Where can you find the largest national park in the United States outside of Alaska, stand at the lowest dry point in North America, and explore one of the hottest places on Earth all at the same time? Death Valley National Park, that’s where! Sprawling salt flats, rugged mountains, layered canyons reminiscent of marble cake, sand dunes soaring at 100 feet high, and nearly one thousand species of plant life… it’s all there. Limited time meant that we had to choose our plan of attack wisely, especially since Death Valley is an endless smorgasbord of otherworldly offerings scattered throughout 3+ million acres. While we certainly crammed in as much as possible within our allotted time frame, Death Valley is one of those places where you could spend days on end seeking out undiscovered terrain. Nonetheless, the 48 hours we spent within the park’s boundaries were enough to satisfy our craving for adventure (not to mention, it gave us a glimpse into the creative mind of George Lucas because hello, Star Wars inspiration!).
When to Visit
For most, desert season kicks off mid-fall and proceeds through winter as temperatures begin to cool down, becoming ideal for outdoor exploration (and also minimizing the fear of heat stroke and exhaustion). Our adventure took place in the beginning of December where we experienced daytime temperatures in the low-70s and nighttime temperatures in the low-40s. There were occasional wind gusts throughout the day, a welcome burst of freshness during our daytime treks but a bit of a chill factor when at the campground during the night. Wintertime can bring bouts of rain, so be sure to check the weather forecast prior to visiting.
(NOTE: During our second night, we experienced a few sprinkles and severe wind gusts to the point of needing to anchor down one of our 4-person tents. Unfortunately, the tent was too top heavy and just kept blowing over, so some of our crew had to stay the night inside of the car. Lesson to be learned: be prepared for some wind!)
Where to Stay
Death Valley National Park contains nine campgrounds with varying open date ranges and a select few hotels, including the acclaimed Inn at Death Valley and the Ranch at Death Valley. Furnace Creek campground is the only campground within the park that accepts reservations (to be made only for dates between October 15 to April 15). We did not want to take our chances on a walk-up campground after driving for six hours from San Diego, so we decided to reserve a spot in advance at Furnace Creek.
The campground was very clean and well-equipped with flush toilets, a dump station, and potable water on site. In addition to its desirable amenities, Furnace Creek is in a prime location within the park. After just a short 3-minute drive, we hit Badwater Road, the main access-road to reach many of Death Valley’s key points of interest. This is perfect when needing to maximize a minimal amount of time available to explore the park.
The Plan
To make the most of our first, and only, full day within the park, we opted to stay in Furnace Creek and explore the many popular sights following a simple, straightforward drive along Badwater Road. The planned layout for day 1 (with a total calculation of 10 miles hiked) was as follows:
Artist's Palette (Artist's Drive) --- Badwater Basin --- Natural Bridge Trail --- Devil's Golf Course --- Golden Canyon
We'd view our only Death Valley National Park sunset that evening from the renowned Dante's View (not shown on the map).
Day 1
Artist's Palette
A short 10-minute drive from the campground put us on the beautiful, one-way road known as Artist’s Drive where the vibrant, polychromatic landscape known as Artist’s Palette can be found. While the original plan was to explore the palette later in the day, the abundance of cotton ball clouds breaking up light rays made the early morning visit too good to pass up.
We arrived around 8:45 AM, the perfect time to avoid the afternoon color wash-out caused by more direct sunlight. The parking lot lies directly in front of the scene, so a short walk had us up close and personal in this paint party in no time. A brilliant assortment of colors spread all across a mountain playground, what a way to kick off the trip!
Badwater Basin
A 24-minute drive from Artist’s Palette leads to the lowest dry point in North America, Badwater Basin. The parking lot is right off of the main road, and across from the lot stands a “sea level” sign fashioned 280 feet up onto the mountainside indicating just that, sea level! Talk about perspective! Upon our entry to the boardwalk, at around 10:30 AM, we stood at 282 feet below sea level, following a long, hard salt covered walkway out towards the incredible, and seemingly endless, display of salt flats. Another hour of the day well spent working camera angles, messing around with some ninja-style tripod timed group shots, and taking in the honeycomb styled salt crust before our very eyes.
Natural Bridge Canyon Trail
The Natural Bridge Canyon Trail offered a nice chance to get out and stretch our legs a bit on a slightly longer trek (about 2 miles roundtrip) considering that the previous stops were “park and explore nearby” visits rather than larger designated hiking trails. Around noon, one-third of a mile into some mild elevation gain along a gravel road led us to the namesake destination of this trek, a 35 feet thick natural bridge/arch nestled between textured, copper canyon walls. Shortly beyond the bridge lies unmistakable markings etched into the walls, indicating the presence of once thriving waterfalls that have long since gone away. Taking the trail even further involves some minor bouldering but ultimately leads to a dead-end. Unique on account of its dry waterfalls and signature arch, we dedicated an hour to this trail, just enough time and distance to not completely wipe out our slowly deteriorating energy supply (after all, a 1 AM campground arrival time and about 4 hours of sleep will do that to a person).
