Death Valley National Park

Geologic hikes

Most of ours hikes are in the 2-5 mile range; we usually do two in a day. We’ll be adding a list and links to hiking apps here soon.

Geology

Adding significant content here may have to wait for my retirement in a few years, but I’m adding some links to sites and videos that you may find valuable.

Videos

• Death Valley Geology, (47 minutes) by Andrew Dunning for the Geological Society of the Oregon Country.
  • Posted in May 2020.
  • A timeline-based presentation that gives a good history of the valley.
  • Be sure to look at the list of Chapters, they will help you find what you might be looking for.
  • An interesting trivial fact about this video is it was an early COVID-19 influenced Zoom presentation. I believe this was scheduled to be in person, but COVID shifted it online.
• Geology overview of Death Valley National Park from Dante’s View, (6 minutes) by Shawn Willsey
  • Posted in 2020.
  • “Geology professor Shawn Willsey provides a short overview of the geology of Death Valley National Park from one of its most dramatic and scenic sites at Dantes View, high above the valley at the top of the Black Mountains.”

Websites

• The Major Geologic Events of Death Valley, Andrew Dunning for the GSOC.
  • A web-based version of his video linked above.

Books

Links below take you to Abebooks, a network of independent used book stores. Previous editions are listed; if your budget it tight these will cost less and are still contain almost all the info that the current edition covers.

• Hiking Death Valley, Michel Digonnet, 2013.
  • Has a good introduction about the “Human and natural history” and hiking tips, then lots of detailed hikes throughout the park.
  • 2004 edition.
• Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Eastern California; Glazner, Sylvester, and Sharp; 2022.
  • Detailed geology about 16 areas in the park, but not much overview for the entire park.
  • 1997 edition published with the title Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley
• Scenic Science of the National Parks: An Explorer’s Guide to Wildlife, Geology, and Botany; Hoff and Keller, 2020.
  • Only has six pages on Death Valley, but if you are visiting may parks this is a good handbook to have. It also has a place for “passport stamps”so you can track the parks you visit; kids would probably enjoy this feature.
• Geology of Death Valley: Landforms, Crustal Extensions, Geologic History, Road Guides; Miller and Wright; 2015.
  • 2004 edition
  • I haven’t read this one yet, but it looks good so I just ordered a copy. I’ll post my reflections on it here after I get it.

Times & temperatures

Sun

• Mid-April: Sunrise around 6:15 am; sunset 7:20 pm (about 13 hours of daylight). On April trips we try to be back to camp before dark.
• Late December: Sunrise around 7:00 am; sunset around 4:40 pm (about 9.75 hours of daylight). On December trips, we generally arrive back to camp after it is dark.

Temperature

• April: Average high/low: 90°F/62°F (record 113°F/23°F)
• Dec: Average high/low: 65°F/38°F (records 89°F/19°F)

Death Valley National Monument weather page.

Spending the night

We generally stay in the area near Furnace Creek, a central location that includes several campgrounds, two hotels (one is more like a resort), restaurant, bar, swimming pool, and one of the two NPS Visitor Centers.

Camping

• Texas Springs. Sea level, 92 sites. First-come, first served. Potable water, restrooms, and dish-washing stations. We usually stay here in December and have never had problems getting sites.
• Furnace Creek. -196′, 136 sites. Reservable. Potable water, restrooms, and dish-washing stations. We often reserve here for April since the park tends to be more crowded.
• Sunset. -196′, 230 sites. First come, first served, large campground that rarely fills. This is really just our backup in case for some odd reason we weren’t able to get spots in Texas Spring or Furnace Creek. According to the DVNM website: “This location has little to no vegetation and is comprised of desert gravels. Car and tent camping is permitted however each site does not offer a fire-grate or picnic table. Campfires are not allowed in Sunset except at a few designated public areas within the campground.”

Hotels

Prices vary by season, and the following prices are listed just to give you a sense of comparison between the options.

• The Ranch at Death Valley. Most “affordable” option next to the campground–$279 when I checked. As of October, 2023, if you are over 50 and use the Promo code SENIOR30, you get 30% off the rate (requires at least three nights-but may also show up as “sold out”).
• The Inn at Death Valley. More of a resort-type hotel, but also right nearby–$507/night when I checked.
• Stovepipe Wells hotel. I’m not sure how the price here compares to the Ranch, and it’s about 30 minutes from Texas Spring. Prices may be $144-226/night.
• Budget hotel options: Hotels/motels in Beatty, NV (about an hour away) are much less expensive than those in the park. Here’s a Yelp search for hotels in Beatty. A quick check of hotels in Beatty shows most less than $100/night. Here are the directions on Google maps.
  • Hotel on your way in if you want to break it into two days: Try Ridgecrest, CA. It’s about 2.5 hours away from Texas Spring if you want to stay here the night before and not have such a long drive. Here’s a Yelp listing of hotels in Ridgecrest.