10 Things to Do in Death Valley National Park
An epic weekend trip of can’t-miss hikes and attractions
On a recent weekend road trip to Death Valley, I was truly astonished by the amount of unique landscapes the park has to offer. From towering sand dunes to slot canyons to volcanic craters, nearly every time we got out of the car felt like stepping onto a new planet.
The drive from San Francisco to Death Valley is about eight hours, so we set off early Friday morning from the Bay Area in order to squeeze in some hikes before the sun went down.
Mosaic Canyon | 4 mi
Our first hike was a short adventure up the first of many slot canyons of the weekend. The hike receives its name from the breccia rock formations composed of tiny angular fragments of various stones, giving the canyon walls a mosaic-like texture.
We had a lot of fun on this hike scrambling up boulders and climbing up dryfalls. At one point we reached a tall, 20 foot dryfall of sketchy, loose rock. It was only on the way back that we realized we totally missed a rock arrow on the ground pointing us towards a much tamer path on the right.
By the time we were leaving the canyon, sunset was soon approaching and the low, afternoon sun hitting the rock around us illuminated the whole canyon in a beautiful, golden light.
Mesquite Sand Dunes
We heard that the sand dunes would be a great place to watch the sunset and they did not disappoint. If you’re here before it gets too hot or after it has started to cool down, I highly recommend going barefoot. The sand is really fine and feels so good to walk on.
As we walked further out, the footprints and number of other people thinned out dramatically. We struggled our way up to the tallest dune and suddenly felt like we had the whole desert to ourselves.
As the sun dipped below the mountains, we enjoyed a delicious meal of leftover Costco pizza in the dunes. It was quite windy and so the whole time, I was just hoping that my pizza would not blow away and land face-down in the sand. Luckily, no pizza-related tragedies were had that evening.
By the time we made it back to our car, the sun had fully set and daylight was quickly running out so we booked it in the hopes of getting our camp set up before dark.
Texas Springs campground is a first come, first served campsite that the NPS website reassured us rarely fills up, even on weekends and holidays. We circled around for a bit and ended up snagging the last spot.
We had such a hard time trying to stake down our tent on the hard, gravelly ground that we just decided to cowboy camp under the stars. This ended up being a really neat experience as we had perfect weather and an unobstructed view of a gorgeous night sky.
Having heard that Death Valley is a phenomenal place to view the Milky Way, we rose at the ungodly hour of 3:30 AM and headed to Harmony Borax Works. The conditions were perfect for stargazing and the hazy cloud of the Milky Way was clearly visible with the naked eye.
Golden Canyon, Red Cathedral and Zabriskie Point | 7.5 mi
After a brief car nap, we took off before sunrise to start the main hike for the day: a loop through Golden Canyon, Red Cathedral, Zabriskie Point, and Gower Gulch.
The Golden Canyon trailhead parking lot is surprisingly small and we found it already over half full by the time we pulled in around 6:30 AM. We hiked clockwise to do as much of the elevation gain as we could before it got too hot. The trail itself is beautiful and meanders through some really unique, desert landscapes.
About a mile in to the hike is a fork in the trail leading to Red Cathedral. We decided to take the short detour and were not disappointed. The looming reddish rocks of Red Cathedral appear to rise out of nowhere and provided a dramatic view against the pastel-colored sky.
On the way back to the main trail, we took a fun little ridge traverse. We especially loved getting to see the rocks change color as the rising sun illuminated the hills.
The next section is a short but exposed gravelly climb past Manly Beacon. At this point, the day was starting to heat up as the sun beat down on the unshaded trail.
At four miles in, we made it to Zabriskie Point, a lookout that you can drive up to via CA-190. The parking lot on this side of the loop is a lot larger and we saw a good number of people starting off on their hikes.
After a short rest, we started on the way back to the trailhead via Gower Gulch. Miles 4 through 6 in the wide canyon were relatively flat so we trail ran part of that section.
After emerging from the canyon, you hike the last mile or so roughly parallel to Badwater Road. The desert landscape stretched on and on before us, and you could even see snow on the mountains in the distance.
Badwater Basin
Next, we headed off on a whirlwind tour of the tourist-y sights of Death Valley, starting with Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level.
A neat little detail that someone pointed out to us was a sign on the cliffs above Badwater Basin with a sign showing where sea level sits. We walked out a ways onto the salt flat, where the heavily trafficked area near the boardwalk has been flattened like hard packed sand.
