There are many secrets to Death Valley National Park, and one of them revolves around the rich paleontological resources in the park. Rangers lead special hikes to reveal this history, and if you're interested in the one scheduled for January 27, you need to enter the lottery for a ticket today.

November sun sets at 4:35 p.m. in Death Valley. Early because we’re on the eastern edge of Pacific Standard Time. It’s only 6:30 p.m. and I’m already tired of reading. All around my campsite there are others sitting in the dark. Most are sitting beside campfires. Quiet talk fills the evening along with delicious odors of cooking food. Somewhere not too far away, someone quietly plunks on a guitar.

The history of Death Valley is intimately connected with the California gold rush and dreams of striking it big. Today, the National Park Service protects many of these early mining sites allowing us to catch a glimpse of a bygone era. In this fourth episode of Death Valley Explorer, discover how miners extracted gold at the Skidoo stamp mill, the largest water powered stamp mill in the Mojave Desert.

Scotty's Castle, the iconic, history rich mansion in Grapevine Canyon of Death Valley National Park, now is not expected to open before 2020 as National Park Service personnel take public comments on how they plan to rehabilitate the castle and rebuild the Bonnie Clare Road that leads to it.