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Click the button above for a map of Death Valley. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images. Loading of the images might take a moment depending on the connection speed. Be patient, I think it's worth it.
Death Valley is part of the "Death Valley National Park". The park measures about 5400 square miles. Death Valley is about 100 miles in length and 3 to 10 miles deep. Death valley's location is southeast California at the border to Nevada.
Death Valley's character is best described as being a stone desert and as such being one of the hottest spots on earth. During summer time temperatures can rise as high as 48°C. Record temperature to date is 57°C. My period of visit was February with preferable 22°C instead of brutal if dry heat, contrary to many tourists who come to Death Valley because of the heat. That's a pity since the landscape is the real fascination of Death Valley.
Timbisha Shoshones living in the neighbouring Panamint Range were the first to come to Death Valley for food in winter. The fractured landscape exposes minerals and due to their easy exploitation mining started in the middle of the 19th century. During the 1920s mining ceased again followed by small settlements mainly for tourism.
The Death Valley rock formations have evolved 500 million years ago. Strong folding and bending have exposed one of the oldest rock formations on earth which should otherwise be buried deep in the ground. 250-70 million years ago mountain chains were created due to teconic movement. Resulting immense pressure caused volcanic activity whose ashes are the basis of the colour variety found in Death Valley. Drifting apart of tectonic plates 3 million years ago was the reason of Death Valley's creation. Long lasting erosion in the surrounding mountain ranges (Panamint Range) caused sedimentation in Death Valley. Near Badwater the sedimentation layer is up to 3000 meters deep.
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Coming from Las Vegas the first to notice in Death Valley is a parking lot with a board of information about
Death Valley. This includes a list of behavior rules )
which should be followed in summer especially, the name "Death Valley" is not by chance. Driving further on
leads to a junction which taking a left heads to Dante's View on 1700 meters altitude.
The 13 km drive to Dante's View from the junction is getting ever steeper. At the top temperatures might
be a bit chilly. However a brilliant view over Death Valley opens which partly lies below sea level.
I recommend a short walk along Dante's View.
Back downwards arriving on the main road a few kilometers ahead lies Zabriskie Point. From the parking lot
to the sightseeing spot is just a few meters. The spot opens the view onto lava covered hills.
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Impressing scenery. Those fancying a walk can pass Zabriskie Point arriving after a short climb down
in a canyon through which one heads down into Death Valley.
Further on you reach Furnace Creek and Furnace Creek Ranch.
There you can spend a night, restaurant and bar included. Death Valley Visitor Centre is close by.
You should pay here the entrance fee of 10$ per car.
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Short of Furnace Creek is a junction from which you can take a left towards Badwater.
9 kilometers ahead you'll find another junction which to the right is the beginning of a round trip called Artists Drive.
Along Artists Drive are rock formations which expose minerals on their surface shining in a
multitude of colours. Particularly impressive in this respect is Artists Palette.
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Back to the main road you'll reach another junction after a few kilometers heading to Devil's Golf Course.
This is a wide area of crystallised salt. These structures are partly very fragile and you'll find all kinds of impressive forms.
It's here, in Devil's Golf Course, where the lowest spot of Death Valley is located.
The next stop is a parking lot close to Natural Bridge the road to which is unpaved. After a 1.5 kilometer hike
you'll reach the "bridge" which is a rock formation arching a canyon.
20 kilometers after the initial junction Badwater lies ahead.
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Badwater is a small lake where an endemic small snail has its habitat. It's worth taking a walk
into the plain starting at Badwater.
But watch it, you might grow a few centimetres along the way. What salt can do !
On the way back passing Furnace Creek the way leads to Stovepipe Wells Village, a small settlement with a small store.
Short of Stovepipe Wells is an area with sand dunes called the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes,
which make quite a contrast to the surrounding stone desert of Death Valley.
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I recommend to stop here and walk into the dunes. This is especially enjoyable during sunset. 80 kilometers
north is Scotty's Castle, built in the 1920s and inhabited until the 50s by an oddball called Scott (what a surprise).
There are guided tours in the building.
Death Valley is a fascinating area to me. The desert land is so much different from our
hectic every day life.
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One can fully enjoy the quietness in February when there is a low point in tourism. There are lots of
spots with no sound at all (even insects are missing). A unique form of recreation. The most important sightseeing spots
can be visited in a day. But there should be time allocated for a canyon hike in this beautiful land.
There are plenty of them so no difficulty to find "one's own".