Death Valley National Park is the “landscape of the soul” with more than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert scenery, interesting and rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed wilderness and sites of historical and cultural interest. Bounded on the west by Telescope Peak (el. 11,049 feet) and on the east by Dante’s View (el. 5,475 feet), Badwater (el. -282 feet) is the lowest point in the western hemisphere. Serving as an even larger contrast from the dry, salty floor of Badwater, the lowest point in the Lower 48, the peak of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the Lower 48, is visible.
The experience of standing in this spot can be truly awe-inspiring, reducing the visitor to feeling like a kid in a big, big world. This is one of the few national parks that feels removed from civilization. Death Valley gives you the feel that there are still huge spaces in America.
Introduction
Death Valley National Park gives new meaning to the word extreme. From 282 feet below sea level the lowest point in North America the park tops out nearby at an astonishing 11,049 feet. The highest temperatures in the United States are regularly recorded here, as are winter snows and near-zero nighttime temperatures. Hemmed in by nine mountain ranges, Death Valley is cut off from rejuvenating rainfall and cooling Pacific winds, making it one of the driest and hottest places in the world. A record high temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded there in 1913 and a ground temperature of 201 degrees has also been registered only 11 degrees shy of the boiling point for water.
The park’s size is no less extreme. It sprawls across over 3.3 million acres, making Death Valley the largest national park in the contiguous United States, almost five times larger than its glamorous California neighbor, Yosemite. Good news for nature lovers: All but a tiny fraction of that expanse is federal wilderness, which preserves a Connecticut-size chunk of unique terrain for its rugged animal inhabitants and the brave and adventurous visitor.
In the park, development has remained at a minimum; you won’t see Coke or Camel ads dotting the highway and you can even take a roundabout way to get into the park, which will push you further into an otherworldly experience. If you take the dirt road into the park from the town of Big Pine, you won’t see anyone for a while and you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a full tank of gas. As you’re driving along the empty rode, think about the original settlers who survived despite such harsh conditions. They had no gas stations and no bottled water.
History & Culture
Four separate Native American cultures have existed in the area protected by Death Valley National Park. The Nevares Spring People, a group of primitive hunters and seed gatherers, arrived on the scene perhaps 9000 years ago. Lakes still existed in the basin then, the climate was mild and game was plentiful. Four thousand years later, the culturally similar Mesquite Flat People replaced the original inhabitants. The third group, the Saratoga Spring People, arrived about 2000 years ago in what had probably by then become a dry, hot desert. These more advanced hunters and gatherers created handcrafts and left mysterious, meticulously created stone patterns in the valley. The Desert Shoshone moved into desolate area 1000 years ago. They were nomads, living on game, mesquite beans and pinyon nuts. They camped in the valley near water sources during winter and moved into cooler mountains in summer. The first white people to enter the valley were two groups of emigrants on their way to the California gold fields. Perhaps 100 people wandered down Furnace Creek Wash in late 1849 while looking for a shortcut to the Mother Lode country. Lost and out of food, the two separate groups were forced to endure severe hardships before they could escape from the desert. Their experience provided the valley with its morbid name.
One of these unfortunate travelers fashioned a gunsight out of a piece of rubble. The rock was later found to be silver. As a result of this pleasant accident, Death Valley was subjected to a series of mining booms that lasted for nearly a century. Instant wealth in the forms of gold, silver, copper and lead provided the impetus; instant towns such a Panamint City, Ballarat, Chloride City, Rhyolite, Harrisburg, Greenwater, Skidoo and Leadfield were the result. Few remained active for long and most people who invested money or work found little to repay their hopes.
The most profitable and longest-sustained mining activities in the region centered on borates. Discovered in 1873, the borax deposits were first successfully exploited by W. T. Coleman. He built the Harmony Borax Works and developed the famous system of 20-mule-team wagons that hauled the processed mineral 165 miles across the desert to the railroad at Mojave. Borax mining was carried out later near the site of Ryan.
The first tourist facilities in Death Valley were some tent houses built in the 1920’s at the site of today’s Stovepipe Wells. In 1927, a borax company turned its crew quarters at Furnace Creek Ranch into resort and built the Furnace Creek Inn. The valley quickly became popular as a winter destination and in 1933 an area of almost 3000 square miles was established as a national monument under the administration of the National Park Service. As a result of the Desert Protection Act, signed into law in 1994, about 1.3 million acres were added to Death Valley and the monument became a national park the largest national park in the contiguous United States.
