Road trip to Death Valley National Park
When my husband first suggested the idea of doing a road trip to Death Valley, I was not at all excited. I guess I just didn’t know how awesome this place was!!
It was only after visiting, I realized how highly underrated this park was as compared to other National Parks in California.
This post contains our detailed itinerary which covers the area’s most popular sights, notable landscapes, and hikes that we did during our trip. You can take the itinerary as is or parts of it and make it your own.
I love road trips, and Death Valley was not too long a drive for us (~9 hours). So we decided to do a road trip from South Bay to Death Valley. However, you could also fly to the nearest airport in Las Vegas.
⏱️ Best time to visit
The best time to visit Death Valley is late winter and early Spring (November through March).
💡 Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature on the planet!
Definitely avoid summers at all costs. Considering this in mind, we decided to travel in February during the President’s Day long weekend.
The park is huge and its attractions are spread out. So I would say it is definitely worth spending at least 2 full days exploring the park.
💡 Death Valley is the largest national park in the lower 48.
🏨 Stay
Staying within the park was quite expensive so we stayed in Beatty which is located about an hour away from Furnace Creek Visitor Center. This meant that we had to travel an hour every day to enter the park but we were okay with that. If that’s something which doesn’t work for you, you can always stay within the park.
Based on the time of the year you will travel, camping could also be an option if you are into it.
Day 0 - South Bay to Bakersfield
We drove to Bakersfield on Thursday evening. The drive was 4 hrs. If you are planning a road trip from South Bay then Bakersfield is a great rest stop unless you prefer driving in a day which can take up to 9 hours.
We stayed in this cute little Airbnb in Bakersfield. Our stay was very comfortable, highly recommend checking out this place.
Day 1 - Red Rock Canyon State Park to Beatty
We got up early in the morning and started the drive to Death Valley Inn in Beatty (our final destination). On the way, we stopped at Red Rock Canyon State Park. This is a great spot to see some spectacular rock valleys and formations.
Red Rock Canyon State Park is featured in a lot of Hollywood movies, so if you recognize this place then its probably because of that.
We did two trails in the state park. Both of these trails were pretty easy and I would highly recommend them if you have the time. If you only have time to do one, I would suggest the Hagen Canyon Nature Trail.
- Hagen Canyon Nature Trail — 1.2 mile
- Red Cliffs Trail — 1.0 mile
Hagen Canyon Nature Trail is an easy 1.2-mile trail. This trail features various rock formations. Turk’s Turban, Camel Rock & Window Rock are the three main attractions on this trail. It is amazing that this whole canyon used to be underwater. Tectonic plate movements and erosion over the last 10 million years have shaped this landscape.
Red Cliffs Trail is a short 1.0-mile easy trail with views of the desert and some more rock formations.
After doing both hikes, we were pretty hungry so we decided to cook our lunch on one of the benches in the park.
After the yummy meal, we drove to Death Valley Inn, Beatty, and called it a day.
Day 3 - Southern Part of Death Valley
We explored the Southern part of the Park.
🌅 Sunrise at Zabriskie Point
Our first stop was Zabriskie Point where we wanted to see the sunrise. This place is a photographer’s paradise. It really looks spectacular around golden hours. It was roughly an hour's drive from our hotel so we left really early in the morning. If you can, get up early to come here before sunrise. It is certainly worth the view!
We did an amazing hike here called the Golden Canyon and Gower Gulch Loop via the Zabriskie Point hike. This is a bit longer hike ~5.8 miles and if you enjoy hiking check it out. I would recommend taking the time on this hike. There are a number of mini-side trails that are worth exploring here.
This place truly isn’t like anything I had seen before, I felt like it belongs on an another planet. No wonder why the film director George Lucas thought it was the perfect setting for Star Wars.
Our next stop was Twenty Mule Team Canyon, about 3 minutes from Zabriskie Point.
📍 Twenty Mule Team Canyon
Twenty Mule Team Canyon is a 2.7-mile dirt road that you can explore in a car drive.
Death Valley is well known for its rich mining past. The canyon was named after the twenty-mule teams that were used to transport borax in the valley.
Scenes from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, were filmed here.
Our next stop was the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. It was a scenic 45-minute drive.
📍 Furnace Creek Visitor Center
The visitor centers are an interesting place to learn more about the Park‘s history, and geology and get all nerdy about it. I personally love exploring them a lot.
I have the National Park Passport stamp book where I collect the stamps of each National Park which I visit. I love looking at them back and remembering our trips.