Devil’s Golf Course
Heading back up Badwater Road, our next stop was Devil’s Golf Course. This is a wide expanse of rock salt eroded by wind and rain into sharp, jagged formations. Apparently the name originates from an old guidebook which claims, “only the devil could play golf on such rough links.”
We thought this was a neat, quick stop but only lingered here for a few minutes.
Artists Drive and Artists Palette
The Artists Drive is a short but incredibly scenic road through sloping, multi-colored hillsides. The pastel pinks and blues and greens are caused by various volcanic mineral deposits.
The drive is a one-way road running south to north, taking roughly twenty minutes to traverse. We pulled over at a few spots to get out and explore the colorful terrain up close.
Ubehebe Crater | 2 mi
After a quick pit stop at the visitor center for a water refill (they have blissfully cold drinking water there!), we set off for Ubehebe Crater. The crater is a little over an hour’s drive from the visitor center but is well worth the trek if you have the time. (I may be slightly biased as I am a huge sucker for anything volcanic…)
We strategically planned to make this drive during the hottest part of the day, which in hindsight was an excellent plan as the Furnace Creek thermometer read 98°F as we were leaving.
The landscape there truly looks like you’ve stepped onto another planet. We did the rim trail and loved getting to take in the surreal views from all angles. The highlight of the trail for us was Little Hebe, a smaller crater off to the side, which you can also hike around.
On the way back we stopped by historical landmark of Old Stovepipe Wells, the only waterhole in the sand dune area of Death Valley, which used to exist at the junction of the two Indian trails.
We also stopped at the Salt Creek Interpretive Trail to see the pupfish, which we learned is one of the world’s rarest fishes and can only be found in select pools and streams in and around Death Valley.
After this jam-packed day we returned to our campsite and enjoyed our dinner in the company of our new camp neighbors, a group of motorcyclists who had ridden down to Death Valley from Oregon.
Room Canyon | 3 mi
The next day, we woke up bright and early again to fit in two more hikes before it was time to head back home to the Bay Area. The first was Room Canyon, which we stumbled across on AllTrails (trail link) and ended up being one of our favorite hikes of the trip.
There is no signage for this trail whatsoever, so we parked at the 39 mile marker of Badwater Road and then followed the very loosely defined paths footprints eastward in the gravely sand.
A little under a mile in, there is a rock arrow pointing to the left, indicating the first “room” that can be explored. We took this path and squeezed our way through a narrow, twisting slot canyon.
This hike truly made us feel like explorers setting off on a grand desert adventure, as every turn offered more boulders to climb or squeeze under. Eventually the canyon opened up to a grand amphitheater of hoodoos.
We backtracked to the main canyon and headed down the center fork. This path had no shortage of views to take in and nooks to explore.
The trail then opens up to another cavernous room. We looked up in awe at the sheer rock that loomed around us as we navigated over piles of boulders.
I had no idea that this kind of geography existed in Death Valley, and I highly recommend this hike. It does not seem to be mentioned in many guides so we had almost the whole place to ourselves.
Sidewinder Canyon | 3 mi
For our last hike in Death Valley, we headed to nearby Sidewinder Canyon. If you’re doing both this hike and Room Canyon I would recommend doing this one first while it is cooler out, since the approach into the canyon is completely exposed, uphill climbing whereas Room Canyon is much flatter.
To be honest, getting to the canyons was suffering because of the heat, and climbing the loose gravel got somewhat monotonous. Once we got to the slot canyons though, it was worth it.
We only had time to explore the third slot, which had a lot of really fun dryfall climbing and super narrow spots to squeeze through. Raymond describes the canyon as “Antelope Canyon but the walls are bumpy”.
Before turning around, we enjoyed our longtime favorite trail snack of pepperonis and tortillas.
Looking back on all of the hikes we did and sights we saw, I would rank them as follows:
Must do:
- Golden Canyon
- Mesquite Sand Dunes
- Room Canyon
- Artists Palette
With more time, definitely check out:
- Ubehebe Crater
- Mosaic Canyon
- Sidewinder Canyon
- Badwater Basin
Cool add-ons but wouldn’t go out of my way to see:
- Devil’s Golf Course
- Salt Creek Interpretive Trail
