January 17, 2024
Death Valley National Park is a park of superlatives...
- Hottest national park - 134° in 1913, though that is in question. 129° in 2013.
- Driest national park - lowest average rainfall, less than 2 inches per year
- Lowest national park - 282 ft below sea level
- Largest national park in the contiguous US - over 3 million acres
We had originally planned to spend three full days in the park, camping at the Furnace Creek campground. Mechanical issues with the coach changed that to a day trip. Finding a hazmat object along the roadside, changed the full day to a half day. So we made the visitor center our first stop and got their advice on the best things to see in an afternoon.
First up was the Harmony Borax Works Exhibit. We'd read about the Borax 20 Mule Team at the Donkey History Museum and were interested in seeing more.
Then we drove the 17 miles to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America. We walked out on the saltbed toward Lake Manly. The ranger said it was the first time they'd had water in a couple of years.
On the way back toward the visitor center we drove the one-way Artists' Drive, seeing some amazing mineral colors and some wildflowers.
Our final stop of the day was Zabriskie Point where we caught some photos before the sun set behind the mountains.
We do want to go back and spend more time in the area. There's plenty more to see, and weather permitting, take a hike or two. We'd like to take the 26 mile OHV road to the Racetrack where those rocks scoot across the ground. The Borax Museum, the ghost town of Rhyolite, and the nearbyish date farm are all things we'd like to see.
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| Borax products |
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| Hauling up to 36 tons |
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| Processing on site |
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| Badwater Basin |
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| Lake Manly |
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| Throwing saltballs |
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| Desert Gold wildflowers |
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| Artists Palette |
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| Sunset at Zabriskie Point |
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| Zabriskie Point |
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