TOP Sights of Death Valley

Death Valley

Entrance Sign and The Oasis

Entrance: $30 /vehicle to enter into the park - pay via pay stations (easy to miss) and put the ticket on your dashboard

• Handicap/elderly-friendly: YES

• If you have the 'America The Beautiful' pass, DV is included for free! $80/year, so pays off if you go to at least 3 national parks that 12- month period

• Stop for a photo at the (East Entrance) sign! This will be right after the pay station is.

The Oasis at DV: EV Charging, Restaurant/Ice Cream, General Store

• Handicap/elderly-friendly: YES

• This is where things get brutal - only 2 EV chargers available for the WHOLE park. These are slow chargers (6-9 kW/hour) and it's a first-come, first-serve basis.

• We charged for 2-3 hours and made friends with another EV group, who happened to be headed to the same site for the afternoon. They had enough charge, so we carpooled to see the sights!

• Great place to have a stop for food, drinks, ice cream - it's quite expensive, so plan ahead (and bring food/drinks in a cooler if you want to save money)

Mesquite Sand Dunes

• Handicap/elderly-friendly: YES

• Parking lot: YES

• Time Allocation: 30min-3hours

• Easily enjoyable from parking lot to see the sand dunes, but you can spend a few hours here if you want to truly experience the sand dunes and hike to the top!

• OPTION to watch sunrise/sunset here

Mosaic Canyon

• Handicap/elderly friendly: NO

• Parking lot: YES

• Hiking distance:

• Time allocation: 1-3hours, depending how long you hike into the canyon, In/Out trail

• This was one of my FAVORITE spots in Death Valley, it's sort of like walking the Narrows in Zion (but without wading the water)

• Feels like you're on Mars or in a Star Wars movie

• We only made it halfway in, given time constraint for our sunset plans, but asking a couple - they said the end was cooler than the beginning, because it gets more narrow and you can see where the water passed through the canyon

Badwater Basin

& Devil's Golf Course

• Handicap/elderly friendly: YES

• Parking lot: YES

• Time allocation: 30min-2hours

• Picked up our car in between and hauled our EV butt to make sunset, missed it by just a few minutes but still loved seeing the post-sunset glow in the Valley

• You CAN walk into the Basin - barefeet or water shoes recommended! This was the reason I planned our trip to Death Valley; given the hurricanes back in August 2023, water was deposited to form a lake (again) at the lowest point in the United States. Typically, this area is barren and dry - a salt flat, consisting of table salt (sodium chloride), borax, calcite, and gypsum. It's also charted to be one the hottest temperatures ever in the Western hemisphere (fact check this)

• The water reflection is INSANE, primarily given its shallowness and the salt

Artist's Drive/Palette

• Handicap/elderly friendly: YES

• Parking lot: YES (2 spots), otherwise mostly driving

• Time allocation: 1-2 h, depending how many stops

• I thought it was cool, but overall OK. We came in mid-afternoon (230pm), so maybe the sun washed out the color a bit -- but if you've seen the Rainbow Mountains in Peru or other mountains, you may be a bit disappointed.

• Don't get me wrong - still a great experience (and you don't have to get out of the car for mostly all of it)!

• TIP: if it's in your itinerary, go early evening - as the sun is getting ready to set

Zabriskie Point Sunrise

+Golden Canyon/Gower Gulch Trail Loop

• Handicap/elderly friendly: YES (for sunrise, not hike)

• Parking lot: YES

• Time allocation: 1h-4h (if hiking)

• Recommend getting in about half-hour before sun rises, to see the contrast of darkness and light as the sun comes up - the colors are WILD

• Most visitors (myself included) stay within the confines of the main route up from the parking lot, but there were a few photographers (or seasoned park attendees) that went up the ridge to the right! Probably offers a beautiful view

• Hike -- 6.5mi, 1000ft elevation, 3-4h

• Most people start the Golden Canyon Trail/Gower Gulch Trail from the same side as Badwater Basin/Artiste's Drive, but you can do a little longer loop right after sunrise from Zabriskie Point. This is what we did, and I recommend starting at this time (730am) before the sun gets too high! It offers some insanely cool shadow shots over the sandy hills/mountains.

• Follow the AllTrails path and go counterclockwise if you want to do the full loop, but we honestly thought the Golden Canyon trail portion was the most beautiful, so you could opt to do an out/back trail from Zabriskie Point (maybe add Red Cathedral) and not miss THAT much.

Dante's View (Sunset)

• Handicap/Elderly friendly: YES

• Parking lot: YES

• Time allocation: ~2-3h, including the drive (longer if you plan a hike)

• Now THIS was one of the top 3 things for me at Desert Valley!

• One of the most beautiful after-glow sunsets I have ever seen. Wait 30 minutes after sunset, and the colors will just awe you. On a clear day, if you look towards the east, you can still see snowcapped Mt Whitney (late January) and the sky is just this dazzling purple/pink. Contrast this with the basin, and you will be looking at the tallest peak in the Western US and the lowest point in North America ;)

• Totally worth the drive back in the dark (sort of...)

Lodging Options

• Camping (cheapest)

• Hotels outside the park:

  • Amargosa Opera House (historic, $, 30mi drive out of the park)

• Hotels inside the park:

  • The Ranch ($$, 2.5 stars) - this is located at the EV charging and restaurant

  • The Inn ($$$$, 4 stars) - if you want a splurge a little and have a super luxurious stay

  • Stovepipe Wells (this is near Mesquite Sand Dunes)

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Amargosa Opera House

We stayed here before knowing its haunting history!

And could tell you it felt true...

This hotel, located at the Death Valley junction of Route 190 and Route 127, was featured in a few paranormal television shows of hauntings/ghost hunters. It was purchased by dancer, Marta Becket, in the 1960s - after she fell in love with the area after her car broke down here; before that, it had changed hands many times after the town was abandoned after borax mining dwindled.

Her last show here was in 2012 and the pantings all over the walls were so she could always have an audience while performing, as not many people visited the area.

It was hit hard by the hurricane in 2023, so only 6 rooms were operating when we checked in -- so it goes, certain rooms are haunted (luckily ours wasn't)!

Stay for an adventure... or stop by in the daytime to see the historic building! The cafe is closed down for now.

Other Sights Not Seen...

Maybe worth exploring?

UBEHEBE CRATER - this was a MUST for me, if we had enough on our EV charging/time. You MUST go here if already venturing to Mesquite Sand Dunes/Mosaic Canyon

RACETRACK PLAYA: if you happen to have a 4x4, you can drive out here to see how the mysterious rocks move

CHARCOAL KILNS: built in the 1870s, by a mining company, to produce charcoal to smelt silver - not quite as touristy, but a good way to experience the history of what Death Valley was used for in the last two centuries