Despite it’s ominous-sounding name, Death Valley is actually a ridiculously beautiful area of desert wonderland and one of America’s finest national parks.
If you’re into things like rolling sand dunes, jutting mountains, salt flats, and craters, then you’ll absolutely fall in love with Death Valley. The region features some of the most dramatic and spectacular topography in the southwest and is also home to the lowest elevation lake in North America.
Death Valley is protected as a national park. It covers more than 3,000 square miles and is known for being one of the hottest places on Earth. Not only that, but it’s also the driest and lowest point on the North American continent.
Roadside pull-offs offer visors stunning vistas, and numerous hiking trails allow you to explore the terrain in all of it’s glory up close and personal. Just please remember to pack plenty of water. The last thing you want is to find yourself miles down a dessert trail before realizing that you’re woefully unprepared. Summer temps can get as high as 120 degrees F, so dress light and plan accordingly.
The main service center in Death Valley is the conveniently located Furnace Creek, which can be found at the park’s center. There you will find a visitor center, restaurants, shops, gas stations, and a campground. Additionally, the Furnace Creek Resort is a great place to base up during your stay.
On the western end of the park, Panamint Springs offers amenities such as a restaurant, gas station, and a handful of other accommodations. This is a great place to stop when entering Death Valley from the west and can be a lovely spot to grab a bite to eat before going further into the park.
If you’ve never been to Death Valley before and are planning a visit, or simply just curious about what the area has to offer, keep watching to learn all about the National Park’s top attractions.
The Sand Dunes Near Stovepipe Wells
Just east of Stovepipe Wells you’ll find the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. We’re not overstating it when we say that this site is one of the most beautiful and heavily photographed landscapes in the entire National Park.
When the sun graces the sculpted dunes in the early morning and dusk, it creates these huge snaking shadows. The views are incredible.
Off in the distance, you’ll be treated to a majestic backdrop of mountains rising up on the horizon. If you’re a photographer, this is one stop you won’t want to miss.
If you’re planning on spending a few hours here, you have a few options to consider. You can either walk in the dunes, climb to the highest points, or simply whip out a camp chair and soak in the gorgeous scenery.
If you hit up the park in January or February, you’ll likely get the dunes all to yourself. The busy season is in the spring when there is rarely a dune without somebody on it. But in our opinion, the best time to visit is after a strong wind, when the dunes are untracked and pristine.
Badwater Salt Flats
You’ll wonder whether you’re still on Earth or have somehow been transported to the moon while visiting this breathtakingly beautiful site.
The Badwater Salt Flats is a depression that is 282 ft below sea level. If you think that’s crazy, just wait until your lay your eyes on the elevation marker indicating sea level that’s placed high up on a mountain just behind the expanse.
This dry, cracked, and brutally scorched depression is located in a part of Death Valley called Badwater Basin. It’s actually a sizeable prehistoric lake bed left behind from an ancient body of water called Manly Lake.
Not only is this the lowest point in Death Valley, but also all of North America.
At the far end of Badwater Road, you come upon a landscape as alien and bizarre as something you’d see in a science fiction film. The area bears a striking resemblance to the lunar landscape and allows visitors to take in something that they’ve probably never experienced before – utter silence.
Eureka Dunes
This beautiful place is home to the tallest dune field in the state of California and likely the entire US.
If you hike to the top of the dunes to catch a sunrise or sunset, you’ll find yourself baffled by a sound that can only be described as something between whirring and howling.
This phenomenon is produced when the wind dances across the sand. How cool is that the dunes literally sing like that?
It’s not known for certain exactly how the wind does this, but the going theory is that the noise is caused by the sliding of smoother grains of sand blowing against each other.
Eureka Dunes is one of the most beautiful places in the park, but to get there, you’ll need a vehicle with high clearance and four-wheel drive.
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The Race Track
Another great place to visit in a four-wheel drive vehicle is this mystifying site.
At the end of a rugged dirt road, you’ll find one of Death Valley’s most enchanting, albeit puzzling, attractions. Known as the Racetrack, this area is a massive dried lake bed where stones of various shapes and sizes can be seen with long trailing tracks behind them.
It almost appears as if they’ve been pushed through the parched earth by some kind of invisible hand. For years, it was speculated that they were pushed by the strong wind after many rainfalls, but recently it’s been discovered, with the help of time-lapse photography, that they are more than likely moved along by floating ice pushing the rocks in the winter time.
Zabriskie Point
This iconic high point vista looks out over a very surreal looking landscape of rippling ridges of brown, gold, and orange earth. It’s part of the Amargosa Range located on the east end of Death Valley and is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which has been dry for more than 5 million years.
The Zabriskie Point hike is generally considered to be an easy pathway that most people should have no trouble making. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and is .4 miles in length.
Dante’s View
This is by far one of our favorite viewpoints offering one of the best overall perspectives of Death Valley National Park. In front of you is the very heart of Death Valley, while down below is the Badwater Basin.
You can either take in the view from the parking lot or if you need to stretch your legs, you can walk the short, beginners-level trail that leads off in either direction for more incredible views.
To get to this viewpoint, you’ll have to drive a little out of the way, but it’s well worth your time. Plus, if the heat is getting to you, the temps up here are much cooler than on the valley floor.
Artist’s Palette and Artist’s Drive
The Artist’s Palette is an area situated along Artist’s drive, a short yet scenic road that brings you up to the Black Mountains.
Here you’ll see a very colorful section of the mountainside that bursts with nearly every color of the rainbow from deep orange to bright pink, rich green, and turquoise. This brilliant display was created by the metals trapped in the rocks formed millions of years ago.
Artist’s Drive is a one-way 9-mile looping road, so make sure you drive carefully and take time to take in the natural beauty. This is one of the most relaxing and popular things to do when you’re on your way to Badwater Basin or Furnace Creek, and i’s accessible right off of Badwater road.
Twenty Mule Team Canyon
This two and a half mile dirt road takes you through some unbelievable scenery. The road running through Twenty Mule Team Canyon is nestled between rock walls on either side in some areas. There are also colorful hills, barren flats, and gorgeous rock formations to see along the way.
The terrain in this area is very different from other regions of the park and reveals the ruggedness of the valley. Back in the day when Borax mining was the primary industry in Death Valley, Twenty Mule Teams were used to lug the borax-packed wagons out of the valley.
The road gives visitors a bit of perspective on the type of terrain that the 19th-century vehicles were forced to deal with. That being said, there’s little evidence to suggest that this exact route was used for such a purpose.
Keane Wonder Mine
The crumbling remains of this defucnt gold mine can be a bit tricky to get to but if you have time, it’s well worth your efforts.
The old aerial tramway is still intact and is pretty amazing to see in person. Other structures, or what’s left of them, can be seen as well. The mine is nestled on the hillside, and dazzling panoramas extend across the valley in all directions.
To get to the site, you’ll need to drive down a rugged dirt road, but it should be very passable with most vehicles. From the parking area, you’ll need to make a short yet relatively intense hike out to the mine.
Death Valley and the National Park that preserves it is one of our favorite places in the country. It’s not for everyone – especially if you’re heat-adverse – but if you don’t mind slapping on some sunscreen and enduring the sun’s beaming rays, Death Valley is exquisitely beautiful.
What are you most excited to see on your upcoming trip to Death Valley? If you’ve already been what are some of your favorite sights and attractions in the Death Valley area? Let us know in the comments.
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