Death Valley, California

Terrain // Concrete | Found On // Campendium | Our Stay // January 9 – 14, 2023

Overview

After leaving Las Vegas, we decided to hit up Death Valley National Park. This park is packed with incredible landscapes featuring spectacularly jagged mountains, deep canyons, rolling dunes, pristine salt flats, and gorgeous sunsets. Outside of Alaska, Death Valley is the largest national park in the USA, covering 3.4 million acres (13,650 sq km) of wilderness lands. It holds the record for the highest air temperature ever registered on earth, 134°F (57°C) was measured at Furnace Creek.

Places Stayed

Furnace Creek Road Dispersed Camping // This felt like the most authentic boondocking experience since we started our trip. It was pretty secluded and had some beautiful views. However, it's about an hour from Death Valley National Park. We had some rain coming in, so we moved to a bit higher ground to avoid any potential flooding.

The Pads // This was a great location outside Death Valley National Park entrance. I believe it once used to be a trailer park. There are concrete pads lined up in several rows, hence the name. Some spots are a little more overgrown that others, but still great options.

Where we booked // Both of these spots were on BLM Land (Bureau of Land Management), so they’re free to stay. We found the locations on Campendium. If you’re not boondocking, there are a few campgrounds and inns inside the park.

Excursions

Artist Drive Scenic Loop

Artist’s Drive is a gorgeous drive through scenic canyons and hills. On one side, you get panoramic views of the valley, and on the other, views of the hills delicately shaded in hues of rose, ochre, and gold. It is a fully paved 9-mile one-way loop with dips and curves that can get pretty narrow in some spots. We went through the drive as the sun was setting and were rewarded with some breathtaking views over the mountain.

Rhyolite Ghost Town

Outside the park is a little place called Rhyolite Ghost Town. It features an old wooden train car, broken-down buildings, and a glass bottle house. Right next to Rhyolite, Albert Szukalski created a self-described art situation known as, Goldwell Open Air Museum. It consists of seven outdoor sculptures, including The Last Supper and Lady Desert.

Harmony Borax Works

This is an interesting little stop right past the visitor center. Back in the day, they used to mine for borax. Getting the finished product to market from the heart of Death Valley was a difficult task, and an efficient method had to be devised. The Harmony operation became famous through large mule teams and double wagons, which hauled borax the long overland route to Mojave. The romantic image of the “20-mule team” persists to this day and has become the symbol of the borax industry in this country.

Hiking

Zabriskie Point

This is an absolute must-see spot! The colors in the rock are insane. This formation is part of the Amargosa Range and has been featured in several movies for its otherworldly landscape. You can hike down into the canyon to get a different perspective. We visited this spot twice at different times of day. It’s wild how much the colors change based on the time you’re there.

Dante’s View

The best part of Dante’s View is you drive almost all the way up the mountain (5,476 ft). It’s located along the crest of the Black Mountains, where you can hike about a half mile out to see down into Badwater Basin. The further out on the trail you walk, the better the views gets.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

These dunes are super easy to get to. The highest dune reaches about 100 ft and covers a sizeable area (the largest dune area in the park)! It’s about 2.8 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 206 feet. On returning to our vehicle, Michael took off his boots to feel the sand between his toes. Highly recommend running down at least one of the dunes :)

Golden Canyon Trail

Honestly, a bit of an underwhelming hike. We climbed up a random side of the canyon at one point to get a better vantage point. But after that, we turned around and went to another spot.

Badwater Basin

Again, a little underwhelming, but it was cool to say were standing at the lowest point in North America, 282 feet below sea level. Stories suggest that Badwater Basin earned its name when a mule belonging to an early surveyor refused to drink from the spring-fed pool near the present-day boardwalk. However, the water here is not truly “bad,” just very salty. 

Tip:

Make sure you dress and pack accordingly when going out into the elements. Death Valley can experience extreme temperatures and weather conditions. We visited in January, so had much cooler weather than what it gets up to in the summer.