Death Valley National Park, california
Attractions Guide

Death Valley National Park is a vast beautiful landscape of mountains and desert filled with rare and unique geological formations. Be aware that the national park is one of the hottest places in the world and should not be ventured into during the summer months. Fall or Spring is the perfect time to visit the national park, when the climate is more moderate and bearable.

The following attractions are listed in order along a recommended route through this national park. Note that it's also highly recommended to get a very early start on the day if you wish to experience much of what this majestic landscape has to offer.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Begin your day in the Stovepipe Wells area of the park near the southwestern entrance. You can start your journey through Death Valley by visiting the expansive Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, which you can wander amongst while enjoying views of the surrounding mountains. There are no set hiking trails in this giant sea of sand, however you'll get the best views over the area from atop the tallest sand dunes.

Salt Creek

Continue to the Salt Creek Interpretive Trail, a boardwalk which follows along a scenic creek seeming misplaced in the middle of the desert. Along the creek is one of the few places in Death Valley where you'll find lots of vegetation, and the creek is even home to a species of fish. The round-trip length of the boardwalk trail is approximately 0.9 miles (1.4 km).

Next you might like to drive along Mustard Canyon, which is named for its yellowish hills. The short and smooth dirt road through the canyon is an alternate route to reach the next attraction, the Harmony Borax Works. The Borax Works features a short trail around the fascinating ruins of a 19th century borax plant as well as historic wagons.

Just beyond the Harmony Borax Works is Furnace Creek, a small town which hosts accommodations, food, and the national park's Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

Along the road towards Badwater Basin is one of Death Valley's most popular hikes, the Golden Canyon Trail, which is located between Furnace Creek and Artist's Palette. This extremely scenic hike ventures through a desolate desert canyon, concluding at the Red Cathedral formation. The round-trip length for this trail is about about 3 miles (4.8 km).

Devil's Golfcourse

Before reaching Badwater Basin be sure to stop at the Devil's Golf Course, an incredibly rugged and strange landscape created by massive amounts of salt.

Badwater Basin

Further down the road is the Badwater Basin, the lowest elevation point in the United States, which is covered in stunning white salt formations. From the parking area you can walk along the 1.8 mile (2.9 km) round-trip pathway which descends to the lowest elevation point. Also be sure to look back at the marker on the cliffs above the parking lot, which indicates sea level and gives you a perspective of how low the elevation of the basin is.

After enjoying the Badwater Basin you can turn around and head north towards more attractions.

Natural Bridge Trail

Just north of Badwater is the popular Natural Bridge Trail, which ventures through a rocky lifeless canyon before arriving at an impressive bridge formation which the trail passes under. This easy trail is approximately 1.3 miles (2.1 km) round-trip.

Artist's Palette

Take the alternate route while heading back north from Badwater Basin along the extremely scenic Artists Drive. Along this road you can stop at the Artist's Palette, a stunning natural formation of vibrant colorful cliffs.

Continue up around to one of Death Valley's most gorgeous sights, Zabriskie Point, which provides incredible panoramic views over a vast and extremely rugged landscape of multi-colored hills and canyons.

After enjoying the many striking natural formations of the valley, you can drive up to Dante's View, which provides breathtaking sweeping views over Death Valley from high above.

There are two different vantage points that make up Dante's View, each of which can be reached with a round-trip hike of 0.8 miles (1.3 km). Both views are highly recommended and offer slightly different scenery. Dante's View is also a great place to watch the sunset over the valley.

In the northern section of the park along Scotty's Castle Road is the historic Scotty's Castle, a giant 19th century mansion built in the middle of the desert. Unfortunately the castle has been closed for several year due to flash flood damage however it is set to re-open to visitors in 2020-2021. Scotty's Castle is located far to the north of Stovepipe Wells and the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

Nearby Scotty's Castle is the striking Ubehebe Crater, a giant volcanic crater which you can walk along the rim of. The parking lot for the crater overlooks this volcano, which is believed to only be several thousand years old. Just south of the crater is the much smaller Little Hebe Crater, which you can also reach by trail. The Ubehebe Crater is approximately 1 hour northwest of Stovepipe Wells by car.

If you have a high clearance four-wheel drive vehicle and plenty of time, consider experiencing the northern section of the national park, located northwest of Stovepipe Wells. Beyond the Ubehebe Crater and Scotty's Castle are much more remote attractions such as the Racetrack Playa and Eureka Sand Dunes, which are only accessible via rough dirt roads and are very isolated from the rest of the park.