When we first heard of Death Valley, we were intrigued by the name. The valley got it’s dark name by a group of pioneers who got lost here in the winter of 1800s. Though only one of them died before they were rescued, the group assumed that this valley would be their graves. As they were leaving this valley, they uttered the words “Goodbye, Death Valley”. And rest is history!
That’s not all that makes this place fascinating. Not as famous as the Grand Canyon or as crowd-pulling as the Rocky Mountain National Park, Death Valley is beautiful in it’s own right. We felt like we had stepped onto a different planet.
If you work full time jobs, there are inevitably things that you miss out in every place you visit! And though slow travel is a trend nowadays, FOMO travel is what most of us are able to afford. Worry Not, we have you covered.
In this post, we share the top things you absolutely must visit in the valley, if you are here only for a day! Let’s understand a few things about this National Park before we share the must-see attractions here.
What is the best time to visit Death Valley?
Spring: March-late April considered the best and most popular time to visit this National Park. You can witness beautiful wildflowers blooming in the valley if the previous winter sees rainfall
Winter: We recommend visiting the valley in winter. With beautiful snow capped mountains in distance, mild temperatures and warm sunlight, this is a serene time to visit the national park. Moreover, the park is less crowded from December-February except he holiday season and long weekends (read, Christmas, New Year’s, Martin Luther King day, President’s Day weekend)
Autumn: The temperatures start cooling down in late October at the valley. The skies are clear which makes it a good time to visit the park. It is also one of the least crowded times to visit except the Thanksgiving weekend
Summer: Temperatures in the valley sometimes reach 120 F which is dangerous for humans. We definitely recommend skipping this park from May to mid-October.
Source: nps.gov
How to get to Death Valley National Park?
There are two ways to reach Death valley National Park which we feel are the most convenient. Sharing both of them so you can choose the route that suits you the best!
Flying into Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) : This airport puts you close to three national parks: Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park AND Death Valley National Park. After a quick check on google flights, the tickets do look expensive if you are flying during the peak season!
If you are planning to take this route, we recommend exploring Sequoia National Park on Day 1, resting in Bakersfield for the night and then driving to Death Valley the next day. Death Valley is 4 hrs 30 mins from Fresno and 2 hrs 50 mins from Bakersfield.
Flying into Las Vegas : This route is much less expensive compared to the first option. The National Park is roughly 2 hours from Las Vegas and can be explored as a day trip from Las Vegas. When we visited, we saw a lot of rental cars that came from Vegas. You can relax by experiencing the Vegas nightlife after a day of exploring the park.
You can drive to and from Vegas to Death Valley by taking the US-95 or via Pahrump Valley Highway.
We were on a road trip from Austin through California when we visited Death Valley, so we drove from Bakersfield.
Things to Do in Death Valley National Park
The first thing you see when you enter the park is the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. If you are travelling with kids, this is a good place to start off the day. You can slide on the dunes, hike through them or just enjoy the landscape. Since it’s at the start of the park, it does get a little crowded during peak season. In such a scenario, it will be difficult to find a parking here. Get here as early as possible to make the best of the sand dunes.
Places we had to Skip
We couldn’t fit this in our itinerary because we were short on time. We had to prioritize other attractions over this, in the park. Sharing a list of other attractions that we couldn’t cover but definitely plan to, some day in the future.
- Ubehebe Crater Hike : This is considered one of the top attractions in the park. It is in a different direction as compared to the other spots in the park. It takes ~50 mins to reach this point from Mesquite Flat Dunes. You would need a total of 2 hours to cover this point
- Golden Canyon Hike: If you are planning to spend a couple of days exploring the park, you can add this to the itinerary. This is a 3 mile hike where you walk through the other worldly landscape of Death Valley National Park
- Sailing Rocks: This point is famous for the three rocks in the area that keep moving and are never found in one particular place. We had only a day in the park so we had to skip this!
- Devil’s Golf Course: This area has a rough landscape with jagged spikes jutting out formed by rock salt. You can hear pops of rock salt if you listen carefully!
