Death Valley is a park that may not appeal to everyone. There are those who say that the landscape is always the same and it gets tiring. Well, I have to agree that for a long time the landscape will be the same or very similar, but I cannot agree that it is tiring.
From Las Vegas we would go to Yosemite, and in the middle of the way, there was desert. Why not live this experience? I had never been to a desert before, and this is how we included death valley in the script.
It takes a bit of energy and a lot of will to go to Death Valleu, after all it is a desert. Hot, no bathroom, no gas station, little civilization and water only what you took.
THE DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
About 95% of the park is a designated wilderness area. It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States. Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in North America, due to its lack of water and low relief.
Death Valley is a great spot for stargazing, it has one of the clearest skies in the United States. Las Vegas, which is considered light pollution, threatens the visibility of the park, but for better visibility, the darkest skies are located in the northwest of the park.
PARK INFRASTRUCTURE
The visitor center is located in the resort area. furnace creek (State Route 190).
Like the vast majority of parks in the United States, Death Valley has a wide variety of hikes. You can find them mirrored throughout the park and properly signposted (with information about distance and time).
If you are driving and identify any of these trails, just stop the car and go along (don't forget your water bottle). In the information center itself, you can get an idea of all the trails and follow to the one you prefer.
Although at various times you will feel alone in all that immensity, don't be afraid, the park is well signposted. Just follow the signs and you will find yourself and the main attractions scattered in the middle of the desert!
DO YOU LIKE NATURAL PARKS?
SEE HOW OUR JOURNEY WAS THROUGH GRAND NATIONAL PARK CANYON AND YOSEMITE.
There is a track that runs through the entire park. If you want to venture into the desert sands, there are some specific places that are allowed and you will only be able to reach this one if you have a suitable car, like a 4×4.
You can imagine that we with our convertible could not feel this adventure, but we made a lot of stops and walked to certain points with good visibility of the park as a whole.
DEATH VALLEY ATTRACTIONS
Devil's Golf Course – We find this name very curious, it is a (huge) field of salt rocks that were formed by wind and rain. They say: It is so incredibly serrated that "only the devil could play golf on such jagged links."
Artist's Path – It is VERY clear why this name, a stretch of 15 km (one way) that really makes you believe that an artist designed it. A little road, with an incredible silhouette, full of voluptuous curves. You will walk among multi-colored volcanic and sedimentary mountains. She is said to be especially photogenic in the late afternoon light.
To get to this path it is necessary to leave the main road of the park, there are indications for the route and also put yourself in google maps Artists Dr, California, USA he recognizes!
Salina – I don't know if that's the name of the spot, but it's a big salt “walkway” (I only believed it when I put my finger on the ground and licked it) lol .. disgusting yes, but it was in a little corner that the salt it was so white that it looked clean lol, I needed to see if that was really salt, I couldn't believe it!
HOW TO GET TO DEATH VALLEY
It was 140 km from Las Vegas to the park. For most of the road we didn't have anyone else's company, just nature, and that was enough for us.
As we got closer to the park, we began to realize that we had company, the animals. From time to time they appeared on the road to welcome us, my cousin and I were scared to death (not to mention anything else) and her husband stopped there to take a few pictures of the little fox, but poor thing, what could she do for us inside? the car, isn't it?
Ah, a very important thing, they ask you to never, under any circumstances, feed the animals.
HOTELS IN DEATH VALLEY
O Furnace Creek Resort it is a village with the only two hotel options within the park.
Death Valley Stovepipe Wells it's motel style, and this one also offers RV parking and a campground.
There are other options for hotels on the side of the road near the park. Those mentioned above are the hotels that the park itself recommends.
DEATH VALLEY PLANNING
July is the hottest month, (46 °C to 31 °C), while December is the coldest month (18 °C to 4 °C). Consequently, the best time to visit the park is from October to May, avoiding the extreme heat! We were there in May, and it was already hot, if it weren't for the beauty of the place, we wouldn't have left the car's air conditioning.
Some planning is required for this type of tour. Very basic things, but I recommend that you take lunch and snacks in the car, as well as water, lots of water. Leave with a full tank towards the park, although it is very close to Las Vegas, inside you will drive a lot and if you are not going to sleep in the park, you will have to get to your base city. It is possible that there is no gas station, and if you find one, you will pay a lot for gas.
We didn't have a very nice experience with our return.
At the end of the day, getting dark, we decided it was time to continue our journey towards the city where we were going to sleep, Ridgecrest. Due to a mistake of lack of attention (tiredness plus darkness) we missed the entrance.
We realized some time later, we went back a good way that we had already walked and meanwhile the car was drinking our gasoline, a certain desperation began to hit, that silence in the car, from the outside you could not see anything, besides the lighting of the sky and a light sandstorm that arrived to make us even more afraid.
In the end, everything worked out, but of course we were quite scared that day (and today it's fun to remember everything).
Did you like our trip?
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