Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DEATH VALLEY
The names say it all: Devil's Golf Course. Dante's Ridge. Desolation Canyon.
Here is a land of extremes, a story of tenacious beauty and survival:
Death Valley
(
%
760/786-3200; www.nps.gov/deva;
$
20 per car).
Straddling Nevada and
California, at 282 feet below sea level, Death Valley boasts (if you can call it that)
the second hottest temperature in the world, recorded at 134°F (57°C). The
weather begins cooling off (meaning temperatures drop below 100°F/38°C) in
October and start heating up again in April. But people do, indeed, visit year
round. Whether you're intending to stay in your car or get out and walk around,
be sure and bring plenty of water—at least 1 gallon per person.
From salt deposits to rolling hills to stark mountains, Death Valley is a mural
of changing scenery, and in the spring is known to even grow a stunning array of
wildflowers, if the fall and winter rains were heavy enough. Stop in at the
Furnace
Creek Visitor Center and Museum
(
%
760/786-3200; summer daily 8am-7pm,
winter daily 8am-6pm)
to learn more about the park and see a slide show. In
November through April, rangers lead walks, talks, and presentations about
Death Valley's history.
My favorite spot here is a place called
Devil's Hole.
It's an outlet for a series of
underground streams that run so deep into the earth they've actually never been
measured (the deepest anyone has gone is about 400 ft., and the floor was
nowhere in sight). The hole is home to a local mystery: In the mid-'60s, four
young men from Las Vegas, ages 18 and 19, went scuba diving here. The adven-
turous boys came out to swim through the labyrinth of caverns and underground
rooms, among the desert pupfish, an endangered species that can survive the
salinity and temperatures of the 93-degree water. But something went terribly
wrong. Only two returned, and the bodies of the other two have never been
found. To add further to the intrigue of the area, Charles Manson and his clan
were actually arrested near here in 1969—he was supposedly fascinated by the
idea of this underground mystery and was actually hoping to hide out during
Helter Skelter. Now the actual hole is fenced off (to keep divers out and pupfish in),
but there's a small bridge leading over the hole and you can peer into it. It looks
like little more than a large puddle.
About an hour north of Furnace Creek is
Scotty's Castle
(
%
760/786-2392;
$
11; summer daily 9am-4:30pm, winter daily 8:30am-5pm),
named after the
flamboyant but beloved “Death Valley Scotty,” who grifted money out of
investors, convincing them he'd discovered gold in Death Valley. One was so
charmed by Scotty and Death Valley that he ordered construction of this castle
but died before its completion. Tours of the property are led by guides dressed in
clothing straight out of 1939 and operate every 10 minutes during peak season.
To get there:
Take I-15 South, exit Blue Diamond Road/Highway 160, and
drive 55 miles to Pahrump. In Pahrump you'll pass through two stoplights. The
second stoplight is Basin Road. About 3 miles beyond Basin Road, you will come
to Bell Vista. Turn left and continue on Bell Vista another 25 miles to Death
Valley Junction. Turn right on Highway 190 and drive 13 miles to the eastern
entrance of Death Valley. Scotty's Castle is located at the north end of Death
