Visiting Death Valley {8 things to see}

The name “Death Valley” has always evoked moon-like landscapes, extreme heat, and overall totally harsh, and kid-unfriendly conditions in my mind, so naturally we’ve waited a long time before we attempted this journey. Now that the kids are grown up and well suited to endure the difficult terrain of Death Valley, we finally set up to explore this long overdue destination. It really isn’t for the faint of heart with its dry, barren scenery, seemingly devoid of life, looking like a different planet. It’s a land of extremes – it’s the lowest, hottest, and driest place in North America, and holds the record for the highest temperature measured on Earth (134°F/56.7°C). But there is something special and magical about its raw beauty, and quiet solitude that will captivate you from the start, and trump any thoughts of physical discomfort you might have due to heat or thirst.

Death Valley earned its sinister name from a group of gold seekers who crossed the valley on their way to California gold mines. Only one man of the group died, but as they were leaving, after being stranded for two months there, famished and dehydrated, one person turned around and said: “Good-bye Death Valley”.

Our starting point was Las Vegas, which is the nearest airport to the park, a mind-boggling place to see in itself (if you’ve never been there, like our kids), and a short 2 hr 20 minute drive to the desert.

Being the largest national park in the U.S., Death Valley National Park covers more than 3 mln acres, and can be divided approximately in 3 major areas of interest. Most of the park’s remarkable features however, are clustered in the southern part of the park, and are fairly close to each other, making it possible to see in a day, if you are pressed for time.

 

8 Amazing Things to See in Death Valley

1. Dante’s View

Our first stop was Dante’s View, which gives you a bird’s eye view of the vast salt flat, known as Badwater basin – the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, spanning nearly 200 square miles. From above (and even from up close), it looks like a massive patch of snow, its white almost blinding against the contrasting dark mountains on both ends.

Right above the basin, only 15 miles away from the lowest point, you can see the towering Panamint Mountain range, with its snow-covered peaks, the highest of which, Telescope Peak, stands 11,049 feet tall.  Curious fact – the vertical distance between the highest and the lowest points in the park, is twice the depth of the Grand Canyon!
You can easily spend an hour or more here, especially if you take the few short hikes leading to the top of the hills for a better panoramic view of the valley below.

2. Zabriskie Point

Next we drove to the badlands at Zabriskie point. This was our real taste of Death Valley’s stark beauty. Wherever you look, you see a maze of gorgeous sedimentary rock formations, waves of soft multicolored hills, layers of colors and textures. It was probably the lack of any vegetation that made this view so unworldly and mesmerizing.

Regrettably, we got there at 2.30 pm, hungry and deflated by the heat, and did not do the hikes in the badlands. I can only imagine how much more rewarding that would have been!

After Zabriskie point, we made our way to the closest civilized place, Furnace Creek, only a few miles away. Furnace Creek is the most developed tourist facility in the park with two places for lodging and a few places to eat, a post office, visitor center and a gift shop/store. Food at the park is average. The most fancy restaurant in the park is at Furnace Creek Inn, but it was closed for lunch at 3 pm. The other two restaurants we tried down the road, at Furnace Creek Ranch were mediocre. If I have to choose between the two, I would recommend the 49ers Cafe, over the Corkscrew Saloon.

3. Devil’s Golf Course

Bellies full, and coffee in hand we hurried back to the car, and were off to see the Badwater basin up close, Artists Palette and Devil’s Golf course – all on the same road. We had less than two hours before the sunset so we didn’t waste time.

Devil’s Golf Course was the first turnout – it’s about a half mile drive on a dirt road, and from a distance you cannot see anything. As you approach the parking lot, a giant field of bizarre salt formations appears, like a coral carpet, sticking 3-5 feet above the ground, and covering every inch! What used to be the bottom of a lake 10,000 years ago, is now this eerie dead floor of rugged salt spires, that look deceivingly fragile. Due to climate changes, the water began to evaporate, and the dissolved minerals and salts concentrated and began to crystallize and form these intricate salt pinnacles.

One may wonder why Devil’s Golf Course, which is in the same valley as Badwater salt flat, and just a few miles away, has developed such a different look. The explanation, we later learned, is in the slight elevation difference. Badwater is a few feet lower, and lies within the flood plane of the Amargosa River, so when floods occasionally occur, they flatten the salts at Badwater, but they don’t reach Devil’s Golf Course, so only wind and rain are left to sculpt its salt deposits.
Be careful when you walk on them because you can easily lose your balance, and they can easily draw blood, as it happened with my daughter.

4. Badwater

A short drive further down the main road, and you reach Badwater basin. Stepping on this massive white expanse and strolling whichever direction you choose, with salt flats as far as the eye can see is a surreal experience. Unlike the salts at Devil’s Golf Course, these are white and flat. I expected to see those characteristic hexagonal-shape salt crust formations, that I’ve seen so many times in pictures, but the landscape of the basin changes with the seasons, and as one ranger explained, those beehive patterns only form in the middle of summer, when the heat is at its peak, and the mud below the salts cracks, allowing even further evaporation that forms those raised salt crusts.

