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This page last updated on 02097/2018
The pictures below and on the associated links were taken on visits to the park on 02/23/2016, 03/28/2015, 01/27/2014, 03/19/2011, and 04/11/2010. They represent the most recognized stopping points within what is known as the Furnace Creek Area. One of the many reasons for visiting this area is that during the early spring months one can often capture pictures of a variety of wildflowers. I have chosen to place these pictures on a separate page. Please click the following link to view … Death Valley National Park Flora.
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Dante's View
Dante's View is a viewpoint terrace at 5,476 feet on the north side of Coffin Peak, along the crest of the Black Mountains. Overlooking the inferno of Death Valley, it is without doubt, the most breathtaking viewpoint in the park. Both of Death Valley’s elevation extremes, Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level and due west to Telescope Peak, 11,049 feet above sea level, can be seen in a single glance. The paved access road is open to all vehicles less than 25 feet in length and starts east of Furnace Creek on Hwy 190. Click here to view pictures and information regarding this location ... Dantes View - Death Valley National Park. | ||||||||||||
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Heading to the park from Death Valley Junction on CA 190, Zabriskie Point is an elevated overlook of a colorful, undulating landscape of gullies and mud hills at the edge of the Funeral Mountains. It is located just a few miles inside the eastern edge of Death Valley, just before you reach the Furnace Creek Inn and the main road that encompasses the park and its major features. The viewpoint is a short walk uphill from the parking area and is surrounded by a maze of wildly eroded and vibrantly colored badlands. From this spectacular viewpoint one can even see the flat salt plains on the valley floor in far the distance. It is by far the park’s most popular sunrise and sunset viewing location. From golden hues to those of chocolate browns, the undulating landscapes here are spectacular. Click here to view pictures and information regarding this location ... Zabriskie Point - Badland Loop Trail. | ||||||||||||
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The Artist's Palette, shown above, is a spot on the Artist's Drive, that is especially photogenic in late afternoon light. Here you can see a fabulous array of variously colored hills full of greens, reds, purples, and pinks. It is quite unbelievable. You can carefully follow the steps down and walk among the hills to see more. These colors are caused by the oxidation of different metals (red, pink and yellow is from iron salts, green is from decomposing tudd-derived mica, and manganese produces the purple). Click here for more pictures and information on the unique site ... Artists Drive - Death Valley National Park. | ||||||||||||
Devil’s Golf Course
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On my first visit to this area, I opted not to drive out to this area on the valley’s floor. After driving out there on my latest visit, I learned that this amazing surface can only be truly appreciated when viewed close up. This immense area of large Halite salt crystal formations, eroded by wind and rain into jagged spires, is so incredibly serrated that “only the devil could play golf on such rough links.” This name came from a line in the 1934 National Park Service guide book to Death Valley National Monument, which stated that " Only the devil could play golf " on its surface, due to a rough texture from the eroded salt crystal. The Devil's Golf Course is a large salt pan on the floor of Death Valley. Lake Manly once covered the valley to a depth of 30 feet. The salt in the Devil's Golf Course consists of the minerals that were dissolved in the lake's water and left behind in the Badwater Basin as the lake evaporated. With an elevation that is several feet above the valley floor at Badwater basin, the Devil's Golf Course remains dry, allowing weathering processes to sculpt the salt there into complicated forms. The crust of salt is 1.1 to 2.2 yards thick and changes form after rain in the winter season dissolves the salt, to be recrystallized as the water evaporates. Through exploratory holes drilled by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, prior to Death Valley becoming a national monument in 1934, it was discovered that the salt and gravel beds of the Devil's Golf Course extend to a depth of more than 1,000 feet; later studies have even suggested that in places the depth ranges up to 9,000 feet.
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Natural Bridge Canyon
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Natural Bridge Canyon is one of the few canyons with an official trailhead. The natural stone bridge itself is accessible after a fifteen-minute walk up a gentle but constant gradient, along a pebble floor that leads from the trailhead at the parking area.
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The natural bridge, which extends across the whole canyon is quite impressive though not as graceful as many of the smooth sandstone arches found in Utah. The bridge is made of conglomerate and looks somewhat unstable from beneath, with deep cracks running through the span. After the bridge the ravine bends a few times and enters a layer of red rock where the canyon narrows, climbs over two small dry falls and at one point is partially blocked by a large boulder, but with room to pass underneath. Next is a much bigger fall about 30 feet high, not easily scaled though this can be avoided by scrambling up the weathered cliffs on the left side. Above, the canyon seems to gain elevation more quickly, becomes shallower and branches several times. Other points of interest in the main canyon are several smooth vertical chutes in the walls, formed by flood waters flowing from hanging side canyons.
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Badwater
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The low, salty pool at Badwater basin, referred to mostly as just Badwater, is just beside the main park road is probably the best known and most visited place in Death Valley. The actual lowest point (-282 feet) is located several miles from the road and is not easily accessible. There is not much else to see apart from an orientation table, identifying many of the surrounding mountains. High in the rocky cliffs above the road, another sign reads 'SEA LEVEL', giving a good indication of just how low the land is. As you can see from the people in these two pictures who look like ‘ants’, this is a vast expanse that covers a huge area. Click here for more pictures and info ... Badwater Basin (Death Valley). | ||||||||||||
Ashford Mills Ruins
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The Ashford ruins are located west side of CA 178 (Badwater Road), 45 miles south of the Furnace Creek junction and highway 190. The site of today’s ruins are all that remain of the extensive milling operation that was built to process the gold mined in the Golden Treasure Mine that was located in the mountains more than 5 miles northeast of the site. Click here for more information and pictures of this site ... Ashford Mill Ruins - Death Valley. | ||||||||||||
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