Death Valley | planahead

Death Valley & Mt Whitney

Basic Information

Death Valley is a big place - 3.4 million acres! It is also remote. Driving distances between sightseeing and lodging can be long. When picking a place to sleep, visitors should consider the location of the lodging and what parts of the park they want to visit. Check out the park map for more information about where these places are located.

1. Death Valley is the lowest point in North America. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is a surreal landscape that tricks the senses. What many visitors mistake for snow covering the ground is actually a thick layer of salt on the valley floor. But how did the salt get there? Rain and minerals dissolved from rocks drain to lower elevations. Here, at Badwater Basin, the water forms temporary lakes after heavy storms. As the water evaporates, minerals concentrate until only the salts remain. After thousands of years, enough salts have settled here at the bottom of the continent to create this vast, surreal scene.

2. You can’t beat the heat at Death Valley. In July 2018, the hottest place on Earth experienced its hottest month on record. The average temperature was 108.1⁰F including overnight lows. Daytime highs reached a temperature of 127⁰F for four days in a row. This kind of heat can be dangerous, but that doesn’t mean you can’t explore the park in the summer. Visitors are urged to stay in well-traveled areas of the park, so that other people might provide help in case of a vehicle break-down. Be sure to come prepared -- cell phones often have no reception in the park. Other tips for a safe visit include drinking plenty of water, eating snacks, limiting activities outside of air-conditioning and visiting viewpoints at higher, cooler elevations. Also, just because you can fry an egg in the heat, doesn’t mean you should.

3. Wildflowers bring life to the desert. Contrary to its name, Death Valley comes alive with color and life in the spring. While the park is famous for its rare and spectacular wildflower displays, flowers are never totally absent in the off years. When conditions are right, the hills and valleys explode into a carpet of gold, purple, pink or white flowers. Deep soaking rain is essential for a desert floral display. To begin, a rainstorm of a half inch or more is needed to wash the protective coating off wildflower seeds and allow them to sprout. For plants to continue growing, rainstorms must come at evenly-spaced intervals throughout the winter and spring. Superblooms are fleeting, but they leave a lasting impression with park visitors and attract large numbers of pollinators such as butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. Check out the park’s annual wildflower update for the best times and trails to visit.

4. Some of the rocks move on their own at Death Valley. Racetrack Playa is home to one of Death Valley’s most enduring mysteries. Scattered across the bottom of this dry lakebed are hundreds of rocks that leave trails on the ground when they move. Some of the rocks, which weigh up to 700 pounds, have traveled over 1,500 feet. For years, the source of their movement has gone unsolved, but in 2014 researchers discovered a rare combination of events that move the rocks. When the playa floods and cold winter nights freeze the water into a thin layer of ice that then break into large floating panels as night turns into day, winds drive the rocks forward across the slippery surface, which leave trails in the soft mud below. Although scientists have discovered the secret of the moving rocks, the fascination remains the same.

5. If you listen closely, the sands will sing to you. Although sand dunes are only a small portion of Death Valley, the shadowed ripples and stark, graceful curves are some of the most memorable sights in the park. While Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are the easiest to visit and the only location where sand boarding is allowed, Eureka Sand Dunes are much taller -- rising over 680 feet. At the top of the sand dunes, you can experience one of the strangest phenomena of the desert: singing sand. When the sand slides down the steep faces of high dunes, a sound like the bass note of a pipe organ or the distant drone of an airplane can be heard. The reason for this occurrence is unknown, but it’s most likely caused by the friction between sand grains. There are few other places on earth where the beautiful songs of nature call so loudly to visitors.

6. Devils Golf Course isn’t meant for golfing. Devils Golf Course -- which got its name because “only the devil could play golf” on its surface -- is a colorful landscape worn by wind and rain into beautiful jagged spires. If you listen carefully, you can hear the tiny pops of billions of tiny salt crystals expanding and contracting in the heat. The sculpted salt formations form a rugged terrain that is simultaneously delicate yet dramatic. Make sure to bring your camera along to capture the land’s beauty formed through hundreds of years of nature’s processes.

7. You can see a galaxy far, far away in the park. Are you a Star Wars fan? Ever wanted to visit Tatooine? Now you finally can. Jump in your car and wind through Artists Drive, an unbelievable area of multicolored, eroded hills. Oxidation of natural metal deposits in the mountains produce gorgeous shades of green, blue and purple that resemble an artist’s colorful palette. Since your vehicle can’t cruise as fast as the Millenium Falcon, take your time to enjoy the beautiful scenery and spot locations featured in the movie Star Wars: A New Hope. Other movies and TV shows filmed at Death Valley include Spartacus, The Twilight Zone and Tarzan.

8. A volcanic explosion left its mark in Death Valley. The awe inspiring Ubehebe Crater is over 600 feet deep and half a mile wide. The massive crater was formed about 2,100 years ago, but the most recent explosion might have happened as recently as 300 years ago. The crater’s sheer size dwarfs visitors and provokes a feeling of wonder for nature’s power. Local Native American tribes refer to the crater as "Tem-pin-tta- Wo’sah," meaning Coyote’s Basket. The entire crater can be viewed from a parking lot on its rim, but further exploration on trails reveal additional smaller craters and the fascinating effects of erosion.
from the U.S. Department of the Interior

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Elevations

- Death Valley −86 m (−282 ft)

- Mount Whitney 14,505 feet (4,421 m)

- Yellowstone Plateau 8,000 feet (2,400 m)

- Denali 20,310 feet (6,190 m)

- Mount Everest 26,247 feet (8,000 meters)

- Baekdu Mountain 2750 m (9,003 ft)

‎- Hallasan 1,947.06 m (6,388.0 ft)

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