The unique thing about the Badwater basin is that it has no drainage. Whatever water accumulates here due to rainfall and floods, has no way out of the valley, and is left to evaporate, leaving the accumulated salts behind.

5. Artist’s Palette

At this point, it was a race with the sun. Although we had one hour left till sunset, the rangers warned that the sun disappears behind the Panamint mountains, half an hour earlier. We left the Artists Palette for last, as we figured that would be the most photogenic place at sunset but we realized now we might have miscalculated!

Artist’s Palette drive is a one-way scenic loop drive through colorful volcanic sedimentary hills. From the very start we couldn’t stop marveling at, and snapping pictures of the golden canyons and rocks, that were lit up aglow like fire from the setting sun. Little did we know that we were in for a big surprise (and disappointment too). We stopped at what looked like a pretty place, and a cluster of stopped cars indicated as much.

An explosion of golden, oranges and pinks with no distraction from plants or trees – just bare, amazing rocks! We barely made it to the top of the hills when the last rays of the sun disappeared behind us. Just when we thought we’ve seen it all, and continued down the road, we saw it – the turquoise, and purple patches of rocks, speckled with orange and yellow – bright still, despite the receding light.  Ahh, this was it – this was the real Artist’s Palette, and we missed the good light! That was our only chance of catching sunset around the area, as we were planning a trip in the opposite direction the next day.  We vowed to return!

Since we had not reserved lodging in the park, we had to start making the 40-minute drive to an obscure little place called Beatty, in Nevada. I will not go in details, as it doesn’t merit words. I’ll just say, that I kept thinking, in 15 years time this will become another ghost town, next to its neighboring Rhyolite.

Case in point – make your lodging reservations inside Death Valley park, way in advance. There are four places you can stay at – Furnace Creek Ranch or Inn , Stovepipes Wells and Panamint Springs resort. There are campgrounds for the more adventurous as well. Being spring break, and the fact that there was an unprecedented wild flower bloom in the park this year, made the lodging situation even worse, so we were forced to book the nearest one, outside the park.

6. Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Day two began and ended with the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. We decided to explore the central part of the park, from Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Sprints.  The dunes are located right next to the small village of Stovepipe Wells with an easy access from the parking lot.

We got there around 11 am, too late for the good morning light, and too hot to walk barefoot. It was crowded too, and there wasn’t a spot without footprints left! So much for those images of pristine sand dunes and shadowed crescents in my head that I thought we’d photograph in piece. Nevertheless, we made it almost to the top of the furthest dune, and despite the piercing bright light, we managed to take a few good photos.

Those of us who were too enthusiastic and brought their flip flops only, regretted it deeply, as the sand was scorching hot. Another record that Death Valley holds, is the highest ground temperature ever recorded – 201 °F (93.9 °C).

There are three big sand dunes ranges in Death Valley, but the Mesquite ones are the most accessible, and therefore the most crowded.  Since we were going to the Panamint mountains next, we thought we would visit the Panamint Dunes on our way back, and try to catch the sunset there.  We later learned that there is a 5 mile drive on a dirt road that leads to the dunes, and another 3 mile hike to get to them. That was more than we could handle given the limited time so instead, we returned to Mesquite Dunes in the evening, playing catch with the sun again.

When you are among the waves of sand dunes, you will most likely miscalculate the distances, and lose your sense of depth. That’s exactly what happened, and by the time we barely got midway, the sun had already disappeared.   This time however, the kids enjoyed the dunes to the fullest, as the sand was nice and warm, and without the heat, the dunes were the perfect playground!

7. Darwin Falls

One other interesting place we visited that day was Darwin Falls. Located a mile past Panamint Spring resort, it’s the only waterfall in the park – the oasis in the desert. A short one-mile hike leads to a small stream, and the trail narrows down forcing you to criss-cross over the stream in the last portion of the hike.  All of a sudden you reach a clearing and see a 20-foot waterfall, and a small swimming hole at its base, surrounded by lush greens, as if transported there from above. Nothing prepares you for the sight of the waterfall, as the surrounding area is pretty bare, dotted with low plants and shrubbery for the most part.

It was a nice break from the heat and we were quite tempted to jump in the water. Instead we headed back to Pamamint Springs Resort for a much awaited ice-cream break, before returning to the dunes again, and call it a day.
We did have a decent dinner and lunch at Badwater Saloon, at Stovepipe Wells – it was actually the best food in the park we had.

We had covered the major park attractions by that time, with one exception – the mysterious  ‘sailing stones’ of the Racetrack Playa at the northern part of the park, which we really wanted to see.  There was one caveat – that trip alone, we were warned, would take a 3-hour drive, one way, on a course gravel road, not including the 1 hour drive to the starting point. We reasoned it’s probably best to leave the ‘sailing stones’ for another time, when we are better prepared and possibly spend the night there.
In the northern part, you can also see the Ubehebe crater – another interesting spot on the bucket list for next time.

