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Despite the wet year on the West Coast, this year is not a Super Bloom for Death Valley (#notsuperbloom). No worries! Death Valley is a world class destination any day; Super Bloom or not.
My friend and I took off from Reno late Friday night and planned to get most of the way down to the park. Why not drive all the way? If you follow Highway 395 south, you'll be passing along some of the best the Sierra Nevada's have to offer. Most impressive, of course, is Mount Whitney which towers above the highway and stands as sort of an invitation for a future hike.
We stopped in Bishop, California and found a room at the Creekside Inn. We paid about $150 for the night which also included a free breakfast the next morning. It was a little cold, but we still found our way out to the hot tub for a couple of drinks and some music under the stars. I would highly recommend a stop at the Creekside Inn, but I think it's a much better hotel in warmer weather. The hotel is really set up to hang out outside. There are outdoor fireplaces and chairs along a well-kept creek (hence the name). There's an outdoor pool, too, but with a night temperature of 35 Degrees, we decided to keep it to the hot tub.
The next morning we took off after a light breakfast at the hotel and headed to Death Valley. From Bishop, it was a short hour and a half drive through Lone Pine and then following CA-190 into the park. First stop? Father Crowley Overlook. If you don't know, the overlook his home to one of the coolest opportunities to see low flying military jets practice their maneuvers. It's the only part of the park that allows this and it's quite a treat if you're lucky enough to be there when the action starts. Although the jets didn't come during our first stop, we took in a beautiful view of Panamint Valley before heading down to get checked in at the visitor's center.
Follow CA-190 into the center of the park. You'll pass Panamint Springs that is home to a gas station, a small restaurant, and a place to camp. I've stayed here in the past. It's not a bad spot, but on my second time to Death Valley, I was looking for something more remote. It will take nearly an hour and a half to get to the main Visitor's Center in Furnace Creek. There's gas and a few shops on the way in a small town called Stovepipe Wells. More on that later.
At the visitor's center, we had to show our National Parks Annual Pass in order to receive a park map. Fortunately, my buddy hold an annual pass so this trip was free for me. They gave us a our map and our vehicle tag and we were ready to find a camp site. Don't have a pass? No problem. The Rangers are happy to hook you up.
We hopped in the Jeep and headed to Texas Springs. It's a very short drive from the visitor's center. At 10:00 AM on a Saturday morning, the campsites were already becoming scarce. We found a nice spot along the East side of the camp area to set up our tent. There were a few shade trees (bushes?) that helped provide shade from the afternoon sun which would prove helpful later in the trip. I'd never done a first-come-first-serve sort of camping experience, so this was new to me. For the walk-up sites like we used, the process couldn't be simpler. Drive up to the spot you want, make sure no one has their receipt on the sign post, and claim your spot! Head over to the kiosk and enter in the number of nights you want to stay for and then insert the credit card for payment. It's that easy! Take your receipt and hang it on the sign post near your campsite and you're in business.
After setting up camp, we started off on our adventure. We headed over to Dante's View for some larger than life views of the Badwater Basin. The drive was easy and to our surprise, the parking lot wasn't that busy. There were probably a dozen cars, but the number of people didn't seem to match the vehicles. It seemed like we had the whole place to ourselves. I am happy we stopped and did the short hike up and down, but the best view is from the parking lot.
From there, we headed back towards Zabriskie Point. It was on the road headed down from Dante's View that I snapped the photo of the flowers at the top of the page. Look for future posts on how to take this type of photo. I'm using a Pixel 3 without any fancy apps.
We stopped for some quick "off-roading" on Twenty Mule Team Canyon. I use quotes around "off-roading" because although you are definitely not on a paved road, we saw a low clearance convertible run the trail without any issues. There were a couple of wash-outs, but if you choose your line carefully, any car can make it. To do the trail without stopping would probably take less than 15-minutes, however, we got out and explored a little bit. The hills look like rock, but most of them are actually made of mud! It's pretty cool and definitely worth the stop if you have a few extra minutes. We spent about an hour total here before moving on.
