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Death Valley National Park

Viewing Artists Palette, Death Valley National Park

Two people viewing the colorful soils of Artists Palette on a sunny day with puffy clouds and a blue sky, Death Valley National Park

"Tucked behind an unassuming yellow landscape, the rainbow of Artists Palette is the highlight along the Artists Drive Scenic Loop. Here, visitors marvel at an array of colors (red, orange, yellow, blue, pink, and green), splashed across the hills. These colors are from volcanic deposits rich in compounds such as iron oxides and chlorite, which creates a rainbow effect ... When visiting Artists Palette, allow approximately 30 minutes to detour from Badwater Road along the one-way Artists Drive Scenic Loop. The drive begins 8.5 miles (13.7 km) south of the Hwy 190/Badwater Rd.

Rebecca Latson

The Road Through Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley National Park

The leading line of Twenty Mule Team Canyon gravel road with golden badlands on either side, Death Valley National Park

This rollercoaster of a 2.5 mile (4 km) gravel road will take you through "colorful, eroded badlands" and parts of where scenes from "Star Wars VI: Return Of The Jedi" was filmed. Located just east of Zabriskie Point off of CA-190, "the road is usually fine for most cars, those with especally low clearance are not recommended. Check with a ranger for current conditions."

Rebecca Latson

National Parks Traveler Quiz And Trivia #62: The Death Valley Edition

If you go looking for dry desert landscapes beneath an unrelenting sun at Death Valley National Park, you’ll find them. If you go looking for lusher landscapes at this national park, believe it or not, you’ll find that, too, in this national park that is a contrast and a wonder. This month’s quiz and trivia piece is all about those wonders.

Three Days In Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park covers much more acreage than just the valley itself. It’s the largest U.S. national park outside of Alaska at 3,422,024 acres. With a park that size, you probably aren’t going to see everything you want in the space of a day or a week, for that matter. But you can still see and do plenty, even if you have no more than three days.

A Telephoto Shot Of A Death Valley Salt Pan In The Badwater Basin Area, Death Valley National Park

A telephoto image of an almost perfectly-round salt pan on the floor of Death Valley with a long, squiggly white line of salt connecting to the salt pan, Death Valley National Park

“The source of Badwater’s salts is Death Valley’s drainage system of 9,000 square miles—an area larger than New Hampshire. Rain falling on distant peaks creates floods that rush ever lower. Along the way, minerals dissolve from rocks and join the flood. Here, at the lowest elevation, floods come to rest, forming temporary lakes. As the water evaporates, minerals concentrate until only the salts remain. After thousands of years, enough salts have washed in to produce layer upon layer of salt crust.”

Rebecca Latson

Waiting For Sunrise At Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park

The blurred backs of two young women sitting on the stone barrier waiting for sunrise at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park

Zabriskie Point, "named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century, which had its mining operations in Death Valley," is an iconic location for watching (and photographing) sunrise, sunset, and night skies.

Rebecca Latson

A Storm A-Brewing At Over Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park

Dark, fluffy storm clouds hovering over the Panamint Mountains and the salt flat at Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park

While "thunder bumpers" make for starkly beautiful images, dark storm clouds in the distance are not to be taken lightly in Death Valley National Park. Thunderous rainstorms blowing debris across the road and flash floods can ruin a good trip pretty quickly. The Traveler wrote about the August 2022 flood in this national park.

Rebecca Latson

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