Nature & Science
Death Valley National Park provides a fascinating lesson in geology. Death Valley’s topography is the result of slow, massive geologic changes. The earliest rocks, dating from the Precambrian Era, are visible today in sections of the Black and Panamint mountains. During the Paleozoic Era (perhaps 300-500 million years ago), seas covered the area, leaving layers of sediment and the fossils of many kinds of marine animals. The landscape we now see was basically shaped between 5 and 35 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era. after faults formed in the earth’s crust, prodigious folding and volcanic action uplifted the mountain ranges and lowered the valley floor, creating a basin known as a half-graben. The present floor is dropping primarily on one side and is actually 8,000 to 10,000 feet above its bedrock base. The intervening space is filled by the massive amount of rock debris eroded from the surrounding mountains over the millennia.
During the Ice Ages, Death Valley was periodically filled by large lakes. Their waves carved terraces on the bordering rocks and their evaporation left alternating layers of mud and - most importantly - the large salt deposits which now cover the basin’s floor. The area has 14 square miles of sand dunes; 200 square miles of crusty salt flats; and hills, mountains and canyons of many colors.
The process of geologic change continues today. The mountains are constantly eroding, their rubble spilling out into the valley in the immense alluvial fans which spread like aprons at the mouth of every canyon. Rainfall sends torrents of water carving paths through the rocks, subtly but methodically altering the schemes of form and color along Artist Drive, at Zabriskie Point and within Golden, Mosaic, Grotto, Marble and Titus canyons.
Attractions
Furnace Creek
A center of activity amid the sprawling quiet of Death Valley, Furnace Creek is covered with tropical landscaping. It has jogging and bicycle paths, golf, tennis, horseback riding, a general store, and, rare for these parts, dining options. The Furnace Creek Ranch operates most of the above. The rides traverse trails with views of the surrounding mountains, where multicolor volcanic rock and alluvial fans form a background for date palms and other vegetation.Visitor Center at
Furnace Creek
Near the center of the park, this the best starting point for visitors. For a quick overview of the park, check out the small museum and 18-minute orientation film. Rangers dispense helpful hiking and touring info and lead evening programs and daytime walks on a regular basis in high season, from November to March. Pick up guides, a road map, topographical maps, or lists of bike routes, campsites and trails.
Harmony Borax Works
The renowned mule teams hauled borax from the Harmony Borax Works to the railroad town of Mojave, 165 miles away. Those teams were a sight to behold: 20 mules hitched up to two massive wagons, each carrying a load of 10 tons of borax through the burning desert. The Borax Museum, 2 miles south of the borax works, houses original mining machinery and historical displays in a building that once served as a boardinghouse for miners. The adjacent structure is the original mule-team barn.
Golden Canyon
The canyon takes its name from the glowing color of its walls. An easy hike into this spacious landform affords some spectacular views of yellow and orange rock. Farther into the canyon you’ll encounter a colorful formation called Red Cathedral.
Badwater
Reaching Badwater you’ll see a shallow pool containing mostly sodium chloride saltier than the sea lying almost lifeless against an expanse of desolate salt flats. It’s a sharp contrast to the expansive canyons and elevations not too far away. The legend of Badwater is one of the early surveyors saw that his mule wouldn’t drink from the pool and noted “badwater” on his map. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater is the lowest spot on land in the Western Hemisphere and also one of the hottest.
Artists Palette
Named for the brilliant array of pigments created by volcanic deposits, Artists Palette is one of the most magnificent sights in Death Valley. Artists Drive, the approach to the area, is one-way heading north off Badwater Road, so if you’re visiting Badwater it saves time to come here on the way back.
Zabriskie Point
One of Death Valley National Park’s most scenic spots, Zabriskie Point overlooks a striking badlands panorama with wrinkled, multicolor hills.
Twenty Mule Team Canyon
The thrills in this colorful canyon are more than just natural. At times along the loop road off Highway 190 the soft rock walls reach high on both sides, making it seem like you’re on an amusement-park ride as you drive through it. Remains of prospectors’ tunnels are visible here, along with some brilliant rock formations.
Dante’s View
The road to Dante’s View winds more than 5,000 feet up into the Black Mountains. In the dry desert air you can see across most of the 110 mile valley. The view up and down is equally astounding, as you can spot the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States. The tiny blackish patch far below is Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level; on the western horizon is Mt. Whitney, which rises to 14,494 feet.
Devil’s Golf Course
Thousands of miniature salt pinnacles carved into surreal shapes by the desert wind dot the landscape known as Devil’s Golf Course. The salt was pushed up to the surface by pressure created as underground salt and water-bearing gravel crystallized. Nothing grows on this barren landscape.
Charcoal Kilns
Ten stone kilns, 30-feet high and 25-feet wide stand, as if on parade, in a line up a mountain. The kilns, built by Chinese laborers in 1879, were employed to burn wood into charcoal. The charcoal was then transported into Death Valley where it was used to extract lead and silver from the ore mined in the area. If you hike up the mountain, you will be rewarded with terrific views of the kilns, with Death Valley’s phenomenal colors as a backdrop.
