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Artist's Drive is located almost 1/2 way between Furnace Creek and Badwater. This is a 9 mile one way narrow paved loop drive. This drive was severely damaged in floods in the early 2000's but is now open. For some interesting before and after photos of damage and repair, click here. You enter from the road that is closer to the Badwater side and you exit north a few miles of where you started. Note that vehicles longer than 25 feet are not allowed. This drive is meant to be taken slow - various shades of color are represented in the sedimentary and volcanic rocks. A must stop is Artist's Palette located towards the latter part of the drive on the right hand side. A parking lot is available and you can take several very short hikes which take you out onto the multi colored soil. Hues of green, blue, pink and tan make very nice photo opportunities especially in the "golden hour" of the evening.

  

Badwater is "bad" in the positive use of this word. It is very unique as it is the lowest hottest place in the western hemisphere. Don't expect to find to many artifacts of civilization here other than bathrooms, a parking lot, an overlook, a boardwalk and a few holes people have dug through the upper salt layer. As you look up at the cliffs behind Badwater you will see a sign way above you that says "sea level". There is a small boardwalk the rises above the salty pools, descriptive signs are strategically placed along this boardwalk. One end of the boardwalk leads out into the salt flats. This very wide trail leads into the heart of the salt. As you walk you will see several holes dug down into the salt - there is water underneath! When you get far enough out into the Badwater salt basin, you will find that the salt is so sticky it adheres to your shoes every time you take a step.

 
 
The Borax Museum in Furnace Creek is well worth visiting - its a small building with excellent high powered air conditioning. There is no charge. The staff is extremely knowledgeable about the local history, geology, culture and weather of the Death Valley area. There is a good geological exhibit as well as many other Death Valley items both natural and human made. In the back of the museum you will find old mining artifacts and wagons. The back of the museum sits right next to the edge of part of the Furnace Creek Ranch motel - and even in the middle of the summer you will find green grass - as they water it in the morning and it survives the 120+ degree temperatures.

  
Boxax Museum sign and outdoor part of the Borax Museum, Furnace Creek Ranch

Dante's View, in our opinion offers the best road accessible viewpoint in the entire park. Death Valley in all her glory is spread out in front of you as are all the surrounding stark mountains. This is a paved road the entire way - although note vehicles longer than 25 feet are not allowed on the last part of the road. However on the portion of road where trucks are not allowed you will notice a yellow 10mph road sign with a truck oriented in the downhill direction. Ooops. You will see why no trucks are allowed here when you have to drive the narrow windy curves. There is a pull out parking

lot for these types of vehicles to turn around or park. The main parking lot and lookout are at an elevation of above 5000 feet so it will be noticeably cooler here in the summer than the sizzling valley floor. Several hiking trails lead off on the ridges from the parking lot. View some of our photos below.

Devil's Golf Cours is located close to the Natural Bridge turnoff. It is in the flats (the floor) of Death Valley and is made up of "clumps" of salt that stick up above the rest of the valley floor. Its just a short drive from the main highway - there is no official trail. If you visit during warm weather you may hear sort of a "popping" orchestra as the salt crystal expand and contract because of the differences in temperature.

Furnace Creek this is the hub of activity in all of Death Valley. There are several restaurants here, the world's lowest golf course (literally), a motel, a swimming pool, a nice museum, a post office a 3000+ airstrip and several other amenities. Consider this place, Death Valley's Oasis!

There are several restaurants - The Wrangler serves a buffet breakfast and lunch with table service  dinners. The food is a bit above average but the main point is that its all you can eat. Air conditioning is pretty good, bathrooms are not air conditioned very well. The best store and gift shop in Death Valley is located at this ranch. Here you can fuel up on water and supplies including a good selection of souvenirs.

There is a Chevron gas station right next to Furnace Creek Ranch - beware that gas is extremely pricey here..some of the most priciest in the state (well, try Panamint Springs for higher priced gas! - outside of the park's western border). Next to the gas station is the entrance to the Visitor's center. This place has great air conditioning - but in the summertime as with most places in Death Valley the water is quite warm. A nice easy to read thermometer hangs on the wall. You can pay your entrance fee here if you have not done so already. There is a lot of parking, but unfortunately only several spots have the luxury of being under shade trees. There are rangers on hand to greet you at the main counter as you walk inside. If you have any questions about the park, they are the ones to ask.