8. Natural Bridge

For our last day in the park we chose to revisit some of our favorite places, as well as some other less famous spots that we saw on the road.  We had to leave for Las Vegas in the early afternoon so that left only about half a day to explore.  From Furnace Creek we headed south to see the Artist’s Palette once more, this time in broad daylight.  But first, we stopped for a hike along the Natural Bridge Canyon.  This was a total Martian landscape, with its parched dusty gravel road, reddish canyon walls towering above, and nothing else in sight – not a single form of life! It was a nice short hike to an eroded rock that’s formed a 50-foot tall natural bridge over the canyon, with some nooks and crevices for kids to climb onto and explore.

9. Artist’s Palette – revisited

It was tempting to go just a bit further down the road, to Badwater basin, and see it again, but we were pressed for time, and hurried to Artist’s Drive.  It was as if we haven’t seen it!  We had completely missed the turn leading to a small parking lot, with an easy access to the painted hills!

Of all the places we visited, I think this was my favorite.   The vibrant mosaic of rainbow-colored rocks and wavy hills was simply magical, and the hike among them was unlike any other!  We were drawn to it like a magnet, hiking quickly toward to colorful rocks, and wanting to touch them as if to make sure they are what they look from a distance.

Purple, turquoise and mustard yellow interspersed with shades or red and yellow- the striking colors are the result of concentrated mineral deposits, and oxidation of different metals.

In retrospect I think we rushed through most of the park, trying to cover and see as much as possible.  It was a good first taste of Death Valley for sure, but I felt like every place we visited deserved more time so we can fully immerse ourselves in the desolation and strangely beautiful landscapes all around.  I think this would be one of many more trips to Death Valley.

Things to know:

• There are three major tourist facilities in the park, that have lodging, gas, restaurants and gift/convenience stores:  Furnace Creek (the largest), Stovepipe Wells, and Panamint Springs.
• There is a big visitor center at Furnace Creek, and a small one at Stovepipe Wells.
• The park is huge, and even though some places seemed crowded, it’s the least amount of tourists we’ve seen in any park.
• Roads throughout the park are in great condition but there are multiple attractions which you reach by going off the main road, and driving on course gravel, so it’s better to use a vehicle with moderately high clearance such as a four-wheel drive, especially if planning to make the 30-mile drive to the Racetrack Playa to see the ‘sailing stones’.
• Try to go between September – mid November, and February – April. Furnace Creek Inn closes down from mid-May through mid-October due to the heat.

Best time to photograph:

Zabrieskie point –  at sunrise, or early morning
Dante’s View – early morning till noon
Artist’s Palette – late afternoon/sunset
Mesquite flat dunes – late afternoon/sunset

Suggested Itineraries:

If you have 1 day in Death Valley:  If you are driving in on the same day, start as early as possible, and cover the following points of interest in this order: Dante’s View, Zabriskie Point, Devil’s Golf Course, Badwater, and finish with Artist’s Palette ideally at sunset. Find out the exact time of the sunset that day, and deduct half an hour because the sun disappears behind the Panamint Mountains approximately 30 min before sunset.  Both Dante’s View and Zabriskie point are best photographed early in the day, which makes them a great starting point, especially if you enter the park from the south entrance.

If you have 2 days in Death Valley:
On day#1, do as the above suggestion.
On Day#2, visit the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, right next to Stovepipe Wells, in the central part of the park. You want to get there early in the morning before the sand is too hot, or at sunset. The low light at sunrise and sunset is great for taking those high-contrast pictures of the dune crescents. Right next to Stovepipe Wells is Mosaic Canyon, 2.4 miles drive on an unpaved road, then a 4-mile hike round trip. It was on our to do list, but we didn’t have the time. After Mosaic canyon, you can continue driving west towards Panamint Springs Resort. One mile past it, is the turnout that leads to Darwin Falls. There is no sign that says Darwin Falls, and you have to recognize it by the water pipe visible from the road. The turnout is on the left side if you are coming from Panamint Springs.

If you have 3 days in Death Valley:
Day #1: Dante’s View, Zabriskie Point, Devil’s Golf Course, Badwater, an finish with Artist’s Palette.
Day #2: Mesquite sand dunes, Mosaic Canyon, Darwin Falls.
Day Three: Even though we didn’t do this, had I known in advance all the things I know now, I would have planned a full day and possibly overnight stay at the northern part of the park, visiting Ubehebe crater, and driving down to the Racetrack Playa to see the sailing stones. This is for the adventurous and hard-core photographers because there is no lodging or even proper campgrounds near the Playa. From what I read, there is a primitive camp 2 miles south from the Racetrack.
Alternatively, visit only Ubehebe crater, and Scotty’s Castle.