Now, getting to the attractions that we did visit!
Zabriskie Point
This point is one of the most beautiful landscapes in the Valley. The brown and yellow hills have stripes that were formed by the force of water. Even now, the stripes are visible very clearly on the hills. A short climb from the parking lot, you can see the stunning vista of striped hills from the top of this point. You can also see the badwater basin salt flats at a distance from this point.
This point makes for one of the most stunning photo spots in the park. If you have a little more time, you can hike the Badlands loop trail from the Zabriskie Point parking lot. The loop is an hour long loop and you get to walk through the striped hills. Zabriskie Point can get crowded with lots of people trying to get their pictures, so if you want a more secluded photo spot, you can venture into the hike.
Dante’s View
This should be next on your list after Zabriskie Point. Dante’s View is about 30 mins from the Zabriskie Point. To reach the point, you will have to drive a narrow road leading up the hill. At the top, you will see a parking lot. You can park and hike to any of the top points in the area. We went to the path right off of the parking lot.
From the top, you can see the entire Death Valley with a direct view of Badwater Basin Salt Flats. You can spend some time here soaking up the bird’s eye view of the Valley.
Badwater Basin Salt Flats
If you have heard of Death Valley, you have heard of Badwater Basin. This is the most popular attraction in this national park and can get pretty crowded. We suggest visiting this point a couple of hours before sunset. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the US (282 ft below sea-level). You can see this marked on the hill next to the parking lot.
You can walk atleast a mile into the flats to find the least crowded area of the salt flat. That will guarantee you some of the best clicks. If you are lucky, you can find a thin layer of water on these flats during winter when the rain falls in the valley. The water reflects your image perfectly and makes for a stunning photo spot.
We weren’t lucky enough to see this but we did manage to get some beautiful clicks!
Artist’s Drive and Artist’s Palette
Just 10 mins from Badwater Basin, you will take a right turn and drive into the Artist’s drive that have some of the most beautiful hills I have ever seen. Different colored hills from purple, blue to grey dot the landscape here.
There are two points in this drive that are worth stopping. The first point you come across has a steep but short climb. You can view colorful hills from this vantage point. We did confuse this point for the Artist’s Palette and were a bit disappointed as the colors did not pop as much as we had seen in the photos online.
After spending some time at this point, while driving through the Artist’s drive, we came across the actual Artist’s Palette a little further away. Hope you guys do not make the same mistake we did. Artist’s Palette is a very beautiful and has extremely prominent colors.
The best time to visit this place is during the sunset or sunrise. That is when the colors on the hill will pop out against the landscape. We visited during sunset.
Tips for Visiting the Death Valley National Park
- There is little to no internet connection on most network providers in Death Valley. We had Verizon and T-Mobile. Both of them did not work in the park. We recommend downloading offline maps of the national park and the route to your destination for the night (Vegas, Bakersfield or Fresno)
- There is only one gas station inside the Death Valley National Park near the Furnace Creek Visitor Centre. Filling up the vehicle here can be expensive so it’s better to have a full tank while entering the park. The area is huge so it will also save you from having to drive till Furnace creek to fill up the gas
- If you coming from Bakersfield (Fresno), there are very few restaurants/fast food stops along the way. You will find only one restaurant right outside the National Park. It’s called the Toll Road Restaurant. It has vegeterian options too
- Be sure to get your park day pass from Furnace Creek Visitor Centre if you do not have the America Beautiful pass. We also suggest getting the maps from the visitor centre. They will help in navigating if your offline maps don’t work on phone
- Sunset/Sunrise is the best time to visit Artist’s Palette. You should definitely plan to be in the park during either times of the day.
- During the winter season, the sun sets as early as 4:30 PM, so make sure to factor that into your plan
- Make sure you go through the National Park Website in advance to avoid any road closures
Hope we were able to help you plan your trip better! We are always eager to hear your views on our itinerary. Let us know in the comments if any of our tips helped.