Devil’s Golf Course
The expansive salt pans known as the Devil’s Golf Course are comprised of hundreds of incredibly sharp, jagged salt mounds (though, they are highly reminiscent of frosted mini wheats, slightly minimizing the intimidation factor). The bizarre name for this location came from a 1930s guidebook in which the National Park Service stated that “only the devil could play golf” on such unforgiving terrain. Extreme caution is to be taken when exploring this rather purgatory-esque destination as one minor slip up could result in some serious injuries. Great care was definitely taken during the 25 minutes we spent tiptoeing through the area as we still had a lot left to explore, and rewriting our itinerary to tend to puncture wounds was certainly not a part of the plan!
Golden Canyon Trail
Golden Canyon offers three route options ranging of varied mileage:
· Golden Canyon Trail to Red Cathedral (2.5 miles roundtrip)
· Gower Gulch Loop – passes Manly Beacon, loops back down Golden Canyon Trail (about 4.5 miles roundtrip)
· Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch to Zabriskie Point (about 6.5 miles roundtrip)
For the sake of time and to honor our rapidly dwindling energy supply, we opted for the shortest of the three and ventured out to Red Cathedral. The trail is as its name suggests, laid out within a golden canyon surrounded by gorgeous, soft buttermilk tinted sandstone formations. The trail contains a gradual incline but nothing too strenuous. When arriving at Red Cathedral, a short yet steep slope leads to an incredibly breathtaking overlook of mountain ranges in the distance while a majestic, red rock wall stood powerfully upright behind us. A perfect lookout to stop, take a break, and appreciate the day's abundance of adventure.
Dante’s View
One of the most iconic and sought after viewpoints in Death Valley, Dante’s View offers a jaw dropping panoramic view of the park’s salt beds, mountains, and more from its lookout area. Stand at 5,475 feet atop the Black Mountains and enjoy the truly stunning diversity of this magical national park.
TIP: Remember, traveling from below sea level to over 5,000 feet above it will lead to some drastic temperature changes. Our sunset experience at Dante's View was extremely windy and cold, so be sure to bring warm clothes and be ready to shiver a bit!
Day 2
Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point presented us with a chance to take in one of the most legendary sunrises I’ve experienced to date, complete with an impressive view of the area’s badlands while simultaneously offering a glimpse at a distant alpenglow. The lookout area can be accessed via a long hike through Golden Canyon (as mentioned above), but when strapped for time and energy like we were, simply driving up to it seemed most logical.
From the parking lot, a brief walk (I’m talking maybe two-tenths of a mile) up a small hill led us to the viewpoint. In that moment, it felt as though our final day within the park had officially begun as dozens of visitors, including our visually stunned group of six women, gazed out at the soft sunlight bleeding life into the curvatures of this multi-colored, chocolate-vanilla soft-serve reminiscent land (I just had to throw that dessert analogy in there for good measure - cue wink emoji).
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
After the early morning’s epic sunrise, we headed back to the campground for a quick breakfast, packed up our gear, and proceeded northwest for a 25-minute drive along the CA-190 to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. The parking lot for the dunes lies just off of the highway, making the location very easily accessible. A small building within the lot equipped with two small restroom facilities provided an additional, much welcomed convenience. Company was scarce during our 9:30 AM arrival, but as the day went on, the dunes became more and more populated. Nonetheless, the sheer expansiveness of the area made it easy to spread out and avoid the crowd.
Once at the dunes, there are no established trails or routes. We were free to explore as we wished, and explore we did. Walking across large mounds of sand provides quite a lower body workout, but the feeling of those cool, silky grains of sand between my toes made the effort worth it. While some mounds appeared as smooth as a baby’s skin and completely untouched by any human or natural forces, others contained ridges similar to those in a Ruffles potato chip thanks to wind gusts and a bit of Mother Nature’s magic.
The hour we dedicated to these dunes was spent testing camera angles, playing with shadows, and embracing inner artistic desires. It was the perfect end to an already incredible itinerary.
More Than Just a National Park
Death Valley is more than just a national park, it is undoubtedly a diverse national treasure with so much to offer and an abundance of memories just awaiting to be made. While I feel as though I did experience a great deal of what the park has to offer in a short amount of time, I by no means have seen it all. And that, my friends, is the real beauty of it. The park simply leaves you wanting more, and hopefully I can head back to experience that "more" very soon.
Resources:
We picked up a paper version of the park's visitor's guide at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. However, the guide can also be accessed and downloaded online. It provides great information about the park such as its rules, history, trail tips, and more! The visitor's center, with its small museum and theater, is also a great place to learn more about the area. In addition, you can pick up some souvenirs and chat with the very friendly park rangers. Win-win-win!