After over a week of either traveling or sightseeing everyday, we stayed three nights at Longstreet Inn Casino & RV Resort, so that we could have an entire day of resting! We spent the first full day exploring Death Valley National Park then pretty much did nothing the second full day. The campground is out in the middle of nowhere, but only 20 minutes from the park entrance. It was nice that they had a fuel station there. We paid over $6 / gal for diesel, but that was WAY better than the $10 / gal near the park in Furnace Creek, CA. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to avoid CA gas prices again for the next few weeks. <sigh>.
It was easy to decide what to do at Death Valley, since several one-day itinerary guides agreed on the most popular stops. We decided not to drive further to see the sand dunes, since we’ve been to the Great Sand Dunes National Park in CO a couple of times and it was HOT there — our truck said it was 109 degrees around 1pm!
We tried to start a little earlier than we normally would have, to beat the worst of the heat, but didn’t actually make it to our first stop, Zabriskie Point, until around 10am. But it was a great start to the day — the landscape is unreal! In fact, Star Wars filmed some of their scenes at Death Valley because it looks so other-worldly. After taking some pics there (which don’t do reality justice, of course), we drove to the Golden Canyon Trailhead.
Instead of doing the entire 8 mile Golden Canyon loop, we just did a 3 mile out and back hike to Red Cathedral. It had a 577 ft. elevation gain, but it was only slightly uphill for most of the hike, with some steeper rock scrambling at the end, so it was easy enough. But it was HOT, even at 10:30 in the morning. Even with sunscreen on and a cap to shade my face, I took a small umbrella just in case I started getting sunburned. There was very little shade, and we were out for a couple of hours, so I was glad I had it and ended up using it quite a bit. The views were awesome, and such variety in shapes and colors around each bend! Definitely worth doing.
Next, we drove to Devil’s Golf Course, which is a huge salt pan formed from ancient lakes that dried up. It was strange how one side was super rocky and the other was flat and smooth. Randy pretended to lick it for a photo op, but then later did actually pick up a piece and verify that the white stuff all over the place was indeed salt. (I took his word for it!)
From there, we drove to the Natural Bridge Trailhead. It was advertised as “Easy” and was only 1 mile with an 86 ft elevation gain. But it felt much harder than the Golden Canyon because most of the way was like walking on a beach, with loose pea gravel that our feet sunk into with each step. We started thinking it wasn’t worth the trouble, but then we were there, so at least it was a short hike! It was cool to see, but I definitely enjoyed the Golden Canyon hike more.
We briefly stopped by the Badwater Basin where there was a boardwalk to walk out into the salt flats. But by then, it was around 1pm and had reached 109 degrees, so I just sat in the truck while Randy took some pics. It seemed similar enough to Devil’s Golf Course to not have FOMO. Plus it gave me time to eat the lunch I brought. The Basin is also the lowest point in North America, at 284 ft below sea level. As we were driving around, though, our GPS said a spot near the Devil’s Golf Course was -293 ft, so we’re wondering how long ago they did that measurement. In any case, it’s deep!
On our way back out of the park, we drove the Artist’s Drive to see Artist’s Palette. If you look close, you can see a few extra colors in the rocks from the red hematite and green chlorite minerals. (Maybe one day the park will credit God as being the Artist!!) It was pretty and the one-way road was fun with some steep hills and sharp turns that they limited to vehicles under 25′.
After a stop at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, where Randy got a magnet and a sandwich, our last stop, before heading back to the RV, was Dantes View. It was 20 minutes off the main road, but worth the extra time. Super pretty panoramic views, plus it was 20 degrees cooler up there at 5,475 feet. A nice way to cap off a great day in Death Valley!
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