Friday, March 31–Wednesday, April 5
Before I went to Death Valley, I had a very specific image in my head of what I would find: a desert hot, dry, flat, and low. I pictured wide open salt flats and triple-digit temperatures. And though parts of the park fulfilled those expectations, other parts yielded a completely a different tableau of mountainous trails and snowcapped peaks. Death Valley is truly a place of diversity.
The first thing to comprehend when visiting Death Valley is just how damn big the park is. At 3.37 million acres, it is the largest national park in the contiguous U.S. As a point of comparison, Connecticut, my birth state, has 3.56 million acres. On my first full day alone, I drove over 200 miles within park boundaries seeing various points of interest
When I arrived, I opted to camp for a couple nights in Stovepipe Wells, located in the middle of the park. Unlike other parks, there is no risk of running out of campsites for visitors — there is simply too much space for that. As I settled in on my first evening, I struck up a conversation with the couple at the next campsite. Eric, the husband, was also accompanied by his parents in their nearby RV. Before long, they invited me to join them for dinner, beers, and a lively conversation that lasted late into the night.
Later in my stay, I befriended another group of campers looking for a good campsite. I offered to share mine with them, and then found out that they too used to live in San Francisco, as law students at USF. We bonded over our favorite karaoke bars in the city and cafes near their campus. I continue to enjoy the friendliness exhibited by fellow parkgoers throughout my trip.
At Eric’s recommendation, I took on the Titus Canyon drive one morning. Roughly 27 miles long, the passage through the canyon involves curvy, rocky roads. It starts outside of the park and weaves its way around ridges, eventually leading to the doorstep of Death Valley itself. The final few miles took me through a circuitous slot canyon that blocked out the sun, testing the handling capabilities of me and my car!
Having conquered the narrow canyon drive, I contrasted it by visiting the wide-open Ubehebe (YOO-bee-HEE-bee) Crater. The crater was formed by a large volcanic explosion anywhere from several hundred to several thousand years ago. Grays, browns, pale yellows, dark reds: the colors of the crater and nearby mountains give the impression of an alien planet. Although a path leads 600 feet to the bottom, I was warned that the returning climb through the sandy gravel can be brutal in the relentless desert sun. Instead, I opted to hike the circumference of the crater, watching with pity as a few brave souls struggled up from the bottom.
Another attraction of the park is the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Located just a few miles from Stovepipe Wells, these sand dunes are a popular attraction: families can play in the sand, adventurous souls can hike to the highest dune about a mile out, and photographers can capture images of the ever-shifting dunes. I went to there on two separate occasions, first to hike as far out as I could, and second to relax as the sun set over the Panamint Mountains.
A few other hikes worth noting are the Mosaic Canyon, Golden Canyon, and Dante’s Ridge Trails. Along these trails, I explored the array of rocks formations at varying levels of erosion. Mosaic Canyon takes you into the Panamint Mountains, affording increasingly sweeping views of the valley below. Golden Canyon is the most popular hike in the park. As the name suggests, it passes through a strikingly golden terrain, and a spur leads up to the towering walls of the Red Cathedral. And while hiking along Dante’s Ridge, I had unimpeded views of Badwater Basin and Telescope Peak — a difference of over 11,000 feet.
Two final stops that any visitor must make are to the aforementioned Badwater Basin, as well as Zabriskie Point. At Badwater, you can walk up to the lowest place in the western hemisphere. It is an interesting bit of trivia, but to me, the more exciting part was being able to walk out onto the salt flat. There, the salt crunched like packed snow beneath my feet, and everywhere I looked, I saw an infinite expanse of white.
Zabriskie Point features the towering Panamint Mountains, vast Death Valley, and multi-colored nearby badlands all in the same view. I arrived there well before sunrise one morning, gazing up at the Milky Way strewn across the moonless sky. As the sky began to turn lighter, I watched on in awe. I captured an hour and a half of sunrise in this 90 second video here, which does a better job conveying the experience than I could ever do.
My visit to Death Valley banished my preconceived notions of the place as a monotonously hot and boring desert. Its mountains, canyons, badlands, dunes, and craters offer a multitude of activities for all types of travelers. If I have the chance to visit again, I will rent an off-road Jeep — a service is available right in the park! — and venture to even more backcountry roads, most notably the Racetrack at night. Nonetheless, I loved the adventures I had and the people I met during my first time at the park.
Animated Giff 
Until I read your post, I never had any interest in visiting Death Valley. Now, i’d put it near the top of my list. The sunrises and sunsets alone would do it for me (though I’d probably avoid the slot canyon 😀 ).
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