Top 5 places to see:
- Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
- Zabriskie Point
- Artist’s Drive
- Badwater Basin
- Dante’s View
Death Valley was #7 on our National Park adventure. This park had so much to offer and we were surprised at every turn with new scenery. The entrance to the park from Las Vegas (NV-160) is a long and desolate desert road. There are limited places to stop so make sure you’re fueled up and have plenty of snacks. Once you enter the park, you have multiple options to kick off your visit. We wanted to see the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes first to make sure we had plenty of daylight to hike around the sand dunes. The dunes were amazing and if you’re looking for a photo op, this is definitely one of the best in the park. The first few dunes were crowded so we walked further in to get solo photos. I wore tennis shoes (left my hiking boots at the hotel – whoops) and my husband wore his hiking boots. We both struggled to walk on the dunes so I don’t have a recommendation for shoes! We saw a few tourists that were barefoot and they seemed to struggle as well. If you decide to wear shoes, at least reach down and get a handful of the sand (it’s so soft)! After the dunes, we drove towards the small town of Beatty, NV to grab gas and lunch. It was a bit of a detour and put us outside of the park but we wanted to visit a ghost town on the way called Rhyolite. Rhyolite is listed as a gold mining ghost town from the early 1900s. This was the first and only ghost town that we were able to visit out west and to be honest, we were disappointed. Most of the structures have been either demolished or vandalized. Now most of the “town” has been roped off and the remaining ruins are unaccessible. Regardless, it was a nice pitstop and we can say that we saw a ghost town.. sort of. Beatty, NV is a small town (with cell service and gas)! We stopped by Gema’s Cafe for lunch. The cafe is run by a local family and the staff was very friendly. There wasn’t much to see in town so we headed back into the park. Our next stop was Badwater Basin or better known as the salt flats. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America and the United States, with a depth of 282 ft below sea level. You can see the salt flats from your car or park and walk out on the flats. Once we finished the flats we drove down The Artist’s Drive. This is a scenic drive off of the main road with tons of colorful mounds and canyons. There are a few pull offs along the route to hop out and take photos. We only had a few hours of sunlight left so we drove towards Zabriskie Point. This was my favorite spot in the entire park. There is a main lookout at the top where you can overlook the park but if you dip off to the left of the main walkway and head down, there is a small path that leads you out into the middle of tons of mounds. This was such a beautiful spot and we spent 20 or 30 minutes taking the sights in. The sun was starting to get low and we were just about to leave when we decided to drive out to Dante’s View. It was a decent drive out from Zabriskie (about 30 miles) and we barely made it before sunset but the views were worth it. When you reach Dante’s View, there is an overlook with views of the Badwater Basin and mountain range. It’s very windy up top so if you’re visiting in the winter months be sure to bring a jacket. This is another beautiful, unsuspecting spot in Death Valley NP.
