Death Valley National Park - Devil's Cornfield

Just east of the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes is an area called the Devil's Cornfield. A wide shoulder on both sides of California 190 about 4¾ miles east of Stovepipe Wells Village provides parking for about half a dozen vehicles. The "cornfield" is named for its supposed visual similarity to corn shocks and is located on both sides of the road in what could be considered the bottomland of the intermittently flowing Salt Creek. Instead of corn stalks stacked standing in a field, the Devil's Cornfield is formed by the Arrowweed plant. The plant grows densely enough to create a wind break for the sand blown off the dunes. As the sand accumulates, the plant grows higher on the sand mound creating the look of a harvested corn field. We stopped on our February 2015 visit to Death Valley National Park.

Part of Tucki Mountain

Mesquite Dunes and Cottonwood Mountains

Grapevine Mountains

Daylight Pass Road and Funeral Mountains

Tucki Mountain

Nevares Peak

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.

Death Valley National Park - Furnace Creek Ranch

Death Valley is so big that while visiting Death Valley National Park in February 2015, we stayed inside the park at the Furnace Creek Ranch. The ranch includes an RV park, camp store, restaurants, and the lowest golf course in the country. Lodging consists of duplex cabins, standard rooms in four two-story buildings, and deluxe rooms in two single-story buildings. There are no elevators for the two-story buildings, so you'll have to lug your own luggage up the exterior stairs. All rooms have air conditioning, TV, phone, coffee makers, mini-refrigerators and a private bath. In addition, all rooms are non-smoking. The ranch has been hosting visitors since 1933 and is currently operated by park concessionaire Xanterra Resorts. Our room was clean and well-maintained for its age. The walls are fairly thin, so your conversations may be overheard. The staff at the ranch were friendly, knowledgeable and professional. Hopefully, the rooms will be renovated soon.

There two gas stations in the park are located at Stovepipe Wells Village and Furnace Creek. Be prepared to pay significantly more than average prices for California. There are gas stations 50 miles from Furnace Creek in Beatty, Nevada and 60 miles from Furnace Creek in Pahrump, NV. Lodging is also available in Pahrump. We chose to buy gas in the park and use the time saved to explore Death Valley.

Landscaping utilizes recycled spring water

View from the front lawn of the ranch

A twenty-mule team borax wagon exhibited in front of the ranch

"Old Dinah" was an attempt to replace the mule teams and is also located in front of the ranch

Each wagon could haul 10 tons of borax

Registration building

Furnace Creek Post Office

Morning view of the Panamint Range from the parking area

Sunset on the Funeral Mountains from our patio

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 Furnace Creek Resort website is http://www.furnacecreekresort.com/.
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm.

Death Valley National Park - Dante's View Sunrise

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.

Death Valley National Park - Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

The paved parking area for Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes is two miles east of Stovepipe Wells Village on California 190 in Death Valley National Park. The dune field covers over 10 square miles of the valley between Stovepipe Wells Village and the Historic Stovepipe Well off of Scotty's Castle Road. The highest dune is only about 100 feet high and is located about one mile from the parking area. Like most dune fields, there are no trails. Since we had already hiked a much larger dune at Mojave National Preserve we chose to enjoy these dunes from a distance. The late afternoon light creates dramatic shadows and colors that pictures just can't replicate. Below are some examples from two late afternoons during our February 2015 visit to Death Valley National Park.

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.