Introduction
There are no words to describe Death Valley. You have to see it to feel it.
Contrary to common belief, Death Valley is not just a desert with the lowest
depression in America. There are waterfalls (Darwin Falls). There is a very tall mountain (Telescope Peak).
The desert has spectacular Sand Dunes (Eureka Sand Dunes, the tallest in the northern emisphere).
California's highway 395 parallels the park from north to south, while California's highway 190 crosses the park from east to west.
West of the park in California, SR 178 passes through Ridgecrest and Trona on its way north to a junction with 190.
East of the park in Nevada, highway 95 parallels the park from north to south with connecting highways at Scotty's Junction (SR267), Beatty (SR 374), and Lathrop Wells (SR 373).
Eureka Sand Dunes cannot be reached from Death Valley proper. It requires driving north of Death Valley, to Bishop. The sand dunes that are located near Stovepipe Wells are much smaller, although no less fascinating.
My photos
Main attractions:
Moving stones of the "Racetrack Playa" (40kms south of Ubehebe Crater on a rough dirt road and 56kms north of highway 190 via Hunter Mountains). These stones move by themselves in a flat area, and some of them are really big. Nobody has figured out yet how they move by themselves. (See this good article and (my pictures). The road through Hunter mountains is virtually impassable between november and may. Most people get to the Racetrack Playa from Ubehebe Crater.
Calculate a speed of 20km/h to Racetrack Playa and 15km/h to Hunter Mountain. Thus it is about 2 hours from Ubehebe Crater to the fork (last place where you
are allowed to camp) and about 20 minutes (10kms) from the fork to the Playa.
(Halfway between Ubehebe Crater and the Playa is where the landscape becomes
a Joshua Trees landscape).
The Playa is a giant white valley, worth seeing regardless of the stones.
If you want to continue towards highway 190, drive back to the fork, and turn
right. From Ubehebe Crater to highway 190 can easily take 6 hours.
March is the peak blooming season for desert wildflowers, especially around Jubilee Pass (e.g., Shoreline Butte and Ashford Mill), on 178 west of Shoshone, and Daylight Pass, on highway 374 east of Stovepipe Wells (see this page and this article). Flowers can usually be seen in the spring also along highway 190 near the Furnace Creek Inn.
Darwin Falls (near Panamint on highway 190). Yes, there are waterfalls in Death Valley, but of course they can be seen only in winter and early spring. The (unmarked) turnoff is 1 km northwest from the Panamint Springs resort (first dirt road on your left if you are coming from the resort). After about 4 kms, there is a parking lot on the right hand-side (and a sign "4WD only" on the road). Park and walk down to the creek bed, then turn left and follow the creek up into the canyon. The hike itself is only about 1.5 kms to the end of the canyon, where the first waterfall is. About 20m before that waterfall, one can climb up the rocks on the left. Climb straight up and you should intersect a use trail.
That use trail takes both to the top and to the bottom of the second (much more spectacular) waterfall.
Sand Dunes. The most popular are near Stovepipe Wells (in the center of Death Valley), but the tallest (in the whole of North America) are the Eureka Sand Dunes. They can only be reached via a dirt road from the north.
A relatively short hike goes from Golden Canyon to Zabriskie Point (ideally via Red Cathedral) and it's one of the best to get the feeling of why Death Valley is called "death" valley. It is about 2kms to Red Cathedral. Use trails lead up the rocks (not terribly safe, but great views). Retrace your steps on the trail to stop number 10. That is the trailhead to Zabriskie Point (4 kms, well marked).
Telescope Peak (3,367m high), whose trailhead is at the Mahogany Flat campground, reachable from the Panamint Valley Rd or Trona-Wildrose Rd and a very steep and rough dirt road, Upper Wildrose Canyon Road, for about 15kms, passing the Charcoal Kilns (12kms), is a mountain in the middle of Death Valley that provides a 360 degree view of the valley and the sierras to the north (thus views of both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous USA). This is actually one of the tallest mountains in the USA if one counts the elevation gain from the valley floor to the summit (3,400 meters) but the trailhead is at the elevation of 2,478m (this elevation gain for the hike is about 900m) The hike to the top is not very long (22kms roundtrip, i.e. about 3 hours up and 2 down) and not very steep, but most people who are not driving a 4WD park way before the trailhead (the asphalt ends at the Charcoal Kilns, 3kms from the trailhead) and have to hike up the extremely steep dirt road to the trailhead, which makes this a killer hike. There are two nearby campgrouns: Mahogany Flat, which is right at the trailhead, and Thorndike, about 1km below the trailhead. Telescope Peak is high enough that it gets icy in winter. There are still patches of snow in may, despite the heat down in the valley. Also dirt road is closed at the Charcoal Kilns till april or may.
Ubehebe Crater. You can run (or roll) down to the bottom (my best time is 2'16"), but coming back up is not trivial (sandy, steep, last time took me 26').
Sunset at Dante's View (south of Zabriskie Point)
Badwater, south of Furnace Creek (lowest point in the USA), although there isn't much
Natural Bridge, near Badwater (closed in summer)
Artist Drive, near Badwater
Mosaic Canyon
Twenty Mule Team Canyon
Titus Canyon
Man-made attractions:
Charcoal Kilns on the way to Telescope Peak
Furnace Creek Inn (a luxury hotel open till mid May, sunday brunch from 11am till 2pm, $28 in 2006 and reservations required 760-786-2345)
Scotty's Castle
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Tourist itinerary
- Drive to Mojave Desert
- Camp at Red Rock Canyon
- Following day:
- Darwin Falls
- Stovepipe Wells sand dunes
- Golden Canyon
- Artist Drive
- Badwater
- Zabriskie Point
- Dante's View (for sunset)
- Following day:
- Mosaic Canyon & Grotto Canyon
- Drive northwest on 95, then 374 west
- Rhyolite ghost town
- Titus Canyon (requires a 4WD)
- Scotty's Castle
- Ubehebe Crater
- Racetrack Playa (requires a 4WD)
- Eureka Sand Dunes
- Following day:
Links:
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