Furnace Creek, CA – Death Valley National Park is located in the northern Mojave Desert on the eastern side California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. The park protects Badwater Basin and its vast salt flats, canyons, badlands, sand dunes, mountain ranges, historic mines, springs, and more than 1,000 species of plants that grow in this geologic graben. A graben is an elongated block of the earth’s crust lying between two faults and displaced downward relative to the blocks on either side. This unique geological region features numerous “Must-See” sites, which are the focus of this article.
Natural beauty abounds in Death Valley, along Artists Drive
Death Valley is the largest U.S. National Park in the lower 48 states at 3,422,024 acres and boasts numerous hiking trails and nearly 1,000 miles of paved and dirt roads (including hundreds of miles of 4WD/High Clearance roads) providing access to locations both popular and remote including mining remnants and the nearby Rhyolite Ghost Town. Even so, 93% of the park is protected as officially designated Wilderness. That wild country includes low valley floors crusted with barren salt flats, rugged mountains rising as much as 11,000 feet, deep and winding canyons, rolling sand dunes, and spring-fed oases. We visited for a week in early January, which was a great time to avoid the extreme heat of summer. We found Jenna Blough’s “Death Valley National Park” from Moon Guides extremely helpful for planning our trip and “National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map 221: Death Valley National Park” useful for navigating the park. All directions are from the Visitor’s Center in Furnace Creek.
Hottest, Driest, Lowest
Death Valley NP has recorded the hottest temperature on Earth, with a recorded temperature of 134 °F on July 10, 1913. In 2021, Death Valley reached 128 °F, which was the hottest recorded temperature anywhere on Earth since 2013. Death Valley is the driest US National Park. Badwater Basin, located at -282 feet, is the lowest elevation in North America. The combination of heat, dryness, and volcanism have created the features highlighted in this post.
Badwater Basin
Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America
Located 16 miles south of Furnace Creek on Badwater Road, Badwater Basin at -282 feet elevation is the lowest elevation in Death Valley and all of North America and features surreal salt flats with delicate salt crystal formations. If you visit just one place in Death Valley, it should be Badwater Basin.
Take time to look closely at the salt crystal structures
Badwater Basin and the Panamint Mountains
Devil’s Golfcourse
The Devil’s Golfcourse is located at the northern end of the salt flats
Located off Badwater Road, 11 miles south of Furnace Creek, the Devil’s Golfcourse is the northern end of the Badwater Basin salt flats. The area features spiky salt crystals that you have to see up close to appreciate. Groundwater seeps up to the surface, prompting the jagged pinnacles. A graded dirt road and parking area provide access. Be careful walking among the extremely uneven terrain.
Salt pinnacles makeup the Devil’s Golfcourse
Devil’s Golfcourse and the Panamint Mountains
Artists Drive
Otherworldly scenery along Artists Drive
Artists Drive is a paved 9 mile scenic drive through colorful, jumbled rock formations whose various colors are caused by the oxidizing of different metals on volcanic rock. Artists Drive is located off Badwater Road 5 miles south of Furnace Creek. Hues of green, rose, yellow, purple, and red create an “otherworldly” and alien feel. For Star Wars Fans, this area may feel familiar. It has been used for filming in several of the Star Wars films. Scenes featuring Tatooine, the mythical planet characterized by scorching sun, lack of surface water, and abandoned mining equipment were filmed here and several nearby locations: Golden Canyon, Desolation Canyon, the Mesquite Sand Dunes, Twenty Mule Team Canyon, and Dante’s View.
Artists Drive was the location of some Star Wars scenes
Artists Drive is a paved scenic drive
Natural Bridge
Natural Bridge located off Badwater Road
To visit one of the few Natural Bridges in the park, head 13.1 miles south of Furnace Creek on Badwater Road. On the left is a 1.8 mile rough dirt road to the parking area for a short hike, 0.7 miles each way, to a Natural Bridge.
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Located 2 miles east of Stovepipe Wells on Highway 190, Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are iconic to Death Valley and are the most popular sight in the park. The sculpted dunes rise out of the valley floor and feature smooth unbroken crests and lines. Climb among the dunes to enjoys views of ripples caused by wind and look for animal tracks. Take in the mountains that frame the valley on either side and their many alluvial fans where the mountains meet the valley and spill out from washes in the distinctive fan shape.
Explore the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley
Two alluvial fans visible from the dunes area
Zabriskie Point
Badlands from Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point is a popular spot that overlooks eroded badlands and the desolation of Death Valley which is located just off Highway 190, 7 miles south of Furnace Creek. The view is particularly spectacular at sunrise and sunset and is popular with photographers. While here you can hike among the badlands on the Badlands Loop Trail.
Death Valley and the Panamint Mountains in the distance from Zabriskie Point
Dante’s View
Dante’s View takes in Death Valley’s Badwater Basin and the Panamint Mountains to the west
For spectacular panoramic views of Death Valley from above, Dante’s View is the place. Across the valley, the Panamint Mountains rise dramatically from the Badwater Basin to Telescope Peak, snowcapped much of the year and the highest point in the park at 11,049 feet. On clear days, you can also see Mount Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48. From Dante’s View you can observe the Owlshead Mountains to the south, Funeral Mountains to the north, and Greenwater Mountains to the east. Dante’s View is reached by following Highway 190 for 10.7 miles east from its junction with Badwater Road to Furnace Creek Wash Road. Turn right onto Furnace Creek Wash Road and travel 7.5 miles where you continue onto Dante’s View Road for 5.5 miles to the parking area. Furnace Creek Wash & Dante’s View Road are graded dirt road. Longer vehicles (RV’s, etc) and trailers are prohibited due to the narrow road and twisty corners on the final climb.
Twenty Mule Team Canyon
Badlands from Twenty Mule Team Canyon
This short graded dirt road travels about 3 miles through a mudstone canyon past badlands and old mining prospects. An area about 1.8 miles in showcases the white striations of borate ore. Borax was the bread and butter of Death Valley. Visit the Borax Museum & the Harmony Borax Works near Furnace Creek to learn more about the Borax Mining of the 1880’s.
Father Crowley Vista Point/Rainbow Canyon
Rainbow Canyon from Father Crowley Vista Point
From Father Crowley Vista Point you can observe a landscape of lava flows and volcanic cinders. Don’t miss the view into the colorful layers of Rainbow Canyon. Located 62.8 miles west of Furnace Creek on Highway 190.
We stayed at Longstreet Inn, Casino & RV Park located in Amargosa Valley, Nevada east of Death Valley during this 2022 trip. Previously we stayed on the west side of the park at Boulder Creek RV Resort in Lone Pine, California. During this trip we also:
- Visited Ubehebe Crater, Lost Burro Mine, & The Racetrack via 4WD/High Clearance Racetrack Valley Road
- 4WD/High Clearance Titus Canyon & West Side Road
- Visited Rhyolite Ghost Town
- 4WD/High Clearance Marble & Cottonwood Canyon Routes
- Hiked Marble Canyon, Badlands Loop, Titus Canyon, Salt Creek Interpretive Trail
- Visited Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
