The last quarter of 2025 has not been kind to Death Valley National Park. Major flooding occurred on September 19th, wiping out many roads that'd only recently reopened after hurricane Hillary went through in 2023.
The September rains couldn't have happened at a worse time. The NPS - already historically underfunded in my opinion - had been gutted by asinine firings and government cutbacks. Budgets for managing and maintaining our National Treasures had been reduced dramatically. This resulted in cleanups that took longer than ever, a situation that was further exacerbated by a government shutdown - over the availability of affordable healthcare (how can this be something that is controversial?) - that began October 1, 2025.
Still, the NPS worked through the shutdown to clear the roads, and on November 14, two days after the shutdown ended, they reopened several major arterials that they'd cleared and repaired in the interim.
The reopening lasted all of one day. We were in the park on November 14th, having experienced the first of the rain that arrived the previous evening. In fact, after summiting Funeral Peak in rain showers, we opted to head home early in order to avoid the weather event that was on the way. It was a good call, because by November 16, everything was a mess. The damage was done.
Death Valley broke a 115-year record after the driest place in North America was hit by more than 1.75 inches of rain in November, making it the rainiest November on record, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
All the roads that had been reopened (and more) were once again damaged and closed.
And now, we're headed back. Back to explore a few places that are still accessible After the Rain.
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