A Winter Visit To Death Valley National Park
Resides at the border of California and Nevada, Death Valley National Park is not only the largest national park in the contiguous United States, but also the hottest, driest and and lowest of them all. To us, it is also a classic representation of a West Coast road trip, an intimate encounter to nature, and a much needed experience away from city noises and chaos.
We visited the park during its coldest season for one simple and obvious reason: the park holds a record of 134 °F (56.7 °C) on its warmer days, and we will be cooked the moment we step out of our car.
Badwater Basin
Starting our trip with one of the most unique places we’ve seen, Badwater Basin is 282 feet below sea level and is the lowest point in North America.
The hike from parking lot to the “basin” area is through a flat trail, though you will be able to see a little bit of the salt flats (Crust of hexagonal shapes) near the entrance area too, the best view of the place requires about half an hour hike (1 mile) to reach.
As we walked further in, the excitement built up exponentially because of the view presented in front of us, a land that is so large and flat in such a pure crystal white color. The salt crust in the honeycomb shapes is something we’ve never seen in person before, an absolutely impressive creation of nature.
Artists Palette
Nothing describes the rock mountains better than its name. Though it’s not difficult to guess that these colors are from oxidation of different metals contained in the rocks, it made the hike so much more fun as different colors keep popping out along the way after you go over each hill.
It is definitely a more rocky hike compared to Badwater Basin, and certain places could be sandy and slippery, so proper hiking shoes are strongly recommended if you’d like to go further into the canyon.
Zabriskie Point
Said to be sediments from Furnace Creek Lake - a lake that dried over 5 million years ago, the landscape of the place is totally astonishing, magnificent, and distinctive!
This rugged terrain has such a unique rock formation style, for a moment we almost felt that we were on a different planet because it didn’t look like earth to us. Definitely a very unusual, even slightly odd, yet quite breathtakingly beautiful badlands.
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Ending our trip on the north side of the park, Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes is probably the most classic representation of a desert road trip.
The sand dunes are located a little distance away from the rest of the vista points, but it is well worth of a visit. Near the parking lot it is definitely an area with heavy foot traffic, where footprints are busy and messy. But as you hike further into the desert, foot traffic starts to slow down and you will be able to see the sands in its original shape, a stunning formation of edges and patterns.
It was definitely not easy hiking on the sands, it takes twice the effort as every step you take you sink in a bit, and sometimes you loose balance too. But these are also the exact reasons why it was one of the most fun and extraordinary hiking experience we’ve ever had as well, journeys are not meant to be easy, they are supposed to be memorable.
The park is so large and many viewpoints actually require a modified Jeep to reach because of how rough road conditions are, unfortunately we were not able to make it this time. We’ve always loved visiting different National Parks, but it’s quite safe to say that we will be back here soon to explore more!
Hotel of our stay: Longstreet Inn & Casino
Due to limited lodging options in the area, this was pretty much our closest and only option outside of the park, but it was still roughly 40 minutes of drive to any of the popular viewpoints. Definitely an older hotel with dated facilities, but with the correct mindset and expectation it still worked out well for us.
There’s also a nice desert resort inside the park called The Inn at Death Valley, but it gets fully booked quite often and average night cost may be significantly higher too.
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