Death Valley Visitors Guide - 12th Edition

18 Death Valley Vistiors Guide • 12th Edition S tar Wars Canyon has become of the premier “bird watching” sites in Inyo County. But the falcons, eagles and nighthawks flying through the canyon are not your standard feathered friends. As the canyon’s name implies, these “birds” and the rest of their flock are high tech fliers that roar thought the canyon at up to 500 miles per hour. These birds are combat jets and military aircraft that scream down and through this narrow canyon at the edge of Death Valley National Park in a blink of an eye. Or the blink of a camera shutter. The canyon, officially named Rainbow Canyon is located just below Crowley Overlook off of Highway 190 on the west side of Death Valley National Park. The overlook honors Father John Crowley, the “desert padre” who served and promoted Inyo County and Death Valley in the 1920s and ‘30s. That piece of history is not what draws the jet set folks to the overlook and the edge of the canyon. They come to wait sometimes hours and sometimes days to catch a glimpse and a photo of the military jets that race through the canyons on training missions. The canyon is about 5,000 feet wide and about 5 miles long. That’s enough room for jet jockeys to put on a show. Sometimes the jets come screeching over the canyon rim and then “burn and turn” to give their fans a great scene. Sometimes the jets just blast through the desert air, focused on their mission. The Air Force and Navy have been using Death Valley, Star Wars Canyon and much of southern Inyo County as a training area since World War II. The canyon is part of a restricted military airspace that is used for air-combat training, supersonic test flights and other training and flight operations. The rise of social media has fueled the fame of Star Wars Canyon among aviation photographers and enthusiasts who enjoy the thrill of witnessing a modern flying machine moving and maneuvering at the speed of sound. The region’s numerous military bases provide a steady flow of jets. The aircraft cruising Star Wars Canyon can come from Naval Weapons Station China Lake, Naval Air Station Lemoore, Edwards Air Force Base, Fresno Air National Guard Base, and Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base. Planes from foreign allies also are known to use the canyon for training. Patience and some luck top the list of requirements for those seeking a peek at the military jets. The Air Force and Navy do not provide any indication of when their planes will be in the canyon. It is not uncommon for plane- watchers to spend the day atop the canyon and not see a single plane. But ‘Bird Watching’ in Death Valley’s Star Wars Canyon CONTINUED ON PAGE 19 A fighter jet roars over the sand dunes after coming out of Death Valley’s Star Wars Canyon. PHOTO BY JON CASSELL/PANAMINT SPRINGS RESORT