We drove from Las Vegas up to a pass in late April rising to 4,000 feet, and from there we got our first glimpse of Death Valley, a narrow winding white valley with wrinkled, elephant-skinned mounds rising here and there–“hills like white elephants” as Hemingway wrote about Spain. On the down-sloping hillsides sprouted occasional pinyons, junipers, yuccas, desert poppies, and cottontop cactus amid an array of colorful stones gleaming in the sun. We stood on the Funeral Range and across from us rose the Panamints and above them the high and snowy Sierra. We decided to do a bit of exploring by hiking through Mosaic Canyon guarded by a thirsty-looking desert fox. After shouldering our packs and hoofing through serpentine red, brown and gray canyon walls, we paused to look at mesquite bushes, yellow and white desert poppies, pickle-green pickleweed and arrowroot. After an hour or so we at last climbed some high ledges to peer across to the Mesquite Dunes under a brilliant blue sky. With all its wrinkled landscapes and shimmering mirages, Death Valley contains the very planetary essence of the great American West.
Sincerely,
Death Valley National Park
A world of extremes, Death Valley is the nation's driest, hottest and lowest place, but also features mountains over 11,000 feet high that experience below-zero weather and snow, as well as colorful badlands, sand dunes and canyons. Its dramatic mountains, valleys and dunes are world renowned for their complex and diverse geology. The park also contains a wealth of well-preserved archaeological sites and petroglyphs.
State(s): California Nevada,
Established: 1933
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Greetings from Death Valley National Park
We absolutely loved getting to see a rainbow in Death Valley National Park, a place that only receives an average of 2 inches of rain per year! Experiencing the diversity of this unique ecosystem with my kids has been a true pleasure.
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Greetings from Death Valley National Park
We were able to spend 2 days at Death Valley helping the park rangers clean up areas that they had not been able to get to because of staffing and time. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to spend more time there.
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