Death Valley

The Hottest Place on Earth, and Why You Should Go Anyway

On July 10, 1913, a thermometer at Furnace Creek registered 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 Celsius). That figure has been disputed by some climate scientists in recent years, the measurement methodology of the era makes verification difficult, but the more credible modern record is still 130°F (54.4°C), recorded in August 2020 and again in July 2021. Either way, Death Valley is the hottest reliably measured place on earth, and also the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level at Badwater Basin, and also receives the least rainfall of any US national park, and is simultaneously one of the most visually diverse and beautiful landscapes in the American west.

This is not a contradiction. The same geology that produces such extreme conditions, thin desert air, reflective salt flats, basin topography that traps heat like a bowl, also produces the colour-banded canyon walls, the sculptural badlands formations, the sand dunes, and the light quality that makes photographers arrange their lives around being here at dawn. The extremity is the point.

When to Go

Do not go in summer unless you know precisely what you are doing and have made specific preparations. Between June and September, daytime temperatures routinely exceed 120°F (49°C) at valley floor level. People die here every year from heat-related causes, almost always because they underestimated conditions. If you visit in summer, you are looking at a 4am sunrise, cars off the road by 9am, and the afternoon spent in air-conditioned accommodation. That is a legitimate strategy for dedicated photographers, but it is not the casual desert experience most visitors are imagining.

October to April is the real visiting season. November through February produces daytime temperatures between 65 and 77°F (18 to 25°C) at Furnace Creek, with genuinely cold nights. March and April bring wildflower season in good rainfall years, the desert floor can turn yellow and purple with blooms between January and April depending on the previous season’s rain. The park posts bloom forecasts on the NPS website. Spring wildflower years are unpredictable but worth tracking.

Where to Go

Badwater Basin is the famous salt flat, 282 feet below sea level and extending for miles across the valley floor. At Badwater, you stand on a thick crust of sodium chloride and look up at the valley walls where a small sign marks sea level 282 feet above you. The scale of this is not entirely graspable until you are standing in it. Go early, the flat reflects heat viciously by mid-morning, and by summer afternoon it is genuinely dangerous.

Zabriskie Point is the classic viewpoint for the eroded badlands formations that characterise the eastern edge of the valley. The coloured mudstone and clay formations turn orange and purple at sunrise in a way that justifies every sunrise alarm you have ever set. It takes ten minutes to walk from the car park and there are usually people there, but the viewpoint is large enough that you can find your own space.

Dante’s View, at 5,476 feet above sea level, gives a panorama across the entire valley, from the salt flats at Badwater (directly 5,758 feet below the viewpoint) to the Panamint Range on the far side. The altitude means temperatures 25 to 30 degrees cooler than the valley floor, and the view is unobstructed in every direction. Best at sunrise, when the valley is in shadow and the peaks of the Panamint Range catch the first light.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes near Stovepipe Wells are the most accessible dune field in the park, a short walk from the road through surprisingly large dunes that shift and reform continuously. Go at sunrise or sunset; midday sand temperatures become dangerous in warm months. The dunes are at their most photogenic in early morning light when the shadow from the dune crests creates clean graphic lines.

Artist’s Palette is a short, one-way scenic drive off the main road that takes you through canyon walls coloured by iron oxide (reds and yellows), decomposed tuff (greens), and manganese (purples). The colours are most intense in the late afternoon. It is 9 miles of one-way driving and takes around 30 minutes; the payoff is considerable.

The Racetrack is a remote dry lake bed where large rocks slowly move across the flat surface, leaving tracks in the dried mud. How they move, wind and ice in combination, as it turned out, was only confirmed with GPS equipment in 2014, after decades of speculation. Getting there requires driving 27 miles of rough unpaved road passable only with high-clearance vehicles. It is worth the detour for the combination of strangeness and remoteness.

Scotty’s Castle

After 10 years of flood-damage repairs (a 2015 desert flash flood caused severe structural damage), Scotty’s Castle began limited tours in early 2026 for the first time since the closure. The initial tours were flood-recovery walking tours scheduled on select Sundays at $35 per person, with a full reopening expected several years out. The complete restoration project is estimated at $90 million.

Scotty’s Castle is a Spanish Colonial-style mansion built in the 1920s by Chicago millionaire Albert Johnson in the northern Mojave Desert, an unlikely and eccentric structure in an extremely remote location. Walter Scott (“Death Valley Scotty”), a flamboyant con man who convinced Johnson to fund various nonexistent gold mine ventures, became so genuinely friendly with Johnson that he ended up living at the property for the rest of his life. Check the NPS website for current tour availability before making the drive to the northern end of the park.

Entry Fees

The park entrance fee is $30 per vehicle for a 7-day pass, $25 per motorcycle, and $15 per person arriving on foot or bicycle. Children under 16 enter free. America the Beautiful annual passes ($80) cover entry to all US national parks and are good value if you plan more than three park visits per year.

Where to Stay

There are essentially three main accommodation clusters in the park, plus camping.

The Inn at Death Valley (formerly the Furnace Creek Inn) is a 1927 Spanish Mission-style hotel at the valley floor, with a spring-fed pool that stays at 85°F year-round. It is the nicest accommodation in the park by some distance, with proper rooms, a good restaurant, and a sense of scale appropriate to the landscape. Rates are $400 to $700+ per night in season. Worth one night if you can manage it.

Stovepipe Wells Village Hotel is the mid-range option, centrally located, with a pool, a restaurant, and a bar. Simpler than The Inn but completely adequate and a fraction of the price.

Panamint Springs Resort is in the western part of the park, 50 miles from Furnace Creek. It is small and basic, but it is the right base for accessing the Racetrack and the western canyons. If you are doing multiple days in the park and want to cover more territory, positioning yourself here for one night makes geographic sense.

Camping is available at several campgrounds, with Furnace Creek and Sunset campgrounds closest to the main attractions. Furnace Creek requires reservations from mid-October to mid-April. Tent camping in summer at valley floor level requires accepting that nights will still be very warm.

Where to Eat

Options within the park are limited. The Inn at Death Valley has the best restaurant, serving solid American food in a proper dining room. The Stovepipe Wells saloon-style restaurant is casual and adequate. For anything more ambitious, the nearest towns are Beatty, Nevada (45 miles east) and Lone Pine, California (100 miles west). Beatty has several serviceable restaurants and a lower price point than anything in the park itself.

Bring more food and water than you think you need for any activity. Supply options inside the park are limited to the general store at Furnace Creek and a smaller shop at Stovepipe Wells; both are expensive and have limited fresh food.

Safety

Carry a gallon of water per person per day as an absolute minimum in warm months, more in summer. Tell someone your plans before hiking anywhere remote. Flash flooding is a real risk during storms; arroyos and canyon floors flood suddenly and without warning. Check conditions at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center before driving unpaved roads.

The park phone coverage is almost nonexistent outside of Furnace Creek. Download offline maps before you arrive.

Starting any hike before 9am and being back at the car before 11am is the discipline that keeps people safe in warm weather. The shaded canyon hikes (Mosaic Canyon, Golden Canyon, Sidewinder Canyon) offer more latitude in terms of timing than exposed salt flat walks.

Death Valley is not a place to half-commit to. The preparation required for a good visit here is also the thing that produces it; people who plan carefully tend to see the park as one of the most extraordinary landscapes in North America, which it is.