DEATH VALLEY

Death Valley National Park was established on Halloween in 1994. It was established as a National Monument in 1933. It is the largest National Park in the lower 48 states and has 3.3 million acres of unusual wilderness vistas.

A trip to the park should begin at the Visitor Center at Furnace Creek, which is in the very center of the park. Here is a complete village with everything the visitor should need including restaurants, lodging, a golf course, post office, horseback riding, an airport, gasoline, shopping areas, and all the information about the park you need.

It is a land of extremes. The park has the lowest elevation in the North American continent—Badwater at 282 feet below sea level. Also, just west of the park in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the highest peak in the United States is Mt. Whitney at over 14,000 feet. Death Valley has less than two inches of rainfall a year. It has 0 to 5 percent humidity on average days. Summer temperatures reach over 120 degrees Fahrenheit regularly. It boasts the highest temperature recorded of 134 degrees F in 1913.

Many people do not realize that the Death Valley area is home to an Indian reservation. The Timbisha Shoshone people have lived there for over two thousand years and their Homeland Act was signed into law by President Clinton in November, 2000.

Ever since a bugle and the voice of the Old Ranger welcomed the American public into the world of Death Valley on the radio in 1930, the park has become the destination for many film and radio recordings. Death Valley Days was a huge hit in the early days of radio, and broadcast from 1930 to 1944.

The Pacific Coast Borax Company sponsored a weekly television series, also called Death Valley Days, from 1952 through 1975. Mega-hit movies filmed in Death Valley reads like a Who’s Who of Hollywood stars and directors.

Despite the harsh-sounding name, the park is a desert oasis with the only 18-hole golf course located within a national park. While most of North America is in the grip of fall and winter doldrums, Death Valley is a mecca of temperate weather, which is perfect for the golf outing. The three resorts all have their own swimming pools.

If more rugged activities appeal to the tourist, there are almost three million acres of wilderness for hiking, 4-wheel drive exploration, and horseback riding. Undulating landscapes of sand dunes and salt flats make this park a most unusual visit for spectacular scenery. Dante’s View offers a breathtaking vista of the valley floor from 5,000 feet.

Scotty’s Castle in the north end of the park is a genuine, Southwestern, tile-roofed version of a castle, which was built in the early 1920’s for a wealthy couple by the famous Death Valley Scotty. Park Rangers present 1939 era tours of the castle almost daily, and present an interesting view of the technology which led this most unusual home to work in this barren desert climate. Information on tours can be had by calling 760-786-2392.

The area surrounding the park offers numerous unusual attractions as well. Death Valley Junction is home to a surprising bit of culture with the Amargosa Opera House and its resident ballerina, Marta Becket. China Ranch is an awesome oasis of greenery amid a working, family-owned date farm. It offers pleasant nature walks, a view of the Amargosa River Falls, and date confections of every kind in its gift shop and bakery.

In winter the small town of Tecopa Hot Springs sees hundreds of RVers traveling through to visit the natural hot mineral waters. Bus loads of tourists also stop to spend a pleasant day in the reviving waters at several resort locations.

The Spring of 2005 saw the most abundant display of wildflowers in Death Valley National Park in recent memory. An unusually wet Winter caused more flowers to bloom than in recent, more temperate winters. A record-setting number of visitors came to the park during February through May, 2005, to participate in this extra-spectacular display of Nature's bounty. Wildflower viewing is normally a very popular activity for park visitors during normal Winter and Spring seasons.

The water oasis that is Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge can only be believed by seeing it for yourself! Over 22,000 acres of natural, spring-fed wetlands and desert uplands are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to primarily protect 13 threatened and endangered species.

The quaint village of Shoshone houses a visitor center for the DV Park in its historic Shoshone Museum building, which is over 100 years old. The Museum also houses the remains of several mastodon and mammoth bones which are unique and world-famous in their relevance within paleontology circles. Long gone desert prospectors ecked out a living in the Dublin caves area, which are “houses” carved out of the clay hills that served as shelter from the blistering sun. Visitors can get brochures which map out a walking tour of the area.

The nearby Rhyolite Ghost Town is a non-commercial remnant of the largest boomtown to come from the Death Valley mining era. Its ghostly buildings are some of the most photographed ruins in the United States.

For more information call: 760-852-4524 or visit any of the links to the right

© 2006 Rural Nevada Associated Chambers
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