Mosaic Canyon
Take the easy uphill trail (2 miles one-way) to see the unique geologic mosaic for which the canyon is named. Portions of the narrow canyon walls have been polished to marblelike smoothness by draining water; in other places, the workings of time have “glued” rock fragments together.
Sand Dunes
The sand that forms the 14-square-miles of hills east of Stovepipe Wells Village is actually minute pieces of quartz and other rock. Walking on the dunes offers some great views of the mountains. The dunes aren’t tough to climb, although the experience is best when the sands are cool. If you want a romantic adventure, explore the dunes by the full moon, when a silvery light reflects against the white sand.
Scotty’s Castle
An odd apparition rising out of a canyon, this incomplete Moorish mansion, takes its name from Walter Scott, better known as Death Valley Scotty. An ex-cowboy, prospector and performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Scotty always told people the castle was his, financed by gold from a secret mine. In reality, there was no mine. The house belonged to a Chicago millionaire named Albert Johnson (advised by doctors to spend time in a warm, dry climate) whom Scott had finagled into investing in the fictitious mine. The house contains works of art, imported carpets, handmade European furniture and a tremendous pipe organ. Costumed rangers re-create life at the castle circa 1939.
Ubehebe Crater
Five-hundred feet deep and 1/2 miles across, this impressive crater is the result of violent underground steam and gas explosions about 3,000 years ago. Volcanic ash spreads out over most of the area and the cinders are as thick as 150 feet near the crater’s rim. You’ll get some superb views of the valley from here and you can take a fairly easy hike around the west side of the rim to Little Hebe Crater, one of a smaller cluster of craters to the south and west.
Trona Pinnacles National Natural Landmark
The best road to this natural treasure near Ridgecrest can be impassable after a rainstorm and it’s bumpy going even in good weather but the area is worth a visit. These fantastic looking formations of calcium carbonate, known as tufa, were formed underwater along fault lines in what is now Searles Dry Lake. A 1/2 mile trail winds around this surreal landscape of more than 500 spires, some of them rising as high as 140 feet. Wear sturdy shoes tufa cuts like coral.
Fossil Falls
The stark, roughly hewn, mostly black basalt rocks at Fossil Falls are the result of volcanic eruptions in the western Mojave region about 20,000 years ago. The fossils at Fossil Falls are the falls themselves as their source dried up centuries ago. The only time you’ll see water here is when it’s raining. A study in shape and texture, the falls drop off an impressive distance along a channel cut through hardened lava flows. A brief hike to the bottom of the formation leads to a spot where Native Americans once camped.
Red Rock Canyon State Park
A feast for the eyes with its layers of pink, white, red and brown rocks, Red Rock Canyon is a region of fascinating biological diversity the ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert and the Basin Range all converge here. Some anthropologists believe that the human history of this area goes back 20,000 years or more to the canyon dwellers known as the Old People; Mojave Indians roamed the land for centuries. You can still see remains of gold mining operations in the countryside.
Rainbow Basin National Natural Landmark
Filmmakers shooting science-fiction pictures often head to Rainbow Basin, which looks like a Martian landscape. The sense of upheaval is palpable; huge slabs of red, orange, white and green stone tilt at crazy angles like ships about to capsize. Hike the many washes and you’ll probably see the fossilized remains of creatures that roamed the basin from 16 million to 12 million years ago: mastodons, camels, rhinos, dog-bears, birds and insects.
Calico Early Man Archeological Site
If you’re at all curious about life 200,000 years ago, Calico is a must-see. Many archeologists are wary of this site because it conflicts with the dominant theory that humans only populated America 13,000 years ago, nearly 12,000 tool-like stones that are believed to be much older have been excavated from the site. The noted archaeologist Louis Leakey’s, old camp is now a visitor center and museum. The earliest known Americans fashioned the artifacts buried in the walls and floors of the excavated pits. The only way in is by guided tour.
Calico Ghost Town
Calico was a wild and wealthy mining town after a rich deposit of silver was found around 1881. Many of the buildings here are authentic, but it’s a theme-park version of the 1880’s you get strolling the wooden sidewalks of Main Street, browsing through western shops, roaming the tunnels of Maggie’s mine and taking a ride on the Calico-Odessa Railroad.
