Plan a Trip to Death Valley

Sometimes when you reach the destination, you keep on thinking “Were the days we planned enough”. It happened to us on this tour. Some places are not so popular like Los Angeles or Las Vegas but that does not mean they are not worth a shot. I have described all the major details that you need to plan a trip to Death Valley.

What is Death Valley?

If you are not aware about this place, let me introduce it a little. It is a desert in USA. You will be wondering that the whole state of Arizona is a desert itself. But if you are looking for a proper desert vibe like Thar or Sahara in Rajasthan, this is your place. It is the hottest place on earth, lowest and driest in USA. There are canyons, snow-covered mountains, “once upon a time” mines, the sparkly salt plains and sand dunes all together spread across a vast landscape. That makes Death Valley one of the largest national parks of States. The experience was a lifetime one as this place is unique in terms of the atmosphere, temperature and the scenic views.

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Transport, best time to travel and how many days you need?

Death Valley is a part of California State. If you are making a trip to explore Los Angeles or Las Vegas, this comes in the nearby area accessible through roads. Although it is a 2-hour journey from Las Vegas. We were staying in Phoenix; Arizona ,so it was almost a 7-hour journey for us by road. Also a 4*4 vehicle really helps due to the uneven terrain. We were traveling in starting of April, you can expect a hot weather but not extreme hot. The best time to travel is between October and April. It was a weekend trip; we started the journey on Saturday early morning. Followed by a one-night stay and leaving the park Sunday evening. You do not need more than three days for this trip.

Take a tour to Gas station first before entering the park area as you will hardly find any inside.

Things to Pack

• Airy clothes ,two pairs are enough for two days
• Shoes as the path is uneven
• A sweater or sweatshirt for the cold nights
• Water bottles in carton
• Sunscreen
• Shades
• Save your location in google maps as there is poor network
• Pack food due to less availability of food stores
• Trash bags

Stay

We did not stay in the Death Valley Park area but in nearby Pahrump area. We stayed in Best Western Pahrump Oasis Hotel( https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotels-in-pahrump/best-western-pahrump-oasis/propertyCode.29078.html ). The good hotels inside the park are costly as the essential facilities are a bare minimum in the area. But the disadvantage was it was taking one hour to travel from the Hotel to the Death Valley Park. In our case it was a one-night stay in the Hotel so it seemed ok for us. If you are deciding to stay longer ,then prefer hotels inside the park.

Talking about the amenities of our Hotel. The rooms are air-conditioned with free wifi, a very good breakfast and an outdoor pool. The cost was approximate 163$ for one night.

You can stay in the campgrounds as well. There are a lot of sites in the park for camping,RV’s etc.Checkout their official website https://www.deathvalley49ers.org/historic-and-educational-progr/ for details.

Death Valley Itinerary-Day 1

1.Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center

We entered the area after the 7 hour journey through the visitor center. It is the main area having some facilities like Hotels, Restaurants ,campgrounds and a borax museum. You can get a map from here as it can prove handy. Also, there are good washrooms here which hardly exist in most of the scenic places. It leads to a lot of famous tourist attractions: –

Borax museum

As you park your vehicle in the Center, you will enter straight to this museum. You can find a variety of history and geological information about Death Valley here. From this death valley park, a lot of Borax was recovered in the past that’s why it is named as Borax Museum.

2. Twenty Mule Team Canyon Road drive

Then we went on a drive through this road where you can see the undulating yellow and white hills. This is the area from where Borax was recovered. You can park the car wherever you find a spot and take closer look of the eroded badlands. We eat our packed food sitting in the car and then went for some photography here. There are beautiful landscapes to capture and some trails to explore nearby.

3. Zabriskie Point

Drive 5 miles to the south and you will find yourself among the yellow rocky structures that look like little mountains. It has spectacular views. That’s why it is a popular spot for watching sunrise and sunsets. You can reach there by taking a short walk uphill from the parking area. There is a trail to Golden Canyon from this point but our whole point of the trip was to enjoy the unique views and capture them. This spot is a must to capture if you are a photographer like us. You can enjoy the trail if you have sufficient time.

4. Artist’s Palette

A few miles away is the artistic drive, a total 9-mile road. There is a canyon to stop by and you can explore a little adventure by climbing it. But the main attraction are the colored hills. They look like the color palette of an artist but these are formed naturally as a result of metal oxidation. Founding hills that are purple, green is quite unusual.

You can park here to take a closer look. A lot of movies like Star Wars, Tarzan etc. are shoot here.

5. Dante’s View/Telescope peak

You can see the view from the highest 14505 feet above the ground to the lowest 282 feet below the sea level in a single glance. This panoramic view is experienced from the top of the Telescope peak. The first picture you click while reading this article is the spot. But you can watch it from the parking lot too, we took a small trail to watch the sunset there. It was perfect and a little windy. So here the jacket comes in handy. It is a popular spot for stargazing in the night.

We left for the hotel and had a dinner at Dominos nearby.

Death Valley Itinerary-Day 2

6. Devil’s Golf Course

A trip to Death Valley is like exploring the unique geography that this place offers. This spot is like a field of salt where crops are replaced by salty pointed slabs. These salt formations are made by nature’s processes over a hundred of years as a result of floods and salt. But be careful as walking through these can hurt you. It is named so as the salt formations look like golf balls but only a devil can play the golf there. We enjoyed the view took some photographs and left the place.

7. BadWaterBasin

You enter this area and there is a board saying 282 feet below sea level. That’s why this is a risky area in times of floods due to surrounding lakes. Take a picture to remember and then follow the 5-mile-long salt flats. It was beautiful, there was salt on the ground and the snow-covered mountains behind both white. It is itself an adventure. The eyes will take some time to adjust though. Salt panes reflect the sun-rays and will dry out your skin.

8.Mesquite Sand Dunes

Although they cover a small area of the park but the graceful curves of sand is quite a scene to capture. Park your car in the parking lot and come to experience the Sahara desert. You can trek through the dunes or just enjoy the view. There is no spot that is not instagramable.

You can visit Ubehebe Crater

We were not able to cover this place due to less time. This crater was formed 2100 years ago due to the volcanic eruptions. It is another nature’s gift and a beautiful spot to hike . Although it is closed a lot of the times so check its availability before heading out.

You can check out my other itinerary to beautiful destinations in USA.

LosAngeles https://www.theexplorerdiary.com/travel-to-la/

SmokeyMountains https://www.theexplorerdiary.com/smokey-mountains/

LasVegas https://www.theexplorerdiary.com/travelling-las-vegas-for-the-first-time-which-places-to-visit-in-las-vegas-plan-las-vegas-within-1000-budget/