Chicken Strip

Last updated

Chicken Strip
USGS topo Chickenstrip airport Saline Valley, California, United States.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic (uncharted)
Owner/Operator National Park Service
Location Death Valley National Park
Elevation  AMSL 1,360 ft / 415 m
Coordinates 36°48′24″N117°46′54″W / 36.80667°N 117.78167°W / 36.80667; -117.78167
Map
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Chicken Strip
Location of airport in California
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Chicken Strip
Chicken Strip (the United States)
Chicken Strip
Runways
Direction LengthSurface
ftm
~18/361,350411 Dirt

Saline Valley Warm Springs Airfield, commonly known as the Chicken Strip, is a non-towered dirt airstrip not depicted on an FAA sectional chart. The airstrip provides general aviation fly-in access to the Saline Valley hot springs in Death Valley National Park. The closest airport to the airstrip is Lone Pine Airport, 20 miles (17 nmi; 32 km) to the southwest, and the closest airport with regular airline service is Fresno Yosemite International Airport, 107 miles (93 nmi; 172 km) to the west. [1]

Contents

Chicken Strip was built in the 1960s to provide quicker access to the nearby hot springs, sometimes called the warm springs, that are a short walking distance away. Without the airport the only other access to the Saline Valley hot springs is an arduous, 40 miles (64  km ) dirt road that can take three to four hours to complete. [2]

History

Saline Valley Hot Springs Saline Valley Hot Springs, HDR (4619225699).jpg
Saline Valley Hot Springs

Facilities

Chicken Strip is at an elevation of 1,360  ft (410  m ) above mean sea level. It has one, slightly up-sloping, dirt runway: [10]

References

  1. "SkyVector: Flight Planning / Aeronautical Charts". skyvector.com. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  2. "CHICKEN STRIP REOPENS". Recreational Aviation Foundation. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  3. "Fate of California's Chicken Strip airstrip open for input". www.aopa.org. 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  4. "Featured Airstrip | Recreational Aviation Foundation". theraf.org. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  5. "Saline Valley's Backcountry Airstrip Temporarily Closed for Safety - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  6. "'Chicken Strip' To Be Legalized - AVweb flash Article". www.avweb.com. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  7. "Regulations.gov". www.regulations.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  8. "Death Valley National Park; Designation of Airstrip". Federal Register. 2019-08-19. Archived from the original on 2019-08-22.
  9. Wines, Abby (19 August 2019). "Saline Valley's 'Chicken Strip' Airfield Authorized". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2020-02-22. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  10. "Death Valley and Saline Valley Hot Springs: The Chicken Strip". West Coast Flying Adventures. 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  11. SHORTFIELD. "No ID 067 - Chicken Strip, CA". ShortField.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.