Racetrack Playa (Death Valley), USA

Many visitors to Racetrack Playa or Death Valley have tried to capture its unique landscape and eerie beauty through words and pictures, but you have to go there to truly experience it. At first glance, the valley may appear forsaken and desolate, but you will soon discover that spending time in this completely unusual landscape will inspire you to appreciate its rugged, natural beauty.

Aptly named stops along this byway will get the best of your curiosity. Dante’s View is arguably the most magnificent panorama in Death Valley. From this peak in the Black Mountains, but still a mere mile above sea level, you will see an expansive valley before you to the west, all the way to Telescope Peak. Below the peak is Badwater, the lowest point on the entire continent at 282 feet below sea level. The salt pans below are one of the most eerily fascinating places. The uninterrupted space of white dried salt crystals create erratic geometric patterns on the valley floor, which can be best captured in their entirety from Dante’s View.

Another curious name is Devil’s Golf Course. You will notice that the peculiar jagged peaks and crevices comprised almost completely of sodium chloride would hardly prove adequate topography for a golf course at all. The name, however, comes from a quote in a 1934 travel guidebook of the region, which said “only the devil could play golf on such a surface.”

You’ll find out why Artist Drive is named such as you come upon the view from the highway through the Black Mountains. As reds, golds, lavenders, and greens appear in the distance, you will see why this palette of colors fascinates new and frequent visitors alike. The colored landscape is actually chemically altered ash deposits from volcanoes that erupted millions of years ago. The drive will inspire wonder as you take in this painted landscape of color and shape.

Landscapes of parched salt flats, colored volcanic deposits, wind-blown sand dunes and expansive vistas of wind and rain marked rock crevices may not be your initial idea of a beautiful California vacation, but wait until you see it for yourself as you drive the Death Valley Scenic Byway.

Death Valley National Park, the largest national park in the U.S., encompasses some 3.3 million acres of the Mojave Desert in eastern California. The land is diverse, with elevations ranging from -282 feet at Badwater (the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere) to 11,049 feet at the summit of Telescope Peak. In this arid land, great differences in elevation lead to great differences in topography and habitat. The overwhelming impression, however, is that this land is extremely hot and dry and unencumbered by the burden of dirt and vegetation. To the untutored eye, the entire area might even look barren, and while it is true that some areas appear lifeless, most areas support at least a few species of plants and animals.

Death Valley generally is warm, sunny, and dry throughout the year. Summers are unbelievably hot (temperatures commonly exceed 120 degrees) and dry, but the winters generally are mild, although with occasional bitter-cold storms. The spring and fall seasons generally are mild, but they can be windy. During summer, wear light comfortable clothes that provide sun protection (e.g., a broad brimmed hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen). Winter days might require a light jacket, but winter nights can be frigid.

Limited services (gas, food, and camping) are available at Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, Scotty’s Castle, and Panamint Springs. Lodging is available at Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, and Panamint Springs, and there are a number of campgrounds scattered throughout the central and northern portions of the park. Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells have small stores with basic camping supplies. This is wild and remote country, so plan ahead and bring what you need. Always carry extra drinking water in your vehicle.

Death Valley has a long history of human use. Native Americans lived here for centuries and left their marks in many places. Later, ill-prepared white settlers crossed the valley (thinking it was a shortcut to the Promised Land of California) and left behind a tale of determination and survival that still colors our view of Death Valley and American history. More recently, miners swarmed the area building roads and trails to extract valuable minerals. Their legacy provides us with many great hiking opportunities (i.e., old roads and interesting destinations). The most famous miners probably were associated with the 20 Mule Team Borax Works, entering legend through television during the 1960s. The Furnace Creek Visitor Center has nice exhibits on human history in the park.

Death Valley is an arid land subject to extremes of temperature. During summer, the floor of Death Valley is extremely hot, with temperatures typically exceeding 120 degrees. During hot weather, be very careful and carry lots of water. Don’t count on the air conditioner in your vehicle to keep you cool. During winter, the valley and surrounding mountains can be bitter cold, especially if the wind is blowing. Plan ahead a dress accordingly. Although Death Valley is extremely arid, heavy rains and flash floods occur regularly. Stay out of washes and canyons when flash floods threaten. Don’t camp in washes or narrow canyons. The summer heat combined with low humidities create the potential for quick and extreme dehydration–drink lots of water or sports drinks even if you think you don’t need it.

The historical mining activity left behind many interesting old townsites, buildings, artifacts, and mines that are fun to explore. Beware, however, that wooden floors can give away, roofs can collapse, and it is never safe to enter old mines; apply the “look but don’t touch” rule.