Kelso Dunes
To see stereotypical desert terrain, head to the dunes perfect, pristine slopes of gold-white sand. The dunes can be reached in an easy 1/2 mile walk from where you park. When you reach the top of one of the dunes, kick a little bit of sand down the lee side and find out why they say the sand “sings.”
afton Canyon
Because of its colorful, steep walls, afton Canyon is often called the Grand Canyon of the Mojave. afton was carved over thousands of years by the rushing waters of the Mojave River, which makes one of its few above ground appearances here. Where you find water in the desert you’ll also find trees, grasses and wildlife. The canyon has been popular for a long time; Native Americans and later white settlers following the Mojave Trail from the Colorado River to the Pacific Ocean set up camp here.
Recreation
Death Valley National Park is a large park, 1 1/2 times the size of Delaware and there is much to see and do. This is one national park where it really pays to have a car. Even still, the distance you need to travel from one place to another makes careful planning essential. Since you’re in a car anyway, consider some of the scenic drives in Death Valley National Park. One favorite is Emigrant Canyon Road on the west side of the park, on which you can reach Wildrose Canyon, where you will find a row of abandoned charcoal kilns. These kilns were constructed more than a century ago to manufacture charcoal for use in ore smelters from the surrounding pinyon pine and juniper forest. Chinese laborers built the kilns without mortar and Shoshone Indians tended them. Scotty’s Castle, a Hollywood-era pile in the north part of the park, appeals to the tourist in us all. Wild west legend, roaring twenties glamour and magnificent desert scenery meet at this must-stop attraction.
If you really want to do the tourist bit, head your car over to the area of the lowest spot in the U. S. Worth a snapshot and a story for the nephew. The flat expanse there doesn’t make for interesting hiking. But there are plenty of wonderful day hikes, especially in the mountains around the valley. Once you know what you’re up against, try one of the backcountry routes.
Death Valley National Park is one of the few national parks that offers superior biking opportunites. You can be gone for days on its network of backcountry roads. Of course you can always mount the bike on the car top and really cover some distance.
In The Area
Rhyolite Ghost Town
Rhyolite was the largest town in the Death Valley area during the mining boom of the early 1900’s. Included among the ruins are a house built completely of bottles, a train depot, jail, two story schoolhouse and the ruins of a three story bank building.
Manzanar National Historic Site
Manzanar Relocation Center was one of ten camps at which Japanese-American citizens and Japanese aliens were interned during World War II.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
The 12,736 acre spring-fed wetland and alkaline desert provides habitat for at least 26 types of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Four endemic fishes are currently listed as endangered.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NRA) offers a wealth of things to do and places to go year-round. Its huge lakes cater to boaters, swimmers, sunbathers and fishermen while its desert rewards hikers, wildlife photographers and roadside sightseers. Three of America’s four desert ecosystems the Mojave, the Great Basin and the Sonoran Deserts meet in Lake Mead NRA. As a result, this seemingly barren area contains a surprising variety of plants and animals, some of which may be found nowhere else in the world.
Mojave National Preserve
Mojave National Preserve was created in October, 1994 when Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act. Congress acted to protect one of the most diverse desert environments in the world. The area ranges from creosote bush dominated flats in low areas to pinyon pine and juniper woodlands in higher elevations. Sand dunes, volcanic cinder cones, Joshua tree forests, vast vistas and mile-high mountains help define this amazing area within the Mojave Desert.
Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks
Sequoia is the second-oldest national park in the United States. It was established in 1890 to protect the Big Trees in Giant Forest, including the General Sherman Tree, the world’s largest living thing.
A small portion of what is now Kings Canyon was originally set aside in 1890 as General Grant National Park. In 1940, General Grant was absorbed into the new and larger Kings Canyon National Park which eventually grew to include the South Fork of the Kings River and 456,552 acres of backcountry wilderness. Managed as one park, together Sequoia and Kings Canyon total over 863,700 acres.
Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks also contain Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the U. S. outside of Alaska.
When To Go
Spring and fall are the best seasons to tour the desert. Winters are generally mild, but summers can be brutal. If you’re on a budget, keep in mind that room rates drop as the temperatures rise. Early morning is the best time to visit sights and avoid crowds, but some museums and visitor centers don’t open until 10:00 a.m. If you schedule your town arrivals for late afternoon, you can drop by the visitor centers just before closing hours to line up an itinerary for the next day. Plan indoor activities for midday during the hotter months. Because relatively few people visit the desert, many attractions have limited hours of access.
Traveler Facts
Contact Information
Death Valley National Park
P. O. Box 579
Death Valley, CA 92328
Phone: 760-786-2331
Visitor Centers
Furnace Creek Visitor Center
Located in the center of Death Valley National Park, the Furnace Creek Visitor Center houses museum exhibits, a visitor information desk and the Death Valley Natural History Association book store. The Furnace Creek Visitor Center is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Scotty’s Castle
The tour ticket office at Scotty’s Castle also has a book sales outlet and a small museum with displays from the Castle collection.
Operating Hours & Seasons
Death Valley National Park is open year round.
