Death Valley National Park

I don’t even know where to start with this park. It was surprisingly beautiful for a park that has DEATH in its name. I was there about 2 weeks before the peak season for this park. Most people visit from fall through spring, because summers here are dry, extremely hot and unbearable.

Before you go, fill up on gas. Average price of gas in Texas at this time was $2.35 per gallon. Being in Death Valley for a week completely exhausted my gas budget for the entire month.

The drive coming from 395 in California was going through some very steep ups and downs, and was nerve-wrecking in an RV. I don’t think it would be as bad in a car. But I was literally picking up so much speed going down, that even lowering the gear was not helping. I had to ride my breaks almost all the way to Stovepipe Wells.

There are a few campgrounds and a few hotels/resorts throughout the park. The first one I passed was Stovepipe Wells, the campground was still closed for the season, but I wouldn’t have stayed there anyway. It was a flat boring parking lot.

Next stop going along 190 east were Mesquite Flat Dunes. It was kinda cool to see those giant dunes in the middle of nowhere.  

Continuing on 190 I made it to Furnace Creek Campground which is located right next to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. Bottled water at the visitor center was only $0.50. I guess because of the heat and elevation changes throughout the park they want to ensure people don’t get dehydrated.

Furnace Creek campground was a bit nicer than Stovepipe Wells. It has surrounded some trees and shrubs, and was situated against mountains to the east and west, making the backdrop more interesting. Definitely more than a parking lot. Most sites were dry camping, with a very small section of electric hook up sites. No big deal for me as I had plenty of solar for my lights and electronics, but not enough to run my AC. I was fully dependent of blocking out heat with reflectix and two fans.

Next day we ventured out to see the Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in the US at 282 ft below sea level. you basically park in the parking lot at the top and can venture down as far as you want. Personally I didn’t go too far because it was September, almost 90 degrees and my dog was in the RV waiting impatiently.

Next was Artist Drive and Artist Palette. I feel like these pictures don’t do it justice. The colors were so beautiful and so vivid! There is a length limit on this road, I think 25ft, so keep that in mind if you have an RV. Luckily I’m 24.7ft.

Next, I made a very quick stop at the Golden Canyon Trail-head. I didn’t hike because I arrived late and wasn’t able to find a parking spot big enough to accommodate me. 🙁

My next campground was north going up Scotty’s Castle Road, roughly 51 miles from Furnace Creek. The drive takes a little over an hour, and feels really secluded.

The first two nights I was the only person there. With no other person around me for probably at least fifty miles.

The campground was next to a huge wash and had beautiful long-range views. There were no hookups, but campground had water, bathroom facilities and trash. this area of the park was slightly cooler than Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells because of the slightly higher elevation.

Aesop loved it there, even though he was slightly bothered by occasional flies.

From there we ventured to visit Ubehebe Crater and Little Hebe Crater, which was a lot of fun. It felt like I was on the moon! If you look very closely you will see 2 people at the bottom of the crater hiking back up (6th picture below).

Lastly, I have to mention Death Valley is a Dark Skies park. I have no idea how to capture the starts, moon or the Milky Way, but here is my best attempt. It came out blurry, but you get the idea 🙂

On my way out the park we stopped near Area 51 and I got to meet this handsome guy!

I really enjoyed this park, I would like to come back and visit it in the spring. Maybe 2020…

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