Death Valley is the hottest, driest, and lowest National Park in the USA. High on the cliff face (282 ft. high) at Badwater Basin was a white plaque with huge capitals denoting SEA LEVEL. We were standing at the lowest part of North America.
Dante’s View will give you the BEST bird’s eye view of Death Valley. You really don’t want to miss it. You’ll get the swirling whites and muted browns of the salt basin deep in the valley that stretches for miles.
We were SO lucky to have arrived the day after they opened this drive. Apparently it had been closed for years!! As it was all new, the road was pristine dark black which just made the landscape pop even more.
I loved the silence and stillness here and the changing colors and shapes of the rock. It was so quiet you could hear the swooshing of the raven’s wings as it flew down the canyon quite high above our heads.
The Salt Creek Trailhead is a special part of Death Valley NP not to miss. It is only a mile off the main road and offers proof that the desert is full of life.
You can walk out to the highest sand dune which is a mile away in the distance. A mile is an easy walk on the flat but up and over sand dunes makes it a different kind of trail, especially in the HEAT.