Why would anyone want to visit a place called Death Valley? Ask Grandma and Grandpa, who may remember an early television western called Death Valley Days starring a young actor named Ronald Reagan. Now a national park, this was the rootin’, tootin’ Wild West in the days when pioneers drove wagons westward in search of mineral riches.
A struggling pioneer couple became rich when they accidentally stumbled upon a large lode of borax in a dry, torrid wasteland. Their claim was mined for years and the borax was transported in specially built wagons narrow enough to thread through sliver-size canyons. So heavy was the borax that it took teams of 20 mules to pull the wagons, giving the name to the still-popular cleaning product – 20 Mule Team Borax – that’s probably found in your home today.
Today the old mining sites are ghost towns. They’re great fun for families to explore, and so are hundreds of other scenic vistas, dry salt flats, snowy dunes, an exquisite oasis, a mysterious castle and much more. Death Valley is one of the hottest, driest, lowest spots on earth with, among other record-setting sites, a golf course 214 feet below sea level!
Located in southeastern California with a small area in Nevada, Death Valley National Park covers a 140-mile-long “valley” with mountains ranging to more than 11,000 feet, lowlands almost 300 feet below sea level and dramatic natural colors ranging from huge rocks red with iron ore to the jungle green at Furnace Creek.
Campgrounds dot the park, some of them open all year and some at the lower elevations closed in summer due to heat. Some are accessible only by 4-wheel-drive vehicles; only one has RV hookups. The luxurious Inn at Furnace Creek has been a favorite hideaway for Hollywood elite since the 1920s. It’s closed in summer and so is its famous restaurant, but nearby at the Resort at Furnace Creek are accommodations, a year-round campground, an oasis filled with date palm trees, restaurants and a borax museum displaying relics from the mining days.
Start a family visit to Death Valley by signing the children into the National Park Service’s Junior Ranger program. Kids get a “passport” to fill in as they visit each point of interest. Check schedules for ranger-guided programs and put them on your calendar. And be flexible about bedtime: Desert scenery, spread under a sky glittering with stars, is not to be missed after dark. In season there is an enormous swimming pool for guests at the Inn at Furnace Creek. Public swimming is also available for a small fee at Stovepipe Wells Village.
Take a guided horseback ride through the dessert, watch for elusive wildlife, climb a sand dune. Although much of the land seems barren there are more than 1,000 plants there that have adapted to an average rainfall of only about two inches a year. Drive the area called Artists’ Palette, stopping to sketch or photograph rock sculptures streaked with pastels. Have your picture taken at Badwater with the sign that says you are in the lowest spot in North America, 282 feet below sea level.
Explore canyons galore, most of them offering narrow side canyons where mere slits were carved by flash floods. See the playful pupfish in Salt Creek. Visit a natural formation called the Devil’s Golf Course. Save half a day to tour Scotty’s Castle and hear the story of the con man for whom it’s named.
Death Valley is alive and well, a place where lasting family memories are made.
Janet Groene holds a Parenting Publications of American Gold Award for travel writing. She develops healthful homemade trail mix recipes for CreateAGorp.blogspot.com.
