Saturday

Death Valley National Park - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 03/06/2019
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EP-P1060163-2Billie Mine: Located in the center of the main borate mining district of Death Valley, just outside of Death Valley National Park, the now shut down Billie Mine was one of the largest Borax mines in the Ryan District. The actual national park boundary runs along the west side of the wash and road here, making both the Billie Mine site and the abandoned mining town of Ryan visible in the near distance to the south just outside of the national park. However, the shafts of the Billie mine ended up running under and into the Death Valley National Park.
                
EP-P1060120-2The Ghost Town of Ryan: Ryan Company Town is one of the best preserved ghost towns and mining camps in the state of California. This ghost town epitomizes what the “Old West” was all about. Built in 1914, it was a company mining town built in a remote and rugged area on the side of a steep mountain on the eastern edge of Death Valley National Park that served several borax mines. Its railroads, the Death Valley Railroad and the Baby Gauge Railroad, transported the Borax ores out of the area for processing.
                             
EP-P1060133-P1060135-2Dante'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 Badwaater Basin and 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.


                              
E-P1030309 Stitch-220 Mule Team Drive: The area surrounding the 20 Mule Team Drive was created by the remarkable effects of wind, rain and erosion, this scenic drive through multicolored badlands, situated in the old Monte Blanco mining district, provides views of the stunning topography of Twenty Mule Team Canyon in Death Valley. It is a one-way, single lane road through the northern end of the Black Mountains, it goes through the Death Valley badlands area; an area of quickly eroding, soft mud mountains which were actually once the bottom of a seasonal lake a long time ago.
                                                                  
Zabriskie Point - Badland Loop Trail: This past week, Blake Smith, Robert Croke, Ron Ziance and I decided to drive to Death Valley National Park to hike the Badland Loop trail at Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie Point itself is an elevated overlook of a colorful, undulating landscape of gullies and mud hills at the edge of the Black Mountains, just a few miles east of Death Valley. The Badland Loop trail is a 2.2 mile hike that puts hikers right in the center of some of the most desolate, barren terrain on earth. 
                                    
E-IMG_2851-2Furnace Creek Area: This link to the “Furnace Creek Area” is a summary page that encompasses additional links with pictures and information on many of the area’s better known sites, including but not limited to: 20 Mule Team Canyon, Zabriski Point, Harmony Borax Works, Borax Museum, Golden Canyon, Artists Drive, Devil’s Golf Course, Natural Bridge Canyon, Badwater, and the Ashford Mill Ruins.


                     
You can view pictures of some of the wildflowers I’ve captured at some of these sites at the following page …   Death Valley National Park Flora.




Play a Slide Show
Clicking the picture-link below will open OneDrive in a new window and a folder containing 165 pictures taken on various trips to the Death Valley National Park. To view the show, click on the first picture in the folder and you will get the following menu bar:

Clicking the "Play slide show" will play a fullscreen window of the slide show.


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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.