Historic Death Valley tower topples over as driver uses it to free vehicle, rangers say

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A historic Death Valley tower toppled as a driver used it to free their stuck vehicle, rangers say.

Sometime between April 1 and April 23, the tower, part of the Saline Valley Salt Tram, “was pulled over while a person used a winch to extract their vehicle out of deep mud,” the National Park Service said in a May 13 news release.

“I hope the person responsible for this damage will contact us so we can discuss restitution,” Superintendent Mike Reynolds said in the release.

Tracks showed that a vehicle drove off the legal roadway shortly before getting stuck, rangers said.

“Park rangers believe that someone used the nearby tower as an anchor to pull their vehicle out of the mud,” rangers said.

In doing so, rangers said the tower toppled, “pulling its concrete footings out of the ground.”

“I have hiked along sections of this tramway, and am amazed by the tenacity it took to build,” Reynolds said.

The 13-mile long aerial tram was constructed in 1911 “to transport salt from Saline Valley to Owens Valley,” rangers said.

“The tramway climbed over 7,000 vertical feet at steep vertical grades up to 40 degrees,” rangers said.

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