Spilling the Travel Tea: Death Valley, California
Death Valley is one of my favorite places world-wide. Of course, I am probably a it biased. Growing up, Death Valley was an annual family destination, and to me it was like an annual journey through the looking glass into a sort of fairy realm. The hot days breaking into cool nights, the sky spotted with a million stars. The oasis of the Inn, rising like a castle from the stark desert hills. The dunes, like a sandbox made for giants, and endless playground of hills and valleys for running and tumbling and my hair whipping around my face like a wild thing. Driving the slow winding path of Artists Palette through colorful mounds of stone, like scoops of strawberry and mint chip and chocolate and vanilla and mango ice cream, reminding me of the Land of Sweets in the Nutcracker. Carefully picking my way through the salty shards of Devil’s Golf Course, the Mad Hatter’s idea of a delightful game of golf. The hearty wildlife, so different from the common deer and squirrels back home. The deep canyons lit up like gold, the wild tales of a prospector’s silver tongue crafting a castle deep in the hills, the crackle of a fire and sweetness of a roasting marshmallow…
It’s pure magic.
Red Cathedral, Death Valley, as seen from Zabriski Point before sunset.
With that in mind, here’s my list of “Must Do” activities in Death Valley National Park:
Visit The Inn: Technically they’re calling this “The Oasis,” now, but to me it will always just be “The Inn.” Oasis is an apt name. The gardens are stunning and lush, and the shade offered throughout the property is a sweet relief from the summer sun. The Inn is historic, having been built in 1927, and the restaurant offers tasty (but expensive) food. Although they still offer desert flavors like cactus and date (grown locally), they have gotten a bit less adventurous over the years… For example, I don’t believe they serve rattlesnake anymore.
Watch the sunset at Zabriski Point: This is very popular, so I recommend bringing your favorite summer evening beverage and getting there early. Sit in front of the terrace, on the rocks at the bottom of the wall. They make for pretty comfortable seats, prevent people from blocking your view, and get you out of the crowd that shows up for the all-natural light show.
Take a hike: Any hike. You can’t go wrong. One of my favorites is Mosaic Canyon. The walls of the canyon are polished so smooth, and the veins of different walk are both a map to the area’s geologic history and a stunning work of art. Plus, being in a canyon provides more shade than hiking through the desert, and makes this a better hike for a hot day.
Visit the Ranger Station: Especially if you have kids! The junior ranger program was a favorite of mine growing up, and I would insist that the ranger station be our first stop every year so I could pick up my activity book. It kept me on the lookout for animals and plants so I could win bingo, gave me the chance to teach my parents something after coloring in the different layers of rock, and so on. Even if you don’t have kids, the exhibits at the station are interactive and fascinating, and give you a better appreciation for everything you’ll see during your trip. The station also puts on programming to give visitors a deeper understanding of the park, so stopping here first will give you a chance to see what’s going on during your stay.
Make this your last stop, too, so you can pick up souvenirs representative of your trip and support the park.
Take a leisurely drive through Artists Palette: We used to do this around twilight, with the windows rolled down and some classic music on the radio. The colors are truly astonishing. The area earned it’s name, with the hills looking like blobs of colorful paint… or scoops of ice cream. My family always tries to “guess” the flavors.
Visit Scotty’s Castle: A mansion built in the middle of no where might not sound like much, but going off of structure alone, this is as much a castle as any of the smaller castles I’ve visited in Europe. It has all the features you might expect in a castle, and plenty of quirky stories to tell about each of the rooms thanks to Walter Scott, the building’s namesake. The building itself is impressive, but the tour will have you rolling—good ol’ Scotty is just that kind of character.
Tumble down a sand dune: The dunes are pretty central, so there’s no reason not to visit them. And let’s be honest: the stereotypical “desert” that comes to mind is usually a camel plodding over and dunes as far as the eye can see. They’re iconic of the desert. Some people get really into the dunes, bringing boogie boards to ride down on, but I honestly think it’s fun just to tromp out into the middle of them for twenty minutes, frolic about and basically act like a kid in a giant sandbox for twenty minutes, and then hike back to the car and go wash all the sand off. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.
I also have a National Parks Passport. You don’t have to be a superfan to get one, and I think they’re a great souvenir. It’s a little book with a cover just like an American passport, and it’s divided into regions. Each region has a little bit of info, and blank pages for stickers and stamps. Each time I go to a park, I get to stamp my passport! The stamp features the date and the name of the park, and a lot of parks put out additional fun stamps with an animal or site that park is known for. The stamps are free, and there are sticker packs you can buy. Each year there’s a set of stickers featuring one park from each region and a “Park of the Year.” Each sticker has a paragraph about the park and a picture of it, with the year the sticker is from. Most parks carry the sticker packs for the current year, the past year, and the year that park was featured, so it can be a scavenger hunt if you’re looking for a particular year.
I love this souvenir because I get a little memento of each park without having to spend money or accumulate a lot of stuff. Plus there’s some pride in flipping through the pages and seeing them fill up!
As I said at the top, I might be a bit biased. But I truly believe Death Valley has something for everybody, and it’s a spectacular place to discover just how beautiful the desert can be.
