Death Valley
National Park
We honestly Didn’t know what to expect.
We were both unsure how a vast, hot, dry, desert could be so much fun. We were pleasantly surprised though and had a great 3 days in Death Valley. We wish we could have seen more!
Badwater Basin set at 282 feet below sea level it is the lowest point in the USA, and one of the lowest on the planet.
How long should I stay?
We stayed 3 days and found that it was plenty for us to get our fix. This is going to be dependent on how much you wish to have done. If you plan on doing activities like the Eureka Dunes(Largest Dunes in the USA), Racetrack(the rocks sliding across the desert floor) or other backcountry activities those will all require a dedicated day. If you wish to have most of your activities with a close proximity then we recommend 3-4 days as being plenty sufficient to see and do a lot!
Lodging?
Camping
There are many campgrounds and depending on the time of year plenty of availability. Considering our May arrival we had no issue securing a first come first served campsite as Death Valley ramps up in temperature. See the button below if you’re thinking about camping options in Death Valley.
Formal Accomadations
There are a few hotel/cabin style accommodations in Death Valley, some in Stovepipe wells we saw and also in Furnace Creek. We honestly don’t recommend this option if you have the ability to camp, we will explain below.
If you decide this is something you wish to look into a link into the National Park Services recommendations for Lodging is below.
Why camping over formal accommodations in Death Valley.
We chose to spend a night at the resort in Furnace Creek. At over $200 a night (the cheapest option) the amenities at this price point were extremely lacking, no food options aside from a $20+ salad and some extremely lacking looking ribs that were $50. No room service, no alternative options for food, no ice machine, you get the point. To top it all off, the door to the room wouldn’t lock or shut! Yep that’s right, and it wasn’t just our room, when leaving early in the morning multiple doors had opened with their occupants inside still asleep! We left wondering why we hadn’t just camped that final night👎
What part of the park should we stay in? (hint- Furnace Creek)
We stayed in the Furnace Creek Area. This location was central to a lot of the activities we wished to do while in Death Valley. It also limited our time spent driving with our furthest activity being only 1 hour away. If you wish to see a High Quality PDF version of this Death Valley Map click the button below.
Things to do?
Dantes View.
Dantes View is a viewpoint that gives you this incredible perspective above the valley. This vantage point really helps you realize just how vast Death Valley is.
Feel the heat.
Death Valleys claim to fame is that its the hottest, driest, lowest point in the USA. We were there on a mild 101ºF-107ºF days, bring your water boys and girls this place is hot and we could barely keep up with a cooler full of water.
Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point is a series of hills and valleys that is something you must see while in Death Valley. There are numerous hikes in the area down into the cracks in this landscape. We chose to just visit the overlook and take some photos.
Badwater Basin
⚠️ WARNING⚠️
DO NOT DO THIS LOCATION UNPREPARED We did a 2 mile hike (1 mile into the salt flats and 1 mile back). It was 107ºF, we both brought a couple liters of water and consumed it all by the end of the hike, with more waiting for us in the Jeep. This was a rewarding hike, at the lowest point in the United States, but we watched plenty of folks putting themselves at risk on this hike by being woefully unprepared.
Salt Flats make this disc shaped formation on the desert floor.
Kayla took this photo of the salt formations in Badwater basin.
Golden Canyon
This hike was pretty awesome, climbing up into the mountains through a canyon that had a hue of Gold. Que the name. The views looking back were incredible, but as previously mentioned please prepare for these hikes, this hike was 103ºF and had about 350 feet of elevation gain on top of it being 3 miles in length. We recommend this hike though! 8/10.
This is on the Golden Canyon Hike, with a view of “Red Cathedral”. This is beautiful, but for folks living in Arizona the past 6 months its not something we haven’t seen before(Thanks Sedona! 😎)
Artists Palette
They say the colors here change based on the conditions. We can attest, we came here twice and these shots taken around and shortly after sunset prove that point, the colors were much more vibrant during this time of day, save this one for the evenings folks.
Fun Fact- The colors come from repetitive volcanic blasts across this landscape over time, each one providing a different set of minerals and thus colors.
Kaylas photo taken as the sun was setting casting yellow hues across the landscape.
Drive below the sea.
In many locations around the park you will drive at or below sea level. Channel your Sebastian from Little Mermaid vibes here.
Experience a Desert Oasis.
Thats right there is a natural spring underneath the Death Valley Floor. Underneath the Driest and Hottest Place lies an ancient lake. This pool at the Oasis Ranch is filled fresh everyday from said spring. You’ll notice quite a bit of greenery in the Furnace Creek area, this is due to the spring being below this area.
See the Night Sky!
Many spots out West are great for Milky Way viewing. This was taken at the Harmony Borax Works, which is also worth visiting during the day! For those interested in taking photography like this see below for my setup.
The International Space Station transited this shot seen as a white line going across the Milky Way.
Camera- Pentax K-1 II w/ Tripod
Lens- 15-30mm Pentax Prime Lens
Starwalk2 App- Helps to show when Milky Way will be out
30 Second Exposure | ISO-800 | F2.8
Things to consider before Heading to Death Valley.
No Cell Service
Nearly all of the park is without cell service. Bring a satellite device to communicate with others outside of the park and download google maps for offline use for navigating around the park.
Limited/No Food
Make sure you are bringing enough food for the duration of your stay.
Bring Plenty of Liquids
This place is HOT🥵. The National Park recommendation is 1 gallon per person per day.
Gas Prices
Due to the location expect to pay near $5 a gallon for gas.
⚠️ Risk for Car Overheating ⚠️
Your car will run hot here, try to obey signs asking for you to turn off your A/C during those stretches. This is for good reason, these stretches of road are often large mountain passes requiring excessive work out of your vehicle and with temperatures rising above 110ºF its easy to find yourself on the side of the road waiting for your vehicle to cool down.
⚠️ Watch your brakes if leaving to the West.
If you leave Death Valley to the West out of stovepipe wells you will gain 7000 feet of elevation to climb the mountain pass in a short period of time, and rapidly decent down said pass, this road was sketchy, and midway down our brakes(which we were very light on) were already smoking hot due to the steep grade, be light on your brakes coming out of Death Valley this way.
Thats it for Death Valley National Park!
