Death Valley National Park

Visited: March 2014

Nearby city: Las Vegas, NV

"Would you enjoy a trip to hell? You might enjoy a trip to Death Valley now! It has all the advantages of hell without the inconveniences"

-ad from an old mining newspaper, The Death Valley Chuck-Walla

The advertisement from the mining newspaper was certainly tongue-in-cheek, but there is definitely a tinge of seriousness to it as well. People have had a love-hate relationship with this barren desert since off-route pioneers accidentally stumbled through in 1849. Although only one pioneer died in that treacherous trek, the name of "Death" Valley stuck thanks to the popular memoir written by one of the pioneers about his (mis)adventures in this desolate wasteland.

First things first, the Park is...MASSIVE. It is the largest Park in the lower 48 states (of course Alaska has more super-massive parks). It occupies a gigantic isolated corner of California, and a little bit of the park crosses over into neighboring Nevada. Frankly, it's really too big to visit in one day. We spent only one day in the Park, and I do not think we did it justice. We will have to go back and spend a couple of days to really appreciate this place. If you are going to only do one day like us, Las Vegas is probably your best home base to get to the park. And it's still a 2 hour drive from the gambling mecca. If you stay longer, there is plenty of camping available in the park boundaries, or stay at the lovely Furnace Creek Inn. Or you can stay in a hotel in Lone Pine, CA on the western side of the park, or Pahrump, NV on the east.

There are four main areas in the Park. (1) Furnace Creek, (2) Stovepipe Wells Village, (3) Panamint Springs and (4) Scotty's Castle. Three of them lie along State Highway 190 (from East to West: Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, and Panamint), the main east-west route across the Park. Scotty's Castle is about an hour north on Scotty's Castle Road, the turnoff for this road is on Highway 190 between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. It would be really tough to visit all four of these areas in one day, I guess it would be possible, but they're all quite a distance from each other. Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, and Panamint all have gas stations. Make sure you have plenty of gas. Gas is certainly a premium, it was around $7-$8 a gallon in Furnace Creek! Make sure you have plenty of water too.

Furnace Creek is the most popular region of the park, and the one place to visit if you only have time for one area. From Furnace Creek you can quickly visit Dante's View, Zabriskie Point, Badwater Basin (the lowest point in North America) and drive the scenic Artist's Drive. Stovepipe Wells is the spot to view the Mesquite Sand Dunes and the Devil's Cornfield. Panamint Springs has good campgrounds, a ghost town, and hiking to Telescope Peak. Scotty's Castle is a large mansion in the middle of the desert that was home to the eccentric and somewhat shady "miner" Walter Scott, AKA Death Valley Scotty. The Scotty's Castle region is close to the Ubehebe Crater and two 4WD off-road adventures, Titus Canyon and Racetrack Road. The latter leads to the Racetrack, a mysterious dry lakebed where the rocks seemingly move across the ground on their own accord.

We only explored Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. When we go back, I definitely want to go to Scotty's Castle. However, Scotty's Castle is closed until 2019 due to flood damage (make sure you always check the National Park website for updates and closures). The entrance fee is $25. As soon as you cross into the park boundary from the east, you can take an offshoot from Highway 190 to drive to the viewpoint at Dante's Peak. We skipped it but I hear it's a great view. Our first stop was Zabriskie Point.

After Zabriskie Point, keep driving along Highway 190 and then turn south on Badwater Road at the Furnace Creek junction. Drive about 20 miles and you'll reach the Badwater Basin parking lot. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America, 282 ft below sea level!

Badwater Basin, the snow capped mountain in the background is Telescope Peak

the bad water at badwater

despite the sign here, the actual low point is a couple of miles in the distance

love how blinding the sand is

On your way back to Furnace Creek, make sure you take the one-way scenic drive. Artist's Drive. The desert is so beautiful here.

The drive back to Furnace Creek is a slight upward grade. It's funny to see a sign like this at the crest of the road.

Stop at Furnace Creek to see the museum at the Visitor's Center and there were picnic tables for our packed lunch. A little bit north of Visitor's Center is the Harmony Borax Works Interpretive Trail. It's totally worth it. Although there were a few gold mines in the area, the only profitable mines at Death Valley were the borax mines. Borax was an important ingredient in soaps, detergent, cosmetics, and enamel glazes. The borax would be mined and placed in these large wagons that would be hauled out of the valley with a 20 mule team. Stephen Mather, who would later become the first director of the National Park Service, made his fortune with a borax mine in the Valley. The short trail leads to the ruins of a borax mine.

Remains of lodging used by mine laborers (who were mostly Chinese)

wagon used to haul borax by the 20 mule team

We continued down the road to the Mesquite Sand Dunes and Stovepipe Wells. We didn't really hike into the dunes. Even though it was March, it was still very hot, and our hiking at Badwater Basin and Harmony Borax Works had worn us out. We then drove to Stovepipe Wells. There wasn't much to do there, so we didn't stay long.

Devil's Cornfield

Artistic shot of the open road

Instead of heading back to Furnace Creek we took the Daylight Pass Road that heads to Beatty and then back to Las Vegas. Just outside of the park boundary is the ghost town of Rhyolite. It's a really cool ghost town. The town ballooned to nearly 10,000 after gold was discovered in a nearby mountain. Shortly after being discovered, the mine dried up and it was abandoned quickly. It's definitely worth a visit.

The largest building in town housed a number of businesses

the town bank, the vault is in the center

mercantile shop

Rhyolite school

Bottle house

train depot

The desert is an acquired taste. If the desert isn't your thing, you might not like Death Valley. However, travel is about getting out of your comfort zone. Give it a shot, if only one day to escape the noise and chaos of Las Vegas. There is lot to discover in this seemingly empty valley, and there is still a lot more for us to discover. I would stick with a winter visit only, I think summer would be unbearable in the park. We look forward to going back, and we will be sure to spend more than one day. For more info check out: https://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm