High Sierra Topix

Furnace Creek (NPS campsite) is not that bad depending on time of year. We were there in December just before Christmas and it was nearly empty. It was a nice base camp for day-hiking. I would not want to hang around the entire day, but it worked well for us. At the day of minimum daylight we were happy to have a few more creature comforts (lanterns, chairs, wine, fire, fresh food music, etc.) to fill the dark hours without having to drive poor roads.

If you drive some vehicle with moderately high clearance, you can drive out to the Racetrack Valley. Even though I car-camped there, I felt like I was getting out to the edge of the wilderness.