Spend a day in desert, be stunned about a natural wonder never seen before, don’t get lost but get loose in the extreme– below-sea-level basin, steady drought and record summer heat!
Death Valley is the largest U.S. National Park outside Alaska at 3.4 million acres. Nearly 1000 miles of paved and dirt roads provide access to awesome and remote places. 91% of the park is protected as officially designated Wilderness!
In summer months the temperatures raise over a 100 degrees and the landscape consists of dunes, sand hills and stone. (lots of water and full tank is very recommendable 😉 )
As in every Nationalpark you will not find more than 3 signs showing the direction .. haha so do not get lost like us ( following a map is quite important)
Before the actual entrance to the Nationalpark you will follow a street for about 60 miles guiding through the nowhere.. We had to stop several times because I was so impressed about the feeling to have nothing around.
A small sign saying “Death Valley” makes you enter in this giant park. And after a few minutes you arrive at the First Viewpoint called Father Crowley Vistapoint…and my emotions overcame.. you see canyons located very deep, stone formations never seen before, so many colors and dried salt lakes which is so far but remarkable because of the white color. You can drive on the roads forever and just wonder how nature has built this spectacle..
Another Highlight were the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.. it seems like a Fata Morgana when you get there.. surrounded by mountains to all sides you will find the Dunes perfectly shaped formations all made by nature.
The largest dune is called Star Dune and is relatively stable and stationary because it is at a point where the various winds that shape the dunes converge.
We were the lucky to see it before sunset and it was such a beautiful light. When the sun rises or goes down , all formations in Death Valley change into various colors.
There are so many things to see..
One last landmark I want to tell you about is Zabriskie Point ( located close to furnace Creek) which is an elevated overlook of a colorful outstanding landscape of hills, flat salt plains and stone formations all dived into a variety of red colors.
Go there for sunset and you will dive into another world. You can also wander down some dunes on small trails to have an unique experience.
The sun went down and you just realize how small you are in between those huge formations all made by nature and already there since so long time.. Wehumans are lucky to be allowed to enter into this natural wonder once in our life and wonder how strong the power of nature can be.
After sunset it turns out to be completely dark since there are not a lot of people, the park is not only big but giant and there are no lights. It took us about 2 hours to get out.-very curvy streets & 100% night with a star sky you never saw before.. and it is definitely worth all the effort!
Thanks for this time out by entering into that giant natural wonder