There are three parts to this visitor center. One part of the visitor center contains books, clothing and other souvenirs. The main part of the center contains exhibits and pictures of the history of the park, cultural and geological. Some of the exhibits will talk to you with a push of the button. The last part of the center is a small auditorium where the park service shows a slide show for free, a few times every hour or whenever there is enough interest. When busses pull into the parking lot the auditorium fills up very fast.

Timbisha American Indians live right next to Furnace Creek. It is interesting to see how some of their homes are built - some of the homes are half constructed of mud brick and join parts of a trailer or wooden house. This location has plans to build a tribal museum.

  

Golden Canyon is the closest signed natural attraction to Furnace Creek. It located on the eastern side of the road leading to Badwater just a a few miles from Furnace Creek. The trailhead is just off the main road at the end of a paved parking lot. The trail leads up the middle of an old canyon - looks like there used to be a paved road up part of this canyon but many flash floods later have almost erased the concrete that used to be here. Several side canyons wind off of the main canyon - these are great for exploring. The first few side canyons on your left side as you walk up the main canyon soon become extremely narrow and steep as they rapidly ascend from the main canyon. We've been up these in sandals (which are not recommended due to the steepness and loose rock). You can wind your way all the way to near the top of these narrow canyons and when you turn around you will have spectacular views of Death Valley. If you look down and you are afraid of heights, you might be scared at how steep and vertical the narrow canyon walls are!

It is about 2 miles one way to where the trail ends under the "Red Cathedral" walls. The trail's end is in a narrow bowl surrounded by steep rock walls. Fortunately there is shade here! Shortly before you reach the end of the trail you will see a sign pointing 1.5 miles to Zabriskie Point. This hike meanders through one extremely barren section of land and shade is pretty much non existent. Should you decide not to hike this trail, Zabriskie Point is accessed via car and a much shorter hike from the parking lot (see the bottom of this page for details) A bathroom and when in stock, brochures are available at the trailhead.

  

Harmony Borax Works is located about a mile north of Furnace Creek really close to the main road. Drive down a short improved dirt road to reach the parking lot. This is an abandoned partially restored Borax mine which dates from the mid 1880's. There is a path that leads in a circle around some of the equipment. Estimated visit time 10-20 minutes.

Mesquite Sand Dunes are located about 2 miles north on highway 190 from Stovepipe Wells - they are located on the northern side of the road. Ample sized gravel shoulders on both sides of the road provide plenty of pull over shadeless parking. You can park here and walk out to the dunes. To get close to the most impressive dunes expect to walk out at least 45 minutes from the road. The highest dunes over 100 feet tall are about 2 miles from the main road. A 10 minute walk will get most people into the smallest of the dunes - there are no trails anywhere in these dunes. If its hot temperature be

careful about wearing open toed shoes as the hot sand can be very painful on your feet. It is not recommended to walk out to these dunes in the middle of the summer on a deathly hot day. There is great photography out in these dunes especially in the evening golden hours. If you are a photographer a couple of things to be aware of - its often windy and blowing sand can cause problems - as well as if you are photographing during the summer months, your camera can get extremely hot, almost too hot to touch (even if you keep it in the shade of your body). People do hike a night especially during the summer. Be sure to bring a bright LED or flashlight with enough batteries to last several hours if you do the full hike out to the highest dunes. Also note that sometimes sidewinder snakes will be in the area as they sometimes come out at night during the hot summer months.

If you are fit and its not overly hot, we highly recommend the walk out to the highest of the dunes. These are quite impressive as they form a pyramidal shape and you can hike up a very narrow ridge of sand with one side plummeting to the valley floor and the other side forming a steep bowl. Its akin to how a climber might feel scaling a steep narrow mountain ridge with drop offs on both sides. You don't have to climb up the sharp ridge of course - some people climb up the very steep bowl. Either way, you will get tons of sand in your footwear. Great photos and views of the surrounding mountains from the top of these ridges.

