Death Valley National Park – The Hottest And Lowest Place In The US
Last week, I was talking to you about Los Angeles, and this week I’m taking you from California to Nevada, or better said, to the Death Valley National Park which is partially located in California, partly in Nevada. We are now at the beginning of week 3 of the 5-week long road trip, so let’s get right into this one before heading to Las Vegas in the next blog post.
If you want to visit the Death Valley, you can either start in Los Angeles, or in Las Vegas. From LA, you need to drive around 4 hours until you get there, from Las Vegas, it’s about 2 and a half hours. The most important thing is to fill up your tank as due to the heat you should not risk getting stranded. Also, it is quite usual to not have cell phone service in National Parks. Still, around the Death Valley, it’s not only the park itself but also a wide area around it.
But now let’s talk about the national park itself.
The Death Valley is part of the Mojave Desert and is located east of the Sierra Nevada. Since 1933 it is declared a national monument, and in 1994 it became a national park officially. The Death Valley is most famous for being hostile and hot. The park is a mixture of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons and mountains. The lowest point in the US and second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is located in the Death Valley.
If you want to visit various national parks as I did, I suggest you invest in the ‘America The Beautiful Pass’ which costs 80$ and grants you access to all national parks in the United States, this way you don’t have to pay for the national parks separately. Still, I have to add that on the northern entrance of the Death Valley there were no park rangers controlling. Nevertheless, I think if you want to visit the parks, you should be willing to pay the small fee.
When hearing the name ‘Death Valley’, I guess it’s obvious that we are talking about a harsh environment. I was visiting in August, and I can only recommend you visit in months with a more moderate temperature. The temperature on the day of our visit was around 46 degrees Celsius, and immediately when leaving the car, the heat was attacking you. The floor was reflecting the heat, the camera gear stopped working after a few minutes, the car was fighting against the heat, and moral was very low. We actually tried to visit the different areas as fast as possible to get back to the comfortable ‘cool’ of the car, also, pay attention to not leave the A/C running when turning off the engine, as your car will immediately pay you back.
Mesquite Sand Dunes
This was our first stop inside the national park. The sand dunes are located very close to the northern entrance of the park and are quite an impressive view. With 30 metres height, they are not the highest one in the national park, but those are only reached with an off-road car. Like many places in the national park, it is best to visit early in the morning or just before sunset, as during the day the temperature gets unbearable and the sandy ground makes walking it even harder, with the sun not making it easier at all.
Badwater Basin
This is the lowest point in North America, located 86 metres (282 feet) below sea level. When following the signs, you’ll get to a parking area just next to the basin. From there, you can walk on the salt flats and watch some pools of bad water that are surrounding it. Here, you’ll find various signs that advise you not to walk the area after 10AM, as the heat is so dangerous. I did it, but I have to admit that if you are not pressured by time, it would be way more comfortable to explore the area in the morning or evening.
Of course, as this is the most famous place in the Death Valley (at least on Instagram), you cannot explore this surreal area alone. Still, as the salt flat is really extensive, you simply have to walk a bit and then you’ll be alone. I might have to admit that the basin is not as wide as it seems on most pictures, but it’s big enough to spot it from the distance.
Artist’s Palette
When driving through the Death Valley, just keep looking for signs to the Badwater Basin and only when leaving the main road, you’ll find signs to the Artist’s driveway. I guess that if you’ve been to the Grand Canyon before, this may not be that impressive, but if you are doing the road trip the same direction I did, the Artist’s Palette is an excellent introduction into the colourful orange canyon landscape. The mountains and hills genuinely look as if they were painted and driving through them feels surreal!
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post and various times in the blog post, for me, the Death Valley was also the way I went from California to Nevada. As you can imagine, the next part of this series will be all about Sin City. Next week, I’ll show you that there’s more to Las Vegas than just casinos, but that there is a lot to explore in and around the city.
