We recently took our first trip to Death Valley. I say, 'first' because we're certainly going back. Expecting to find a large, brown, desolate and boring expanse of desert, we instead found a huge diversity of attractions with explosive colors throughout. Although we went in the Spring during the peak season for desert regions, the park is so large we often found ourselves to be the only ones exploring sites. At over 150 miles in length and 60 miles wide, Death Valley contains a immense dry sea bed, a meteor crater, dirt roads for off-roading, hundreds of miles of hiking trails, silky sand dunes, slot canyons with walls towering over a hundred feet above, ghost towns, geological wonders and even a castle.
There are some options for stay within Death Valley. The Furnace Creek Ranch Resort is situated at the eastern entrance of the park and offers an Inn, hotel and some campgrounds. Both the Inn and hotel have swimming pools. The Stovepipe Wells Resort is the central hub of the valley accessed from the western entrance and offering a hotel with pool and campground. At the far west entrance is Panamint Springs which offers a motel and campground. Many other campgrounds are available throughout the park and are on a first-come, first-served basis. From our observation, the Furnace Creek Campground seems to be the only campground offering an fullness of shade-bearing trees. Campers are welcome to use the group showers and pool at the adjacent ranch for a small fee. Furnace Creek Ranch is the place to be for all the comforts you could expect along with a golf course, post office, museum, visitor center, gas & aid station, grocery store & gift shop, restaurants, bar, horseback riding, bike rentals, jeep rentals and more. We dined one night at the 49er Café expecting mean food and poor aid since every table was filled. What we got were huge, flavorful meals and superb service. Next time we'll dine at the steakhouse next door, which we assume has steak meals that are over-the-top. The Inn is roughly a quarter mile down the road from the ranch where the hotel resides. The Inn offers the most luxurious stay in Death Valley and features amenities like a restaurant, bar, pool, tennis courts and more. all at the Inn is positioned for fabulous views of the valley. Jeep rentals are also available directly over the road from the Inn.
Deaths Reveal Town
There are so many sites to see in Death Valley you could spend a week there and still not see all you'd like to. There are 92 miles between Scotty's Castle and Badwater, both being Death Valley's largest traveler attractions. There is no group transportation principles within the valley, which can in effect start to add up in fuel costs. We propose segmenting the park into the number of days you plan on staying. For instance, on the first day, head south to Badwater to walk over an endless salt flat and be able to say you were 282 feet below sea level. On the way back, stop off for a short hike to Natural Bridge or Devils Golf Course, or take the one-way paved loop straight through Artists Palette for some colorful desert scenery. If time still permits, check out the Harmony Borax Works Interpretive Trail for a history lesson in the mining of borax from Death Valley, and/or head up to Zabriskie Point to drive the one-way dirt road straight through Twenty Mule Team Canyon. Your second day could contain areas surrounding Stovepipe Wells. These sites contain the sand dunes, Charcoal Kilns out of Wildrose, a hike straight through Mosaic Canyon and if time permits, the one-way drive straight through Titus Canyon, which is a 20-mile dirt road that winds straight through a slot canyon with towering cliffs and a historic ghost town midway. Your third day could contain a trip north to Scotty's Castle, Ubehebe Crater and the 33 miles of dirt road that leads to The Racetrack, a geologic phenomenon of traveling boulders that still confuse scientists to this day. We've skipped many sites in this list but these seem to be the most popular.
When traveling and exploring in Death Valley, don't forget to take water - It's a Must! Even if the hike is only a mile, take water. Plan to carry adequate water in your vehicle for at least a day. Now consider a breakdown and add that much more water to your supply. This desert will make every exertion to break your vehicle and/or kill you. We were surprised ourselves when we ventured out onto the sand dunes on a 90 degree day at dusk, how fast heat exhaustion set in. We concept we were only going to hike over a incorporate dunes and the sun was setting so it would only be getting cooler, so we didn't take water. When out there, we got caught up in how fun it was hiking straight through endless hills of sand and trying to get that excellent photo. By the time we turned colse to to go back, we were getting thirsty. By the time we reached our vehicle, headaches were setting in and we needed water bad. Luckily we did have water in the truck, but on a 100 degree day this could've been a serious situation.
Death Valley is in effect accessible from Interstate 15 or Highway 395. It's less than a six hour drive from Los Angeles. From Interstate 15, you can either head north on Highways 395 out of Adelanto or 127 out of Baker. We found the 127 route to be more visually spicy and good way to avoid the steep grade of the western entrance. If arriving from the north, the 395 is in effect your only option. Head east on Highway 190 out of Lone Pine for a straight shot in. Be ready for a long, steep climb at one point reaching an 8% grade. Many visitors come to Death Valley for an after-winter dry out and warm up. It's the excellent place to visit if you're from a cold or wet climate. Spring is the best time to visit in the first few weeks of April for the 'Desert in Bloom'. The park begins to book up nearly 6 months in improve for these weeks. Fall is an excellent time for the same temperate climate but less people.
Death Valley National Park
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