By Lindsay Butcher, Lead Trail Ambassador, Friends of the Inyo

Did you know that driving off road is illegal in Death Valley National Park? Even so, people get a thrill out of driving in the Park’s open spaces, and OHV-trespass all over the hundreds of miles of roadside terrain. In a matter of minutes, destructive, eyesore tracks that take years, or even decades to heal are left upon the land like scars.

Friends of the Inyo, in partnership with the National Park Service and Great Basin Institute, has put together a restoration crew to expedite the healing process. November kicks off our second season of track effacement in Death Valley in two new areas: Ubehebe Crater and the famed Racetrack.

So, if you visit the park in the coming weeks and see a crew of orange-vest-clad workers armed with gardening tools out on the playas, be sure to wave and maybe offer them a cold fizzy water—because, even in the milder fall and winter weather, it gets hot working out there!