We traveled the short distance to Zabriskie Point and found an incredibly crowded parking lot. We were able to sneak in and find a spot, but if this is high on your to-do list, make sure you come early. Unfortunately, there were quite of people out exploring when we stopped, so the photos tend to have people in them. Oh well, it's still a very pretty place to stop. The path to the viewpoint is paved, but it's fairly steep if you're not in good shape. Take the time to make the walk. It's worth it! There is decent hiking from the view point, but I'd still take our hiking in Twenty Mule Canyon over these trails. Here you'll compete with other people, whereas Twenty Mule we had almost completely to ourselves.
Sunset during early April was about 7:30 PM, so we had time to hit several other attractions. We decided to go all the way down to the Badwater Basin and then work our way back to Artist's Palette for a show at sunset.
I'm going to take some heat for this, but the Badwater Basin is not on my "must-see" for Death Valley. This is the lowest point in North America and if you look behind the parking lot and if you look carefully, you'll see a sign that reads "Sea Level" as a point of reference. It's cool, don't get me wrong. You're 282 feet below sea level with mountains that tower over you on the opposite side of the valley. Telescope Peak, for example, is over 11,000 feet in elevation. The parking lot is pretty big and it was full of cars when we arrived at 5:00 PM. It was 85 Degrees, so the temperature really wasn't too bad, but there is not any shade at all. If you're planning to make the entire trip across the Badwater, bring an umbrella, extra sunscreen, water, and some good conversation topics. We ended up turning around after about a mile into the walk. With limited time, we didn't want give up the chance to see other things in the park.
Before heading to Artist's Palette, we stopped by the Natural Bridge and the Devil's Golf Course. To get to Natural Bridge, you'll follow a bumpy, dusty road out to the trail head. Take your time. I have Jeep with upgraded suspension and it was even a little bumpy for me. From the trail head, you'll walk about a half mile to the main attraction. The incline is slight, but the path is loose gravel that shifts under your feet. The Natural Bridge is a washed out rock formation that creates an arch. If you have the time, definitely stop and get a cool picture under the arch, but plan to wait awhile as everyone else is doing the same thing. There's plenty of other tourists to help you and your family get a cool shot! We opted to just look and leave. If you have been to Arches National Park, then you can definitely skip this one. The Devil's Golf Course was something we hit just because we had the time and it's actually pretty cool. You'll be heading down a dirt road out to the salt flats. This road was far less bumpy than the one leading out to the Natural Bridge, but you may still want to take your time. Be careful not to fall as you explore these cool salt formations. It was hard to get a good picture of the crystals, but I am including one here anyways. You'll want to stop if you have the time and if you're brave enough to taste a little of the salt, hold onto your taste buds!
Finally, it was time to hit Artists's Palette. If you've never been here before, don't be fooled by the early stop-off. A lot of people mistake of stopping at the first parking spot and staying until sunset. Don't get me wrong, this is a very cool place to stop and explore, but if you're looking for Artists's Palette, you're too early! Continue down Artist's Drive until you reach a small parking spot with kind of a longer entrance. You can also park alongside the road and walk out to take in the views. Stick it out until sunset, but in full disclosure, the image below isn't mine. To get a good picture at Artist's Palette, you'll want to stay until it's almost dark to get all of the colors. The cloudy day on which this photo was taken is a perfect backdrop for an otherwise bland backdrop. Pulling off a shot to show your friends is more easily done at some of the other spots previously mentioned above.
It was time to head back to camp and watch the rest of the sunset while we made a little dinner. We did a short weekend trip, so we packed pretty simple items. If you forget to pack something, don't worry! There is a small shop in Furnace Creek that has everything you need, including firewood. We sat by the fire and watched the stars come out. The night sky is especially dark in Death Valley which is one of the main attractions for me personally. Of course, if you want the darkest skies that the park has to offer, you'll need to leave the normal campgrounds and seek something a little more overland-y. For simplicity sake, this site was perfect and we had a great time hanging out around the campfire.
Check back for another post as we wrap up days 2 and 3 in Death Valley!