If your vehicle breaks down and you are stuck out in the desert, stay with your vehicle. Your vehicle has lots of things that you can use to help survive a night out in the desert, and it is a lot easier for search teams to find a vehicle in the vast desert than it is to find a person. The park has a patrol plane, and it is a lot easier for the pilot to see your vehicle than it is to see you. Some years ago, I was out hiking just after dawn in the south end of the park. The patrol plane came over from the other side of the valley and flew low over my truck to check me out, but he didn’t seem to notice me standing on a ridge a short distance away.

Be sure to review the standard warnings about hiking in the desert.

source 1 2

Death Valley

Death Valley National Park, established on February 11, 1933, covers almost 3,000 square miles and is a vast natural museum, larger than the Yellowstone National Park. The floor of the Valley is almost 300 feet below sea level (at Badwater basin) and it is recognized as the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and one of the hottest places on earth. 134 degrees F was recorded in 1913, second only to the 136 degrees registered in Libya in 1936. From the top of the 11,049 foot Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range Mountains, the floor of the Valley spreads out almost 2 miles below. It bears the grim name Death Valley.

All the great divisions of geological time. the eras and most of their subdivisions, are represented in the rocks of the mountains bordering the great valley. These rocks and the land forms tell a story of endless changes in the earth’s crust – vast depositions, contortions, tiltings, alternate risings and lowerings, faultings and intense heats and pressures that changed the very nature of some rocks.

Climate too, has played its part. In recent geological time, powerful forces of water, wind, and gravity have sculptured much of the scenery that you see today. In the harsh environment of the floor of Death Valley, plants and animals must inexorably adapt and specialize – or perish. The average yearly rainfall here is less than 2 inches. Plants that do not grow near springs, pools, or other permanent water have developed specialized means to obtain and preserve water, or have adapted to quick growth and propagation through maximum use of the scant rains that fall upon them.

Between the valley floor and the mountain ridges, plant communities change in response to higher elevations that have lower temperatures, more rainfall and snow. Small animals in the dry valley, through largely dependent upon plants for survival, have made special adaptations that enable them to live on very little water. Larger animals are able to seek out water and predators obtain some water from the bodies of their victims.

This unique national park is open all year, but winter is the best time to visit the points of interest in the valley. The long, hot summer – from May through October – is only for the hardy and venturesome. Many of the side roads from the valley are closed during this season, but you will find the higher and cooler Panamint Mountains quite comfortable.

Evidence of the presence of man through hundred of years is found in almost every part of the valley. Rock drawings, campsites and foot trails remain as traces of the pre-historic hunters and gatherers.

When pioneer wagons with the first white men entered the valley on Christmas Day 1849 (the “Forty-Niners”), the area was inhabited by Panamint Indians. They were ill-adviced emigrants looking for a short cut to the gold fields of California. As hardships increased, the wagon train separated into smaller groups, such as the Jayhawkers and the Bennet-Arcane party, each with its own theory of escape. This date marked the beginning of the turbulent modern history of Death Valley and its mountains. The Forty-Niners were followed by successive invasions of prospectors and miners seeking to exploit deposits of silver and other precious metals. Each ore strike gave birth to a new short-lived settlement. Even the “white gold of the desert”, borax, failed to support a permanent community. Thus the 1849 chapter of Death Valley history is filled with tales of hardship and, in some cases, heroism of these first white people in the area – the ones who in happily crying , “Good-bye, Death Valley” , gave the area its name. Evidence of silver was brought out of the valley by some of the 49-ers, setting off exploration for the Lost Gunsight Silver Lode and other riches. But there was only 18 survivors out of the original party of 30. Some of them, in order to survive, slaughtered their oxen for food. They then burned the wagons and proceeded on foot seeking a trail westward out of the Valley.

The long history started of prospecting and mining in the Valley. Few of the dreams of the prospectors came true, yet there was some spectacular exceptions, and in these lie many an interesting Death Valley story.

Best known of all the prospectors was Death Valley Scotty, a colorful personality whose tales and exploits helped to publicize the Valley. Another short side trip to today’s Visitors Center takes you to the old Harmony Borax Works from which, in the 1880’s, famous 20 mule team borax trains hauled their loads (up to 46,000 pounds at a time) grueling 165 miles to the railroad in Mojave. Still standing among the crumbling adobe walls is the old broiler and some of the vats. This was the first successful borax works in the history of borax mining in Death Valley. Despite the existence of more deposits in the area, Harmony Borax was closed in 1890 when the operation was transferred to Daggett in the Calico Mountains, which was closer to rail transportation. In 1933, a presidential proclamation set aside a reservation of 2,980 sq. miles of desert land as a National Monument, thereby assuring its continued use for public enjoyment,

Today human presence is represented mainly by the annual half-million visitors drawn by the vastness of mountain panoramas, the pleasure of the winter climate, and the lore of frontier life.