Click on some of our thumbnail photos below:

Natural Bridge - the road to the trailhead for Natural Bridge is dirt and about 1 mile in length. Parts of it are quite bumpy and there are some deep holes you have to be careful of but you can certainly get a regular 2wd car to the trailhead. This is located just north of the main Badwater viewing area. One way to the bridge is just under 1/2 a mile on a wide gravel floor of the canyon - the bridge is limestone rock which has been hollowed out at the base. Its massive and doesn't have the grace that some other more slender elegant rock bridges have. In any case it towers over the trail - several small steep short side trails

try to provide access to the bridge, but fail because of the steepness of the rock walls surrounding it. From the trailhead you have great views looking down at Badwater and the salt flats below. Even if you do not hike the trail to the Natural Bridge its worth driving up here to get a unique view of Death Valley and the Badwater area.

The Racetrack Playa is well worth visiting as this is one of the park's main highlights, however many tourists never get to this due to the 27 mile rough isolated dirt road and Park rangers encourage 4wd high clearance vehicles only. It is located in the central part of Death Valley National Park about 35 miles South West of Scotty's Castle. 27 miles of this distance is on improved dirt roads - we did not experience any deep sand. There are lots of small rocks but usually only a few bigger rocks you have to watch out for if you are driving a car. The Park Service recommends 4wd high clearance vehicles only,

but we took a regular passenger sedan 2wd car over the 27 mile dirt road in merely just over 44 minutes. This was timed from below the Ubehebe Crater to the parking lot on the south side of the Playa. That is moving and normal drivers will take well over an hour for the same drive. We pulled into the Grandstand dirt parking area as the only 2wd sedan car next to at least 10 SUV's and other 4wd vehicles. That is an awesome feeling, although this road totally pales in comparison to some of the nasty 4wd roads we've taken our CAR on. The road is narrow in places so be careful especially around blind turns - much of the year your drive on this road will stir up dust which makes it easier to be seen by moving cars from further away. We've driven parts of this road after localized rain showers and we must say its so much nicer and easier to drive when the road has been moistened.

There are no signs from the main road to Scotty's Castle indicating a turn off for the Racetrack Playa, but your turn off is at the road that leads to the Ubehebe Crater - and instead of going up to the crater via the small paved narrow road, turn onto the dirt road where there is actually a sign for the Racetrack Playa. This is a very scenic location although beware of the extreme heat in the summertime and carry plenty of water. The entire area from the main road to the Racetrack Playa is a few thousand feet higher than the main Death Valley Floor so when its in the high 120's it may be in the low to mid 110's in this area! The road hits Teakettle Junction (look for all the real tea kettles hanging from the sign - great photo opp!) and soon thereafter the Playa comes into view.

The main feature from afar is the Grandstand - an outcrop of black rocks that towers above the flat playa floor. If dry, you can walk out to the Grandstand in merely several minutes from the nearby dirt parking space next to the dirt road. You can climb up the rocks and from the upper most part you have great views overlooking the entire playa. It is best to not walk on the playa when its wet as footprints will scar the surface for a number of years. The playa itself is composed of thousands of 3-4 inch hexagonal pieces of dirt - left there from sediment that forms when the water dries up each year. Except for the intrusion of the Grandstand and a few rocks scattered about the only thing you will see on the playa is its dirt surface.

The best examples of the famous "moving rocks" are on the south end of the Playa - there is a parking lot from which its a 1/4 to 1/2 mile walk to most of the rocks. Unless you want a long walk, don't waste your time walking from the Grandstand dirt parking area next to the road via the playa to its southern end. This walk only parallels the main dirt road and as mentioned above, there is a parking lot much closer to the Moving Rocks, then the parking area at the Grandstand. Look for the neat trails these rocks leave in the bed of the playa when they move. Some of the trails indicate the rocks have changed directions, some many times as evidenced by their "Z" formations left in the bed of the playa. If you are there on a crowded holiday weekend you might have to wait a few minutes in line at the biggest of the rocks.. although often there won't be many people here at all.

For more info and photographs visit this website: http://geology.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/ftrac1.html One of the rangers we talked to commented that he has stood on top of the Grandstand Rocks and looked DOWN on military jets flying below him right over the Racetrack! View photos below.

Salt Creek is located on a dirt road (perfectly fine for cars) about 5 miles from where highway 190 meets the road to Scotty's castle. A bathroom is located in the dirt parking lot and a short 1/4 miles raised boardwalk trail leads out to the creek. This creek is up to 5x as salty as the ocean and the water gets very hot - over 90 degrees F. A specie of fish called the pupfish lives in this creek. Its an amazingly well adapted fish to the harsh conditions of a desert spring.

