Written By: Chuck Hayden
After leaving the Pleasure-Way Rally in San Diego, I ventured up to Death Valley for my first visit to this National Park.
I had read a lot about Death Valley, but I was incredibly surprised at just how alive the park is. With places named Hell’s Gate, Dante’s View, Devil’s Golf Course, Funeral Mountains, and Badwater Basin, you might be tempted to avoid this place. But let me tell you—it is very much alive and incredibly beautiful.
My timing couldn’t have been better. The weather was fantastic, and the wildflowers were in full bloom. It was the first super bloom in ten years, so I felt very lucky to experience it.
I had planned on staying for just a couple of days, but I ended up spending a full week exploring the area—and I’m thrilled that I did. There is so much to see and experience.
Super Bloom
The valley was alive with flowers of every color—yellows, blues, purples, reds. If a color exists, it seemed to be blooming somewhere in Death Valley.
Pictures really don’t do justice to how beautiful the flower-filled fields are. Everywhere I drove, wildflowers were there to enjoy. From the lowest point in the valley to the highest drivable peaks, the flowers were in full bloom.
Extremes of the Valley
Death Valley is known for its extremes. It contains the lowest point in North America—Badwater Basin, which sits 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level. It also holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth: 134°F (56.7°C). It is also the driest place in North America, receiving less than two inches of rainfall each year.
Because of these extremes, you need to plan your visit carefully.
The Park
The park itself covers over 5,200 square miles, so you definitely need to plan your routes to avoid too much backtracking. The rangers at the visitor center are a wealth of information and will gladly help you plan your visit depending on what you want to see.
I started out on my first day taking it slow, visiting Badwater Basin and the wildflower fields farther south. On my return trip north, I explored Artist’s Palette. This is a nine-mile drive on a one-way road that takes you on an amazing loop through wind-carved hills on the east side of the valley.
The colors are incredibly vibrant—red, orange, yellow, blue, pink, and green—caused by the minerals in the earth. The loop is an easy drive but is restricted to vehicles less than 25 feet long, perfect for all Pleasure-Way rigs.
I ventured north and west on day two. Ubehebe Crater is about 60 miles from the visitor center in Furnace Creek. This volcanic crater is about 600 feet deep and roughly half a mile across. There is a trail that circles the rim of the crater, about 1.5 miles long, and well worth the effort because you get to see it from every angle. The surrounding cinder fields stretch in all directions, and it amazed me how plant life has adapted to the harsh environment and continues to thrive. My next stop was at 6,800 feet elevation to see the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns. These kilns were built in 1877 to supply charcoal to mines about 25 miles away, but they were only used for about two years.
The drive up was slow but well worth it. The temperature was about forty degrees cooler than on the valley floor. It’s a fascinating place to see and learn about the history of mining operations in the region.
After a nice hike in the area, I returned to the valley and stopped at the Harmony Borax Works on the way back to camp. This was another business venture in Death Valley that only lasted a few years. It opened in 1883 and operated for just five years before the founders’ financial backing dried up.
Several of the outbuildings remain, as do some of the processing facilities. It’s amazing that after nearly 150 years in such harsh conditions, the adobe structures are still partially standing.
Hiking the Canyons and Dunes
The next day was filled with hiking. I started early at Mosaic Canyon, about a 30-minute drive from the visitor center. The trailhead is about 2.5 miles off Highway 190, just outside Stovepipe Wells. The road is unpaved and pretty bumpy and dusty, but my Pleasure-Way handled it just fine.
The canyon hike is about four miles round trip. There are a few tricky areas to navigate, but overall, it’s not too difficult. At times the trail becomes a narrow slot canyon before opening up again farther along the route. The rock formations are incredible. The marble canyon walls have been worn smooth over many years by water and wind erosion. In some areas they are polished almost like stone sculptures.
Another fascinating feature is the mosaic-like walls made up of fragments of rock that appear to have been cemented together over time, forming colorful natural patterns.
After finishing the hike, I stopped in Stovepipe Wells for a cold drink and a bit of rest before heading to Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.
It amazed me that most of the valley is filled with rocks and vegetation, yet when you reach the dunes, the landscape suddenly becomes almost completely barren sand. The contrast is striking. After hiking through the dunes, taking plenty of photos, and putting some wear and tear on my legs, it was back to camp for dinner and rest.
Outside the Park
The next day I ventured outside the park to explore a little more. After driving about 45 minutes northeast, I arrived at Rhyolite, Nevada. Rhyolite is a ghost town from the gold mining boom of the early 1900s. It’s now located on BLM land, and they have done a great job preserving the site and posting informational signs about the town and its remaining structures.
During the gold rush, the population swelled to about 5,000 residents, and it’s said there were more than 50 saloons in town.There were so many discarded beer and liquor bottles that a local resident built a three-bedroom house out of 50,000 bottles.
Just down the road from the town is the very unusual Goldwell Open Air Museum. It’s an outdoor sculpture exhibit that is very difficult to describe. I suspect the artist may have gotten some creative inspiration out of a bottle as well.
I traveled a little farther into Nevada to the town of Beatty, where I had an amazing BBQ lunch and filled up on diesel.In Death Valley, diesel was $6.99 per gallon compared to $4.39 per gallon in Beatty—definitely worth the drive!
Leaving this wonderful place
As my final morning arrived in Death Valley, I watched the sun rise once again—this time from Zabriskie Point and Badwater Basin. The early light slowly crept across the salt flats, turning the mountains and valley floor into shades of gold and amber.
Standing there in the quiet morning air, it was hard to reconcile the name Death Valley with the experience I had just lived. What I found here was not a barren wasteland, but a landscape full of contrast, history, resilience, and surprising beauty.
In just one week I saw volcanic craters, colorful mineral hills, marble slot canyons, towering sand dunes, historic mining sites, and fields of wildflowers stretching across the desert floor. Death Valley may sound like a harsh and unforgiving place, but if you take the time to explore it, you quickly discover something remarkable.
Death Valley is not about death at all.
It’s about life—thriving in the most unexpected places.
And it absolutely deserves a spot on everyone’s travel destination list.
