led astray by his phone rather than his own willful stupidity?
Thank you for the kind words. It’s a lesson hard learned and the ripple effects on park resources, the rangers and their colleagues not to mention personal family members and employment have all been effected dramatically. This was a life changing moment. That will also be a criminal life long record.
So yes it’s felt.
They are not backing down. This is felt. Possible homelessness due to loss of employment and hefty 5000 -10000 fine. Criminal charges on the federal level. Letting family down and guilt for using the resources of the park in a way that’s not fair to those whom they are there for. This was a bad decision that will have a lifelong impact.
You shouldn’t be trying to set things right here in the peanut gallery. Talk only to your attorney.
At least he”s got the ***** (intestinal fortitude) to own up to his screwup. I wish more people on this site would admit it when they are wrong instead of just bad mouthing others.
Own Up? Just wants sympathy. Would there be regret if they hadn’t gotten busted? I doubt it.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Save it for your lawyer and the judge in court.
BobK
Talk is cheap…
Actions speak louder than words…
If he hadn’t gotten hurt and needing assistance,and somehow telling his story now,would he have fessed-up to being in this closed area and ignoring signs ?
Of course not….
And wouldn’t surprise me one bit,if you dig deep into the “GoFundMe” sites,you’d find his name and story telling of his injuries and wanting $$$ to frey the cost of the helicopter rescue,which in fact,he won’t even be billed for,his medical bills his insurance will probably cover most of,,and his crashed motorcycle,again,if it were a new bike,his insurance would also cover, and now his lack of employment due to his injuries and recovery..
And probably his “lawyer fees” to try to dodge anytype of fine and anyother type of financial consequences he’ll MAYBE be facing.
Sometimes, lack of common sense and ignoring rules and the law can have a financial impact on those that choose to ignore or abuse it…
But my GPS told me to! I laughed the first time a driver in a fully loaded tractor trailer, gave me that line. He had driven half a mile past his intended destination, ignored both the large address numbers on the gate and the fork lift parked at the gate, only drive off of the end of the pavement onto a sandy winding two tract. Had I not stopped him, he would have jammed the truck into a grove of trees, half a mile passed the end of the county road, because his GPS said! I have stopped laughing now that I hear the line so often.
That’s sometimes called Death by Google.
Russ
My experience with GPS, a few years back in Death Valley going to Charlie Manson’s Barker Ranch…the GPS telling me I was 1/4 mile from the ranch house, when in fact I was miles away…
If I had followed the high-tech “GPS instuctions”, getting there or back, I’d still be out there looking for the place or getting home….or would’ve met the same fate as the missing German family did when they got lost in that area in 1996 and weren’t recovered for 14 + years..
You must have had a lousy GPS device. They’re generally accurate to 10 yards if there’s enough sky for them to work at all.
…erik
Possibly faulty “new” technology …
Nowdays, what I use to get to point A to point B….is the old fashion method…
Common sense and a paper fold-out map…
I too prefer a paper map. If I am going to some place I’ve never been I can look at interesting places along the way that I may want to do a side trip to. If I come across a locked gate with two road closed signs a stop sign I can figure out how to retrace my steps and go another way. The internet and social media is turning Americans into the stupidest, laziest people on earth.
desco
So agree,especially with your last sentence..
Add lack of common sense to the stupid and lazy,and looks like not too bright of a future for those that will be around in 20 years or so..