The Furnace Creek Visitor Center definitely won’t disappoint you. There is a huge thermometer installed near the entrance which tells the temperature of the valley.
If you notice the mosaic artwork near the thermometer in the picture below, it is a recent installation and it is more than just pretty art.
This artwork actually represents the key sites at the park and provides information about how temperatures vary with elevation there. If you notice the side panel of the artwork, you will see the names of these sites.
Salt Creek Interpretive Trail and Borax Loop trail are small paved trails around the visitor center area, which are worth checking out.
We had lunch at the benches near the visitor center area before heading to our next stop.
📍 Devils Golf Course
Devils Golf Course is a large desert field with jagged formations formed by salt crystals. Be careful if you are walking near them as the edges are super sharp.
It is quite interesting to me that the thought behind naming the place Devils Golf Course is “Only the devil could play golf” on its surface.
📍 Artist Drive and Artist Palate Road
This was one of the spots I was super excited to see. Artist drive is 9 miles one-way drive. The main attraction here is the Artist Palette Viewpoint. The colorful hues on the mountains in the valley are picture-perfect.
Star Wars: A New Hope movie features the areas around Artist’s Palette
📍 Badwater Basin Salt Flats
This was the last stop of the day where we planned to watch the sunset. Badwater Basin Salt Flats is one of the best spots for a sunset in the park.
Did you know? Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America.
When you visit this place, you will see the Sea Level Marker on Hill across the salt flats to depict how this place earns the name for the lowest point in North America.
It was quite interesting to me that most of the places in the park, including the park name as well, have some negative connotations to them. According to the NPS site, Badwater Basin earned its name when a mule belonging to an early surveyor refused to drink from the spring-fed pool here.
After watching the sunset, we drove back to our hotel. This was the end of Day 3.
Day 4 - Northern Part of Death Valley
We explored the Northern part of the Park.
🌅 Sunrise at Mesquite Dunes
Mesquite Dunes is one of the best spots to watch the sunrise in the park. Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes Trail is an easy 2.8-mile trail that you can follow to find a good spot for sunrise.
📍 Wildrose Charcoal Kilns
The Wildrose Charcoal kilns are one of the unique historical sites in the Death Valley National Park, featuring 10 man-made structures called charcoal kilns. These structures were used to produce charcoal by firing harvested wood from the surrounding hillsides into these kilns. They are the best-known surviving example of such kilns to be found in the western states!
📍 Mosaic Canyon
This hike is my favorite hike in the park. Mosaic canyon features a slot canyon which I had never been to before. Slot canyons are narrow types of canyons that are deep rather than very wide.
The trail is 3.3-mile out-and-back and moderately challenging due to the boulder climbing involved in some areas.
Our next stop, Ubehebe Crater was an hour's drive from here. So we took a lunch break on the way before reaching the crater.
📍 Ubehebe Crater
The Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley is an incredibly exciting attraction in the park. There is a trail to the bottom of the crater but we didn’t have the time to do it.
We wanted to catch the sunset at Dante’s view so we left the crater after exploring it for a while.
🌅 Sunset at Dante’s View
Dante’s View is a great spot to watch the sun go down in the park. This viewpoint provides a birds eye view of death valley. It gets quite chilly here so pack a sweatshirt or a windbreaker.
There is a small trail, roughly a mile long which is worth exploring.
Day 5 - Drive Back to South Bay
We explored the Western part of the Park before leaving back to the South Bay.
🌅 Sunrise Aguereberry Point
Aguereberry is a great place to watch the sunrise. It was quiet, peaceful and gorgeous here. We saw a very beautiful sunrise.
📍 Father Crowley Overlook
This viewpoint offers a stunning view of Rainbow Canyon, a colorfully striped canyon created by ancient volcanic activity. If you look closely at the canyon in the image below, you will see colorful stripes.
This canyon is also known as “Star Wars Canyon” as military test flights are often seen in the area.
That was all for the adventures in Death Valley!
📸 Trip Photos
- You can see my Instagram Stories of this trip here.
- Check out some of the amazing photos clicked by my husband at https://antrromet.com/death-valley-national-park.
🏜 Explore Death Valley
The trip to Death Valley changed how I felt about this place. Definitely don’t judge the place by its name as I did! Let yourself immerse in the amazing landscape that this place offers!
It’s not every day that one travels to the lowest, hottest, and driest place in North America.
I am so excited for you to explore this place and get happy surprises like me. Please feel free to leave a comment here on your experience with Death Valley.
