Great Western Road Trip: Journey Through Death Valley in Eastern California

Death Valley is a foreboding name, but it deserves it. In summertime, it's one of the hottest places on earth and any journey here has to be carefully undertaken. Many people who were even a little under-prepared have died as a result. We took a short stint through Death Valley and learned a lot about this fascinating place.

Death Valley National Park is located in the central eastern portion of California. It can be accessed from the east by several roads branching off of Interstate 95 or from the west by Highway 190. The closest large city to it is Las Vegas, Nevada, and that's several hours away.

Death Valley is known especially for its unforgivable heat and its desert sand dunes. It's not the only place in America to find sand dunes, but it is one of the largest sand dune areas and it certainly meets all expectations for a "typical desert" scene.

However, desert scenery isn't all the park has to offer. The lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is located just 15 miles from an 11,000 foot peak, both within the park's boundaries. This elevation difference throughout the park makes for a variety of habitats and landscape features.

Death Valley National Park is also the largest American National Park outside of Alaska. Although it's such a large park, only a small portion of it is easily accessible from the several roads running through it. Ninety-five percent of the park is designated wilderness (no human construction, even trails) that only the most adventurous and well-prepared visitors will be able to really enjoy.

Summer temperatures peak in July and August with an average over 110 degrees and the highest recorded in the park was 134 degrees. These temperatures are tough on your body and your car, especially if you're traveling through in the middle of the day.

However, wintertime temperatures often drop to near freezing with high temperatures only in the 60's. The park recommends visiting in the spring, in March or April.

But our trip through was in June, so we had to figure out a way to brave the summer inferno. We found that driving through the park in the evening (after 6:00 PM) is best for your car and your enjoyment. If you're interested in driving through at this time, the entrance and exit stations are unmanned, so you won't even have to pay the park fee.

The National Park provides the standard lodging features: tent and RV camping as well as three different lodges. However, you probably won't want to take advantage of any of these features if you're visiting in the summer. The heat is simply too great to make a 24-hour experience enjoyable at day or night.

Though there are many features in the park, a summer trip should be quick and passing, to save damage to you and your car. We entered the park after 6 PM and still had plenty of sunlight. The evening views of the mountains and canyons that lead down into the valley itself were very nice. Our main goal was a close-up view of the sand dunes.

As you drive down into the valley you see some brown hills that look peculiarly like sand dunes and a patch of white desert further off. Though both features look near when you first see them, it still takes a very long time to descend that far into the valley. As you approach the brown "dunes" you realize they're simply eroded hills of thicker dirt and rock.

The sand dunes themselves are still a long ways off and similarly take much longer to arrive at then they first appear. You'll know you're at your nearest when you see signs for "Stovepipe Wells". Here, you can see the white sand dunes, some up to 100 feet high, rising out of Death Valley.

You can either enjoy them from a distance, or at this time in the evening (7 to 8 PM) a short hike out to them and among them is feasible. This is certainly not something you want to do during a summer daytime as many unfortunate hikers have died in the attempt.

I recommend the evening hike because standing among the sand dunes in the Death Valley desert is quite an experience. There is no man-made path out to them and there's only a short stretch of desert shrubs before you arrive at the sand dunes. Just pick a dune not too far away, make it your destination, and set out. It takes a while to arrive though, as traversing the sandy dunes takes more effort than simply hiking up solid ground.

Once you get there, the solitude of the sand and wind can be quite entrancing. You'll have a good view of the valley walls and mountains for miles around and the sand dunes themselves are well contrasted with the shadows made by the evening sun. The ripples left on the sand dunes by the wind are very beautiful and you might be lucky enough to spot a sidewinder snake making his way through the dunes.

But make sure you don't stay for too long. The dry heat of Death Valley is such that you might be soaked in sweat without hardly realizing it. It's like an inescapable sauna, even at the relatively cool evening hours when we were there.

On the westward way out of Death Valley, you have to push your car just as far back up as you traveled down the eastern side. Road signs recommend turning your air conditioner off during this stretch in order to avoid likely overheating and radiator water faucets are located every few miles. Even during these evening hours, our car's thermometer came very close to reaching the dangerously high level. You definitely wouldn't want to try this during the middle of a hot summer day.

On the way up and out of the valley, you pass many areas of black rocks the definitely appeared to be ancient lava flows. You take many twists and turns through the surrounding mountain range and drive down another valley that passes over an immense dried-up riverbed and then have to climb out of it again.

Thankfully, this area isn't near as hot as Death Valley itself. But unfortunately, driving through in the evening like we did made us lose enough sunlight that we couldn't fully appreciate the vistas provided by the westward road.

On our excursion through Death Valley we were able to maintain our safety and enjoy its unique desert landscape. We also learned that a few evening hours at this time of year is more than enough. For a full and completely enjoyable Desert Valley experience spanning more than just the sand dunes, a visitor should arrive in the spring or fall.