One early morning during our February 2015 visit to Death Valley National Park, we drove up to Dante's View to watch the sunrise. To reach Dante's View from the Furnace Creek area, drive east on California 190 about 10.7 miles from the intersection with Badwater Road. Turn right at the well-marked intersection onto the paved road variously named Furnace Creek Road and Dantes View Road on maps. This road is restricted to vehicles with a maximum 25' length. Buses, RVs and vehicle combinations are prohibited. The road ends in 13 miles at an elevation of 5475' on the terrace named Dante's View. This location on the north side of Coffin Peak in the Black Mountains overlooks Badwater Basin and the Panamint Range to the west. Even though temperatures were in the 60s in the valley, they were around freezing at Dante's View.
Looking east at the Greenwater Range
Early morning clouds |
Sunrise over the Greenwater Range |
Ranks of mountains to the east |
Greenwater Range in the daylight |
Looking west at Badwater Basin and the Panamint Range
Badwater Basin in the morning twilight |
Telescope Peak in the morning twilight |
Telescope Peak |
Badwater Basin |
Sunlight on the clouds, but not the mountains |
Badwater Basin with Tucki Mountain in the distance |
First rays of sunlight on Telescope Peak |
More sunlight on the Panamint Range |
Sunlight on the upper third of the Panamint Range |
Badwater Basin with sunlight on part of the Panamint Range |
Porter Peak (9101' 22 miles) is dome shaped from this perspective |
Sunlight on the upper half of the Panamint Range |
Tucki Mountain on the left and Grapevine Mountains on the right |
Grapevine Mountains to the north-northwest |
Southern end of Death Valley |
Photographers line the trail at Dante's View |
Telescope Peak (11048' 20.5 miles) |
Shadows seem to deepen in the Badwater Basin compared to the well-lit mountains |
Sunlight creeps down the slopes of the Panamint Range |
The Black Mountains on the right and the Grapevine Mountains in the distance |
Dante's View Road
Pyramid Peak (6703' 12.5 miles) |
Colorful hills of the Greenwater Valley |
An entrance fee of $20 admits all the passengers of a single vehicle for seven days. Other options include an annual Death Valley National Park Pass for $40, an Interagency Annual Pass providing access to most national park, national forest and BLM fee areas for $80 and a lifetime Interagency Senior Pass for those age 62 and older for $10.
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm.
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