Scotty's Castle is well worth a visit however because of its location and set tour schedules it requires at least a half day to visit - and you should probably consider a full day especially if you want to take in a few of the other attractions located nearby. In the summer Scotty's Castle area is often significantly cooler than the valley floor and in the winter they even get some snow. This castle is set in the middle of an "oasis" due to the several natural springs in the area. It is in a canyon merely 7 miles from the Nevada border. Mesquite campground is about 5 miles from the castle.

Scotty's Castle is at least an hours drive from Furnace Creek. Billed as "a great place to escape the heat" this is of course true when compared to Death Valley itself. However, beware in the summertime Scotty's castle regularly sees temperatures above 100 and into the low 110's. When Death Valley is baking in the high 120's Scotty's Castle can be in the mid to high one hundred teens F. Ample parking is provided, some spaces are under tall shade trees. There is a spring on the premises so you can wet your feet in the water as you walk around the grounds. Once you arrive on the grounds you should immediately go to the ticket office located on the side of the main castle building. The reason for this (especially in the winter months), is that there can be crowds and there are often waiting lines for the tours. The tours are usually given only one time per hour. Once you have your tickets, if you have to wait, you can walk around the grounds visiting the spring, lie around or eat lunch on the nice green grass near the parking lot, visit the gift shop, tour the Stables Classic Car Collection, walk up the hill to Scotty's grave (you can see the large cross from most places on the castle grounds), or walk up to the chimes tower on top of the hill overlooking the actual castle and grounds. The view from the Chimes Tower is worth the walk as you have a full view over the entire grounds.

Also note the great pool that was never finished - this is a shame it was never finished as standing over the dry pool you can imagine what it would have been like if it was filled with water. Glass port holes look into the sides of this huge pool from rooms/tunnels below Scotty's castle, there is a bridge that crosses the pool, and there are a series of tunnels one could theoretically swim through if the pool was finished. Assuming there is enough water on the grounds, which there appears to be, this would be a great modern day project to finish, something that would give Scotty's castle an additional attraction akin to the Neptune pool at Hearst Castle near Cambria on California's central coast. Whether this is a project the National Park Service would be interested in remains to be seen. The majority of the pool is definitely already constructed but some remodeling and restoration would of course need to be done as its been many years since its original construction. This was be an absolutely awesome project to be involved with.

At press time tickets for adults are $11 for the tour of the main Castle. Underground tours are also available - they may not run every day in the summer time as there are less visitors then in the winter time. Tours start at 9am and run at least once an hour, but more so in the "winter" months November to April. To "set" yourself in the time period, pick up one of the 1939 "Castle Chronicles". This is a reprint of a newspaper set in 1939. So you can read about the latest gold strikes, mine fires, the new trans-ocean air service to be started between NYC and the UK, or you can read about Gandhi's latest fasting.

In addition period ads and prices are listed.

Each tour lasts approximately 50 minutes and is conducted by a guide who is dressed in clothing and has the persona of someone living in the 1930s. The tour starts just outside the castle gates and then proceeds into the main living room. For a being constructed the late 20's this castle was a real engineering marvel. In part, waterfalls kept the castle cool in the summer as the main room had a big waterfall that helped cool the house with the cold spring water. In the tunnels burlap sacks were soaked in water and then hung in tunnels in front of strong fans. This also helped cool the house considerably. On site power was generated and provided electricity for the house. Refrigeration was also provided in the house. You can still see remnants of a solar heating system on the side of the hill overlooking the Castle. A special South/West facing windowed room was available for the winter when things cooled down considerably. The castle also contains many European antiques, furniture and rugs. Johnson sent several of his employees to Europe during the construction to bring back such items. A good collection of Indian baskets is also contained in one of the rooms upstairs.

Scotty's Castle was named after Walter Scott, or better known as "Death Valley Scotty" He was a "desert rat" who convinced Chicago insurance millionaire Albert Johnson & his wife to give him money to build a desert mansion. Scotty received many visitors to his castle, but always told them he was getting the money to build the mansion from a secret gold mine. In later years Scotty's Castle was open to the public and you could stay the night and get food also.

Flash photography is permitted inside the house which is great. Tours lead through all the main rooms of the house including the "big" room, guest rooms, dining room, kitchen and the wonderful 1200+ pipe organ room. This was a 50,000 dollar organ that Johnson installed in the early 30's - it is still in use today and the guide will have it play a song or two for you.

