Death Valley

With two of our kids living in one of the most beautiful parts of the US, the Mountain West and since winter on the East Coast is hit or miss, we took seven weeks and went out west. A lot of the time was spent skiing the incredible slopes in Colorado and Utah but we took a week in the middle to go to a National Park that is best visited between November and April, Death Valley.

I am having a hard time describing Death Valley, it is a 3.4 million acres of nothingness, with incredibly cool places and sites in that nothingness. While there are a few resort/ inns to stay in while in Death Valley we went the camping route. Trust me when I say you get the don’t get real taste of the dessert until you have camped in it. There are a few campgrounds where you can make reservations but to be honest they are a lot like giant parking lots. We stayed in the Furnace Creek Campground the first night. Not my favorite but it worked for the night. In the morning we drove 50 miles ( yes, one way all within the park) to a first come, first serve campground, Mesquite Springs Campground. It is described as “bare bones camping with picnic tables”. It was spectacular! It did have flush toilets and a fire pit at each campsite. What more do you need.

The campground was 3 miles off of the main road which was 50 miles from a visitor center, food, gas and most likely help, if needed. Coming prepared was essential. We had a full gas tank, gallons of water, firewood and food for the week. What it lacked in amenities was more than made up for in the beauty, solitude and peacefulness.

Our campsite at Mesquite Springs in Death Valley. The stars were amazing as Death Valley is a Dark Skies area. We got up at 3 am one morning to see the Milky Way!

There are so many hikes in Death Valley that you can do when the weather is not over 100 degrees. We were here the last week of February and the daytime temperatures were around 87 degrees. It cooled off nicely at night, going into the 50’s.

Our first hike was at the Ubehebe Crater and Little Hebe Crater. This is a hike that just about anyone could do. It can be as short as you would like or can be extended it to 3 miles. There is very little elevation gain , unless you want to go down into the crater.

The next hike was Titus Canyon Road. Titus Canyon used to be a way into the park for those in high clearance vehicles but the flooding from Hurricane Hilliary in 2023 destroyed the road but it is now an awesome hiking trail. I guess that is one way to get people out of their cars! Again you can make this hike, an out and back, as long as you would like. We hit is rather late in the day after spending a lot of time at the crater. We ended up making it about a 3 miles hike, this one did have some elevation, it was a climb the whole way out.

Our last hike in Death Valley was my favorite. Mosaic Canyon was beautiful and a really fun. It was a little more involved than the others because as you got further into the canyon you had to do a little climbing over boulder jams and up dry falls. This hike was a 4 mile round trip that took a little longer to complete with all of the scrambling!

One of the dry falls that you had to climb up to continue and below is a small boulder area. It is not as small as it seems, the walls of the canyon here are over 25 feet high.

There are too many hikes and not enough days! Other sites in Death Valley include Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, 282 feet below sea level. Artist Pallet , where the mineral deposits have colored the rocks and Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes.