We pulled into Death Valley National Park in true Death Valley fashion: amidst a dust storm and high wind warning.  Sand was blowing wildly, with conditions escalating as we headed to our campsite at Furnace Creek Campground. The iconic digital thermometer outside of the visitor’s center flipped over to 100 degrees Fahrenheit as we drove by.  How very Death Valley of it!

 We set up base camp and ducked inside, dusty and windblown but energized from the different experience and new environment.  We’d spent the previous night camped at Lake Mead and made a quick stop at Hoover Dam on the way to Death Valley, bypassing Las Vegas this round to get to our next state of California.

The next days at Death Valley National Park are ideal, with a front bringing mild temperatures ranging from the upper 40’s to mid-80’s, depending on location and elevation in the park.  Wind quiets during the day to return late afternoon.  We are lucky to be here just before temperatures heat up again (so lucky that we decide to extend our stay). The park has visitors, but it is very quiet compared to what it must be in the high season, when the palm tree-lined inns are full.  At this time, the campgrounds have only a few takers and trails are quiet. This shoulder season visit has proved to be perfect timing.

 Death Valley National Park holds over 3 million acres and is the largest national park within the lower 48. Further, 93% of the park is designated as wilderness.  From the main roads, this wilderness is accessible only on foot in order to preserve the environmental integrity of the desert.  Tire tracks can leave marks here for years. 

The lowest point in the park is 282’ below sea level with salt flats and a barren feel.  The highest peak is over 11,000’ with pinion pine, juniper, mesquite, and wild roses.  Graceful sand dunes make up the landscape in between. To say the landscape here is varied would be an understatement.

While it looks like a galaxy far, far away, Death Valley is a reminder of the phenomena that is our planet.  Trails here have names like Devil’s Golf Course, Desolation Canyon, Red Cathedral, Dantes View. Then there are Golden Canyon, Artist’s Palette, Mosaic Canyon…and there is energy even in the void in each of them.  Craters, canyons, gulches, beautiful painted rocks for miles and miles with life adapting in between. 

I already look forward to returning to Death Valley National Park - an unexpected delight of beauty in the bizarre.