Visiting Death Valley: When to Go and What to See

The hottest and driest national park in the United States might not sound appealing to everyone, but Death Valley National Park, in the Mojave Desert, rewards the trip. It is vast — 3.4 million acres — and its unusual landscapes draw visitors every year; more than 820,000 came in 2020.

Uplifted salt crust on the salt flats (NPS).

When to go

Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature in the world, so winter is the best time to visit. Most visitors come between late November and early March to avoid the extreme heat. In years when California gets a lot of rain, you might see a superbloom, when desert wildflowers bloom after long periods of rain; desert winds help scatter the blooms, and wildflowers can also be found at higher elevations.

The landscape

The park's terrain includes sand dunes, craters, flood-carved canyons and mountains.

• Artists Palette is one of the most popular spots, where visitors photograph brightly colored rocks. The rainbow of colors comes from volcanic deposits that left behind iron oxides and chlorite.
• Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America. It is named for a freshwater lake that formed after the ice age. The hot, dry climate evaporated the water and concentrated its minerals, leaving salt behind; over thousands of years, more salts washed in and built up layer after layer of crust.
• The salt flats cover nearly 200 square miles, among the largest protected salt flats in the world.

The park's website has trip-planning information for visitors.

Sources

• National Park Service: "Travel Blog: Death Valley National Park," by Abigail Stone Lauer, National Park Service Workforce Management Fellow, in partnership with Northwest Youth Corps.