Furnace Creek is the heart of activity in Death Valley National Park. In addition to the main visitor center and several large campgrounds, the Ranch at Death Valley, adjacent golf course, and gas station are located here. Furnace Creek is also a great staging area for the attractions found in the southern portion of the park. In just a short drive from the Furnace Creek Visitors Center, you can go from an elevation of 5475 feet at Dante’s View overlooking the entire valley to -282 feet below sea level at Badwater Basin. Camping facilities include the Furnace Creek Campground, Texas Springs Campground, and Sunset Campground. I scouted all three of these and recommend Furnace Creek Campground for its large, generously spaced campsites with plentiful trees and privacy. Sunset Campground is designed for RVs and is similar to Stovepipe Wells in that it resembles are large parking lot. Texas Springs is about a mile up the hill from the Furnace Creek action, so a good choice if you want a little more of a remote feel for your stay.
The stunning mixture of desert pastels and sand colors of Death Valley seem to go on uninterrupted for miles. It’s hard to capture the astonishing beauty here in a single photo when you’re in the valley itself. One place that allows you to get a full perspective is Dante’s View. This overlook is about a 40 minute drive from Furnace Creek and offers a fantastic look at the valley below, just above Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the valley. If you’re traveling in winter, keep in mind that the temperatures drop rapidly at elevation. It can be 30-40 degrees cooler at Dante’s View than it is in the valley below, so bring your coat if you venture up here!
On your way to or from Dante’s View, don’t miss the stop at Zabriskie Point. This overlook offers a view into the “Badlands” of Death Valley, a complex labyrinth of mud hills that spills from the edge of the Black Mountains into the valley. In addition to the short walk up to the overlook, there are a number of hiking trail options that extend from here. I did the two mile out and back Golden Canyon hike which drops you straight into the maze of mud hills. Pay attention to the signs, there are points where it’s easy to lose track of the trail!
Another major highlight in the southern portion of the park is Badwater Basin. Badwater Basin is a large salt flat that holds the distinction of being the lowest point below sea level in the park, and the lowest point in the North America, at -282 feet of elevation. From the parking area, you can venture out on to the seemingly endless salt flats. Bring your wide lense camera for some dramatic shots of this special landscape.
On your return from Badwater Basin, make sure to take the one-way 9 mile scenic drive to Artist’s Palette and stop to see the colorful hillsides that are the result of oxidation of various metals present here. And before you call it a day on this side of the park, travel just a mile or so north of Furnace Creek and stop in to see the Harmony Borax Works, an old Borax mining operation that was key to developing the Furnace Creek area. There is a short loop hike that takes you through the remnants of the mining operation and showcases a “Twenty Mule Team Wagon”, the kind used to transport borax out of the valley in the late 1800’s.
While I covered quite a bit of ground on this trip, there is always more to explore in a park as large as Death Valley. One of the cool things about the park is that it offers many off-road options that can take you far deeper into Death Valley for a more off the grid experience. Unfortunately, traveling by low-clearance van limited my options on this trip. For example, I wasn’t able to get out to the Racetrack to see the famous sailing stones because the road required high-clearance. There are a number of four-wheel drive tracks to many other parts unknown in Death Valley. The next time I go, I’d like to explore more of these back country areas and will plan accordingly with the right transportation option. I always try to leave a little bit unexplored on these trips so I have a good reason to return. In the case of Death Valley, I will have many!
