Death Valley National Park

I have very good memories from that beautiful area: this is one of the area with the highest temperature on the globe, but the landscapes are absolutely beautiful there: full of colors, burned and smashed by the sun. The rocks from there come from different underground layers. A lunar experience!

I did the mistake to run from the car to a spot-view: big mistake when it's 50 °C (it was cloudy that day) and when oxygen is rare...
I also remember that back to my hotel (super close to the valley), I went swim in the pool, but a huge storm arrived and stroke the building and the pool all night long, it was a weird experience!

Don't miss that if you go around there.

California....theres so much to see and do, especially if you are a European as this place is as big as half our continent!

Many people think of San Francisco, Yosemite, LA, the Big Sur....but the most underrated place is Death Valley National Park!

This place is truly beautiful. It is not just a desert, it is like God crafted this landscape into a a piece of minimalistic art. It is truly breathtaking how large, quiet and empty this land is but yet how stunning and awe inspiring it is too. As a European this is also a unique thing in such a crowded continent!

It is not an easy place to get to as you do need to have a car and it is expensive and hard to find accommodation as there are very little towns within the National Park; but that just adds to the adventure and pure satisfaction of going there.

Driving into this place is truly a privilege and an honour and seeing such landmarks such as the second lowest point in the western hemisphere, the ghost towns, the salt plains and mountain ranges is just fascinating.

I was surprised how much I fell in love with this place but as a European I think this kind of place really does not exist in our neck of the woods.

Do not go to California without going here....just don't go in the Summer!

and if you’re there, do not forget where the name Death Valley comes from

- fill up before
- buy 5 liters of water per person
I've rented a Jeep and drove in May for two hours the road along without another car passing me. There is also no mobile reception :-)

Death Valley was formed when an ancient series of land movements lifted the Panamint Mountains to the west and removed the water source for the vast Lake Manley that covered this area. So most of the topography and all of the industry of the area derives from dried and hardened alluvial sediments.

Like most deserts, this one is much more alive with flora and fauna than it at first appears. Most of the animals are forced to nocturnal by the heat of the day. The flora can go years without blooming, until a sudden flash flood irrigates the land, and they burst forth in carpets of yellow and orange.

This is not a place to wander around solo (although we have done it). The nights get very cold, there exists the possibility of flash flooding in season, and the animals are real, if human-shy. The main reason to pay the entry fee is not to support the park, but to make sure that they know you are there (if you get in trouble, your cell phone will be useless).

If you have the time and a 4-wheel drive vehicle, many of the tracks off the main roads lead to simply spectacular discoveries - perfectly intact but abandoned mining camps, abandoned mines (stay out of them!), slot canyons full of slides and chock rocks, sudden heart-in-mouth precipices, and all manner of abandoned dwellings. But these treks are not for the senseless or faint-hearted.

If there is a number-one rule for visiting the park, it is bring drinking water, lots of it, at least twice as much as you could ever conceivably need. And fill your petrol tank. And enjoy one of the least spoiled treasures the North American continent has to offer.

It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States. It also features the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and the lowest point in North America at Badwater, which is 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. It is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Some examples include Creosote Bush, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, and the Death Valley Pupfish, a survivor of much wetter times.

What an amazing place! I did make the mistake of driving at night whereby my mind decided it would be fun to play tricks on me in the pitch black with only my headlights to guide the way. I was a little uneasy. Daylight though does reveal the sheer beauty of the place.

There aren’t many places to stay I know I had trouble finding anywhere when planning my trip from the uk but I did manage to find a ranch/lodge resort which was lovely called furnace creek. Yes it was expensive compare to the rest of California this isn’t necessarily because it is fantastic but more because there aren’t that many hotels in the area.

WOW!! MUST SEE DEATH VALLEY ON A CALIFORNIAN ROAD TRIP!!!

Nobody to be seen for miles/ hours and then all of the sudden you stumble across a petrol station!

We stayed over in a little motel which was really cool though basic (can’t recall the name).

You get charged $20 to drive through Death Valley but the scenery is mind-blowing and you reach one of the lowest points on earth too apparently!

V hot in Summer I believe but November was fine