Within Death Valley, California, is the lowest elevation within the U.S. It’s also famous for being the hottest place on earth and driest place in North America. The world record highest air temperature of 134°F (57°C) was recorded at Furnace Creek on July 10, 1913.
With these scorching temperatures, it’s advisable to stay away during the summer or a least make sure you are prepared with plenty of water. And, in the winters, it can be freezing and windy. So why go to this Hell hole? Because time it right and it can also be gorgeous. The diversity in scenery within Death Valley National Park is hard to beat. Within the National Park, you can see lavender and turquoise-colored rocks, sweeping sand dunes, a 600-foot crater and views that last forever. There two main roads that travel through the park form a X, running north and south and if you have a 4-wheel drive or high-profile vehicle, you can access even more areas along the dirt roads. At the same time, please remember, this is a bio diverse area other animals and plants live here and as humans our goal is to leave no trace and take nothing but memories and photos with you.
When we visited, it was a chilly March weekend and we drove the Corvette, so no off-roading for us but there was still plenty to see our two days here.
Dante’s View
This site is actually a little bit of a drive off the main road but still worth visiting. The way there is curvy and mornings at the peak can be very cold and the windy. Dante’s View is great for visiting in the morning and as the lookout is near the south end of the Park, looking out toward the north. You can literally see for miles through the valley to the mountains in the north.
Artists Drive
This nine-mile loop road takes you to Artists Palette, which is probably the most Instagrammed location within the National Park. The pinks, yellows, lavenders, turquoise and baby blue colored rocks form pastel rainbows that weave through the landscape. These colors come from volcanic deposits rich in compounds such as iron-rich hematite that produce the reds and pinks along with the yellows and golds; manganese creates the lavender and chlorite create the greens.
Zabriskie Point
If you like minimalist photography, this is the place to go. The mountain ridges just repeat upon themselves making for layers upon layers of the same colors. Each side from the parkway and short trail is different color.
Ubehebe Crater Rim
The Ubehebe Crater was formed 2,000 years ago when magma came into contact with groundwater. The combination created a steam and gas explosion resulted in this 600-foot crater. You can hike along the ridge.
Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes
There are too many places that are best visited at sunrise or sunset in Death Valley and since you only get one of each of these a day, it’s hard to pick. I knew I wanted to see the shadows build upon the dunes so we toasted the day’s close here as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. If your goal is the same, make sure you get here early as the mountains will hide the sun long before your phone says sunset occurs.
Badwater Basin
This location is the lowest elevation in the United States, 282 feet below sea level. You can walk along the path of this salt flat and turn around to look at the sign high above that shows sea level. What is sea level since the ocean’s water is constantly changing you might ask? According to Nat Geo, because the ocean is one continuous body of water, its surface tends to seek the same level throughout the world. However, winds, currents, river discharges, and variations in gravity and temperature prevent the sea surface from being truly level. In the United States and its territories, local mean sea level is determined by taking hourly measurements of sea levels over a period of 19 years at various locations, and then averaging all of the measurements.
Because of its elevation, Badwater Basin will probably be the hottest place you experience in the Park. Dante’s view will be the coolest at 5,575 ft (1,699 m) above sea level.
Scotty’s Castle
Just a note about Scotty’s Castle. This “Castle” was “Scotty’s” folly in the middle of the desert but you can no longer get to it as the road is closed no matter which side you try to access it from. We wasted a few hours following the GPS just to find out that road was washed out years ago.
Where to Stay
There is camping within the Park and a variety of lodging opportunities but they fill up fast. Additionally, the Park is accessible from both California and Arizona. We stayed at Longstreet Casino and RV Park in Amagosa Valley, AZ. The rooms were clean and had balconies. Each night, they had entertainment in the bar area. If you hate cigarette smoke, the bar is not for you but the outside grounds were nice. Overall, I’d say this place was just okay but provided a good meeting place between AZ and CA.
Death Valley is certainly worth another visit and I’d like to go camping and off-roading here to explore more of the Park. Additionally, I hear that stargazing on a cloudless, moonless night is fabulous. Another reason to come back.
