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Death Valley National Park

Chimes Tower, Death Valley Ranch

Chimes Tower, Kurt Repanshek photo

Visit Death Valley Ranch, home of Scotty's Castle, in Death Valley National Park and your eye can't help but be drawn to Chimes Tower. When construction got under way in November 1928, Albert Johnson already had purchased a 16-tone carillon chime to be installed in the tower.

According to National Park Service records, in April 1930 Johnson purchased nine additional tones and an automatic roll player for the tower. The first set of chimes was installed that year, and a second set was installed in 1946.

Kurt Repanshek
www.nps.gov/deva

Resolved: I’ll Visit at Least These Five National Parks in 2009

In the past, my national park visiting has been too intermittent and unfocused for comfort. But this year my New Year’s Resolutions are going to provide a sense of purpose and direction. Five parks is a very doable agenda. My list includes three Sure Things, a True Confession, and one Unfinished Business.

Happy Holidays from Furnace Creek

Furnace Creek holiday. Kurt Repanshek photo.

They might not have a white Christmas on the floor of Death Valley, but that doesn't mean they don't celebrate the holidays there!

This wreath is gracing one of the original borax ore wagons that's on display in front of the Furnace Creek Ranch.

If you do find yourself in Furnace Creek for the year-end holidays and need a snow fix, you can gander up at Telescope Peak, which at 11,043 feet tends to collect quite a bit of snow in winter.

Kurt Repanshek

Thanks to the California Desert Protection Act, Death Valley National Park is the Biggest Park in the Coterminous U.S.

On October 31, 1994, the California Desert Protection Act redesignated Death Valley from National Monument to National Park and added 1.3 million acres to the new National Park’s holdings. In one fell swoop, Congress had transferred bragging rights for “biggest park in the 48-state U.S.” from Yellowstone to Death Valley.

The Abandoned Keane Wonder Mine at Death Valley National Park is Too Dangerous to Visit

Citing serious safety hazards, the National Park Service has barred public access to the abandoned Keane Wonder Mine site at Death Valley National Park. The old mine site, which has already claimed one visitor’s life, is loaded with hazards of many kinds.

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