Death Valley

Darwin Falls should not be part of Death Valley National Park. In fact, the year-round waterfall does not belong in the California desert at all. The hike starts as innocently as so many nearby trails, at the mouth of a gravel-bottom canyon, but after 0.7 miles the canyon closes and the trail enters a lush oasis of cottonwoods and willows. The next 0. ...Read more.

Sidewinder Canyon is located at the base of the Black Mountains on the east side of Death Valley National Park south of Badwater Basin. The canyon is fairly wide with a gravel bottom and forty-foot stone walls on both side. Within these walls lie tight slot canyons with pour-overs, carve outs, and dark passages that beg to be explored. There are three slot canyons off the south wall of the canyon and other slightly wider side canyons worth experiencing. ...Read more.

The Ashford Mill ruins are visible to those driving up route 178 to Badwater Basin and Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. The ruins rest on the valley floor at an elevation of 121 feet below sea level. They serve as a picturesque example of the rigors of life in this harsh desert. In 1914, Ashford Mill was built to process gold from the Ashford Mine, located in the mountains to the east. ...Read more.

Wildrose Peak resides on the northern end of a group of peaks that form the top of the Panamint Mountain Range, which runs down the west side of Death Valley National Park. The 9,064-foot peak is about seven miles north of Telescope Peak, the highest point in the park at 11,049 feet. Wildrose sports an expansive view of the Panamint Mountains, Badwater Basin, and the surrounding desert landscape. ...Read more.

The Charcoal Kilns are a well-preserved attraction in Death Valley National Park. These conical constructions converted lumber to charcoal from 1879 to 1882. During that period, workers burnt logs in these giant airtight ovens, pyrolyzing pine to charcoal, which was then hauled to the nearby Modock Mine smelter. The coal-making process took about two weeks. ...Read more.

Golden Canyon - Gower Gulch Loop visits some of the most stunning landscapes in Death Valley National Park. The 4-mile hike begins with a one-mile trek up Golden Canyon. Numbered markers along the way make the canyon easy to follow. These markers correspond with an interpretive trail guide that tells the geological history of the land. The guide is available for purchase at the trailhead and visitor centers, but no guide is required to realize the beauty of Golden Canyon. ...Read more.

Badlands Loop offers a great immersion into the terrain beneath Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park. This 2.5-mile hike is all badlands. Anyone who hiked the Golden Canyon - Gower Gulch Loop and enjoyed the middle section of the trek will love the Badlands Loop. The trail starts down an obvious gully just north of the Zabriskie Point parking lot. ...Read more.

Zabriskie Point offers a stunning panorama of the badlands near Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. The overlook stands at the upper east end of a badlands terrain full of impressive canyons and gulches. A short walk up a paved hill is all that is required to take advantage of this amazing vantage point. The hard drought-plagued sun-baked slopes around Zabriskie Point support almost no vegetation and possess a start beauty. ...Read more.

Just up the road from Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park is a canyon that can be experienced right from the driver's seat. This 2.8-mile one-way dirt road is well maintained and passable in any car or truck. The road leads into and across a picturesque Death Valley landscape of canyons and badlands. The scenery is impressive, plus the kids in the backseat can play a game of who-can-spot-the-most-borax-mine-shafts along the way. ...Read more.

Nine campgrounds are open to visitors within the boundaries of Death Valley National Park. Texas Spring Campground near Furnace Creek is centrally located and one of the nicer campgrounds in Death Valley, with bushes and short trees providing shade. Some of the other campgrounds are not California's most impressive, offering little more than open gravel landscapes for setting up tents. ...Read more.