Death Valley. A foreboding name that inspires awe and wonder in those who have visited this amazing but remote gem of natural beauty. It can be described as vibrant and utterly desolate in the same breath. Seeing the amazing rock formations with every colour of the rainbow, mountains, basins, and everything in between is just beginning to scratch the surface of Death Valley. In fact, of the over 3.4 million acres (nearly 13,800 sq. km) that make up Death Valley National Park, approximately 90% have never been touched by humans.

I went to Death Valley at the beginning of 2024 and saw one of the rarest sights of all – water. Due to heavy winter storms in the southwestern US, record-breaking amounts of rain fell in this area, recreating a prehistoric lake that used to exist here.

Delving into Death Valley’s Past: A Land of Extremes

Just the name Death Valley conjures images of a desolate, unforgiving landscape, and rightly so. But beneath the scorching sun and seemingly endless expanse of (usually) cracked earth lies a surprisingly rich history, geologically speaking.

Millions of years ago, Death Valley wasn’t the parched basin we know today – it was underwater. Over time, tectonic plates began to shift dramatically. This colossal movement crumpled the Earth’s surface, pushing up the towering Sierra Nevada mountains to the west and creating a colossal basin in the east – Death Valley.

Fast forward a few million years, and a giant lake, Lake Manly, filled the valley floor. This prehistoric lake was a vibrant ecosystem teeming with life. But as the climate shifted and became drier, the lake began to shrink. Over millennia, the relentless sun baked the land, leaving behind a concentrated heart of salts and minerals – the Badwater Basin we see today.

Guinness Book of World Records

Speaking of extremes, Death Valley holds a couple of rather impressive world records. With temperatures soaring to a sweltering 134°F (56.7°C) in 1913, it’s officially the hottest place on Earth. That’s hot enough to fry an egg!

But Death Valley isn’t just about scorching temperatures; it’s also about plunging depths. Badwater Basin, the valley’s lowest point, sits at a staggering 282 feet (86 metres) below sea level. Standing there, you’re essentially at the bottom of a giant hole, a stark reminder of the immense geological forces that shaped this extraordinary landscape.

The story doesn’t end there, though. Eroding mountains have continuously showered the valley floor with gravel, sand, and debris, slowly sculpting the otherworldly landscapes we see today – the rippling dunes of Eureka Valley, the jagged thrones of Zabriskie Point, and the otherworldly rock formations of Artist’s Drive.

Main features

Entering Death Valley

Death Valley has three entrances: the southern entrance near Pahrump, Nevada, and Shoshone, California, the western entrance at Panamint Springs, California, and the eastern entrance near Beatty, Nevada. We entered using the southern entrance, winding through Ashford Junction and up through the centre of the park.

Southern Death Valley

In comparison to Badwater Basin and the centre of the park, the southern area of Death Valley has a lot of rolling hills between the mountains. There is also more plant life – mostly hardy shrubs and some hardy grasses. Because of the extreme temperatures between day and night and from summer to winter, very few plants can survive the conditions in Death Valley.

The mountains here are also lower (relatively compared to ground level), so you can see mountain ranges on the other side of the nearest ones. This along with the dust in the air causes a haze effect where the outlines of further mountain ranges peak out. Sometimes if the haze is gone, you can see these farther mountain ranges in much clearer detail.

The road here, California Route 178, winds through, up and over the hills, making for some impressive scenery and viewpoints.

At Ashford Junction, you stop your easterly route and start heading north towards the centre of the park. This suddenly changes from rolling hills to very flat ground.

This is also where the lake started to accumulate, although the deepest part is at Badwater Basin.

Badwater Basin

For the past millennia, the name Badwater Basin has referred to the prehistoric lake that existed here and the salt flats that it left. It was only from January to March 2024 that this name had a second meaning – there was water here! Humans had never seen a lake here before.

At its height, the lake’s maximum depth was only a couple of feet (less than a metre). This is a colossal amount for this area that gets less than 2 inches (5 cm) of rain annually.

Artist’s Drive

At all times of the year near Badwater Basin, you can drive a one-way road called Artist’s Drive, which leads to an area of rocks called Artist’s Palette. As you may have guessed, the rocks in this area are extra colourful. You can see an entire rainbow of colours here.

The Middle of Death Valley

In the middle of Death Valley sits Furnace Creek, the main town for this area. It also has the visitor’s centre for the National Park.

Between Artist’s Palette and Furnace Creek, the area is extremely flat and is called the Devil’s Cornfield – nothing grows here. Instead, sandstorms are almost always blowing in every direction. We happened to be lucky – the sandstorms were raging but they were keeping just off of the road. There were some stunning scenes!

Dante’s View

The last stop on our tour of Death Valley was Dante’s View. Sitting at the top of the mountains that define the eastern edge of Badwater Basin, Dante’s View gives you a view of salt flats. In our case, we also had excellent views of Lake Manly.

Visiting Death Valley

The first thing you should do before visiting Death Valley is visit the National Park’s website. They have excellent information about visiting the park, including what to bring and what to expect. The website also says which parts of the park are open and which aren’t. This is very important as parts open and close depending on the conditions – something opened yesterday could be closed today and vice versa.

For what to bring: in short, you should bring a lot of water to the hottest and driest US National Park. Wear comfortable clothing that covers your skin (protection from sunlight/UV, flying sand, dust, rocks, etc.). Make sure to have layers – it is very cold at night but can get very hot during the day, so temperatures vary widely. If you plan to go to any of the higher altitude points like Dante’s View, you will need a coat as it is cold up there.

If you are going off the main road, hiking, or staying in the park for multiple days, buy everything that you need in advance. There is very little there including stores, so stock up before going.

If you are driving from Los Angeles, the journey will take about 4.5 hours. From Las Vegas, it is about 2 hours. San Fransisco is about 8.5 ours away by car.

Thanks for reading! Want to do some more exploring? Have a look at the travel map:

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