Damage repair from Hilary may keep Death Valley closed for months
September 4, 2023 - 3:57 pm

Storm damage from Hilary is shown on State Route 190 on the way to Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park in California on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

A collapsed section of pavement on Daylight Pass Road is shown in this undated photo from Death Valley National Park. (National Park Service)

This undated photo released by the National Park Service shows California State Route 190 (SR 190) missing shoulders and undercut in several areas in Death Valley National Park, Calif., after Tropical Storm Hilary dropped more than 2 inches of rain on the park in August. On Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, officials say it could take months for the park to reopen to visitors after the storm. (Nico Ramirez/National Park Service via AP)

Storm damage from Hilary is shown on State Route 190 on the way to Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park in California on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Damage on California State Route 190, a road into Death Valley National Park, is visible Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. On Aug. 20, Death Valley got its most single day rainfall in recorded history. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Road damage is seen at Death Valley National Park in California in August 2023. (National Park Service)

A collapsed section of pavement on Emigrant Canyon Road is shown in this undated photo from Death Valley National Park. (National Park Service)

Visitor Center at Scotty's Castle, before and after the April 2021 fire. (Death Valley National Park)
DEATH VALLEY JUNCTION, Calif. — It’s unclear when Death Valley National Park will reopen to visitors after heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary forged new gullies and crumbled roadways at the site of one of the hottest places in the world, officials said.
The storm dumped a furious 2.2 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Aug. 20, roughly the amount of rainfall the park usually receives in a year. This year’s rainfall broke its previous record of 1.7 inches (4 centimeters) in one day, set in August of last year.
“Two inches of rain does not sound like a lot, but here, it really does stay on the surface,” Matthew Lamar, a park ranger, told the Los Angeles Times. “Two inches of rain here can have a dramatic impact.”
The park, which straddles eastern California and Nevada, holds the record for the hottest temperature recorded on the planet — 134 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius), reached in 1913.
Officials say it could be months before the park reopens. It has been closed since Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, swept through the state in August.
Christopher Andriessen, a spokesperson with the California Department of Transportation, also known as Caltrans, told the Times that about 900 of the park’s nearly 1,400 miles (2,250 kilometers) of roads have been assessed.
Repair costs are estimated at $6 million, but only for one of the park’s main roads, State Route 190, and a small part of State Route 136.
“We don’t have a timeline yet,” park spokesperson Abby Wines told The Associated Press on Monday. “Caltrans has said they expect to fully open 190 within three months, but they often are able to open parts of it earlier.”
Some familiar sites survived the storm, including Scotty’s Castle, a popular visitor destination. However, it is not expected to be open until later 2025.
Young and adult endangered pupfish at Devils Hole cavern survived, although eggs were likely smothered by sediment, the park said on social media last month. Endangered Salt Creek pupfish also survived, the newspaper reported.