There is a refrigerated drinking fountain here which is quite rare to find in Death Valley! A small concession stand inside the building which houses the gift shop is also available.

Stovepipe Wells is located almost exactly in the middle of the park from all directions. Its a small "village" which contains gas station, the Stovepipe Wells Village Motel, swimming pool, a bar and a restaurant. Note that restaurant in the summer usually doesn't open for dinner until 630pm, but the bar is open earlier for bar snacks and drinks. Also note, that in our experience that they tend to close before the posted time and will refuse you food service if you show up anytime within 10 minutes or so of closing time. A juke box is provided for paid enjoyment. Because of its central location within the park, Stovepile wells is a good point from which to launch your sightseeing forays.

The Ubehebe Crater is located in the northern part of the park about a 15-20 minute drive from Scotty's Castle. The road to this crater is paved -although it is a little rough in places. This 300 year old crater is the remnants of what happened when huge steam explosion in the earth occurred. You can hike to the bottom of this approximately 700 foot crater but its certainly not a recommended hike in the summer time. The hike out can be quite intense in the heat of summer days, especially as it is a totally shadeless trail. In addition you can hike around the crater rim. If you aren't up for hiking you

can see most of the crater right from the main parking lot.

Twenty Mule Team Canyon is a one way 2.7 mile loop located just past Zabriskie Point. This is a very narrow dirt road through a small canyon - its accessible to most passenger vehicles. Unlike some of the roads in the park this road is not overly rocky as it traverses through mostly dirt otherworldly stark badlands. A nice stop is the "mine shaft" - it goes back maybe 50 feet into the hill through rock and it provides what we saw was the only shade along this road. This is not often visited like the nearby Zabriskie point and chances are you will have the road to yourself.

  

Westside Road is a dirt very flat road that leads off of highway 190 on the west side about 6 miles south of Furnace Creek, just past the dirt turnoff to Artists Drive (which leads off of the east side of highway 190). This is approximately a 40 mile long dirt road - its suitable for cars - although expect some washboard and several bumpy sections of roadway. This is a lonely road, depending on the time of year you may not even see any other vehicles on this road for the entire length. It leads you on the west side of the valley - on the other side of Badwater (you miss the main Badwater viewing section, which is off of Highway 190), but you still see the great Badwater salt flats. The road in fact passes right through some of the white salt flats, and the road in these areas is the smoothest of the entire drive and parts of it feel like you are driving on pavement. West side road passes a few dirt roads leading west into the canyons and also several very small springs, which tend to mostly be dry.

Wildrose Charcoal Kilns are located in the western part of the National Park in the shadow of Death Valley's highest mountain, Telescope Peak (11,049 feet). These were originally built in 1876 to provide fuel for processing silver/lead ore at mines not located on site. There are a number of these kilns very well preserved and you can walk into any of them. The walls are still black from the soot and on warm days it is easier to still smell the old smoke. These kilns are located at about 6,800 feet and this area does receive snow in the winter. One year we visited at the end of May and it was snowing here. Weird! Take the paved Emigrant Canyon road after climbing much of the long grade out of Stovepipe Wells to the Wildrose Campground. From there continue on the narrow paved Wildrose Canyon road to where it becomes dirt. Drive for about 2 miles to the dirt parking area right next to the kilns. This dirt road is passable for most vehicles - lots of small rocks on the road but nothing to bad. Drive slow. From behind the southern most kilns there is a 4.2 mile one way trail leading to the top of 9,000+ Wildrose Peak. If you continue driving past the kilns the road becomes much more steep and rugged (4wdrive required), you will reach the 7 mile one way trailhead to the top of 11,000+ foot Telescope Peak.

  

Zabriskie Point can be defined by three words "starkly beautiful badlands". It is located minutes from Furnace Creek in the hills along the 190 highway. A large parking lot with several bathrooms are available. The main viewing section is a short walk up hill from the parking lot. This is one of Death Valley's most popular stops as it is easy to get to and does not require much hiking. No trees grow here - the multi-colored dirt slopes are dramatically eroded in all directions and you can see parts of the Death Valley floor in the distance. You will see several tracks over these "badlands" - these are trails which lead to various viewpoints. In the middle of summer this can be one stinking hot place to be!
 

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