An adventure and photography-filled weekend itinerary for Death Valley road trippers.
It’s 7 a.m., and the sun remains far beneath the horizon, leaving us captivated – and cold – as we await one of Death Valley’s most magical moments: sunrise.
At the crowded Zabriskie Point – a popular hilltop viewing spot in Death Valley – everyone’s a photographer. Some carry tripods and extreme camera bags. Others have cracked-screen iPhones. No matter the gear, all parties will capture impeccable photos as the sun floods over the ribbed mountains surrounding Zabriskie.
And flood it does. Even on our partly cloudy morning, the sunrise changes the mountains from tan to golden to orange, then tan again – all in the matter of minutes.
Sunrise is one of the many times Death Valley takes your breath away – and, ehrmahgerdd, don’t even get me started on sunset {cue butterflies and goosebumps}.
My mom and I visited Death Valley this January, and spent a weekend road tripping from place to place, using Furnace Creek Ranch as our home base. Today, I’ll guide you through those magical 48 hours so you can head out on your own DV adventures, too. (Don’t miss last week’s Death Valley must-knows before you head on your merry way!)
Friday morning: Drive
Drive two hours from Las Vegas to Death Valley’s Furnace Creek Ranch. Stop by the “Welcome to Death Valley” sign on your way in (and, obviously, pose in front of said sign).
Once you check in at Furnace Creek, you’ll probably want to grab food of some sort to avoid the whole hanger sitch (they have restaurants and a convenience store onsite), then head out on your merry way to the first hike of the trip: Golden Canyon.
Friday afternoon: Golden Canyon
This hike, just slightly over two miles, takes you through – wait for it – golden canyons (get it?) filled with loose rock and dust before you reach the Red Cathedral (a natural wall consisting of copper-colored rock). This should take you roughly one to two hours, depending on how long you spend photographing.
I spent a lot of time photographing…
Like, a lot.
Friday evening: Badwater Basin
After Golden Canyon, head over to Badwater Basin Salt Flats and prepare to be absolutely blown away. This 200-square-mile pattern of crystallized salt flats is the lowest elevation in North America (282 feet). It’s exceptional during golden hour; the white salt perfectly reflects the colors of the sky, making for a seemingly endless field of changing hues.
There’s a one-mile path out into the flats, but you can go further if you’d like (just be safe – one salt crystal looks like another, so it’s easy to get lost).
Come with plenty of memory cards, because this one’s also a major beauty.
Friday night: Dinner at Furnace Creek
You have a few options for dining at Furnace Creek. There’s the main restaurant, the saloon, and in the high season (spring/ fall), a grill by the golf course.
We hit up the saloon because, well, craft beer, and spent the night stargazing and trying our luck with light art photography … and looked like absolute fools doing so.
We then proceeded to deadbolt lock ourselves out of our room by accidentally closing the patio door (while the main door was deadbolt locked) soo… yeah. We were that group for the kind, gracious and slightly confused front desk staff.
But I digress. On to…
Saturday morning: Mesquite Sand Dunes
As if salt flats and canyons weren’t enough, Death Valley is also home to two different sand dune areas. We went to the more easily accessible Mesquite Sand Dunes, which are close to Stovepipe Wells, another hotel/ restaurant area in Death Valley.
We hoped for a stunning sunrise from the dunes, but ended up with overcast skies and muted colors. All was OK, though, because I packed the hotel’s tray table to use as a sled for sand sledding.
All became not OK, though, as the sand was too deep and ended up flooding into my jeans and about every possible orifice of my body.
But again, I digress. We don’t need to go into the great sand invasion of 2017. Moral of the story: Death Valley dunes are pretty sweet, sunrise or not.
Saturday afternoon: Titus Canyon
We hit up Stovepipe Wells for breakfast and coffee before heading off for a drive through the breathtaking Titus Canyon.
I’ll get this out of the way: The Titus Canyon drive is not for the faint of heart. In fact, it’s also not for the non 4WD-ers. It’s tough; you’re basically driving 27 miles on bumpy dirt and rock roads through old mining towns, mountains and, at the end, Titus Canyon. There were multiple times I thought our car might flip over rough terrain– and we even had a Jeep.
The drive will exhilarate or terrify you, depending on your personality, but believe me – it’s worth either emotion. The whole route will take a while – and don’t rush it. You’ll need every minute of those two to three hours spent driving.
This is probably the point where I should tell you to avoid overdoing it on coffee at breakfast, because by the end of this drive I was avoiding all thoughts of water and holding my bladder like my life depended on it, because, well, our rental insurance probably did depend on it. Bumpy roads + coffee influx does not equal a comfortable situation.
Ever.
Saturday evening: Artist’s Drive
For a much less intense but scenic route, we traversed Artist’s Drive – a nine-mile stretch of road that takes you through some of the country’s most colorful mountains. Think bright pinks, blues, greens, purples and yellows. Yes, those are the colors of the mountains in Death Valley (thank you, Mama Nature), and yes, those colorful mountains can be explored on Artist’s Drive.
The Drive also has a stop-off point, Artist’s Palette, which is a must-do because you can actually walk among the rocks instead of photographing from afar.
This stretch of Death Valley is unlike anything I’d ever seen before, and was particularly dazzling during golden hour, when the sun picked up colors I didn’t even know existed in nature.
Sunday morning: Zabriskie Point Sunrise
And… we’re back, here at one of my favorite memories from our Death Valley trip – sunrise! Before you head back home or your next road trip destination, make it a point to stop at Zabriskie for sunrise on your way out.
The mornings are pretty cold, so be prepared with gloves, hats, and multiple memory cards. People stake out spots at Zabriskie Point well before sunrise, so get there early, claim your spot and prepare to be dazzled as the sun presents itself in all its warm, golden goodness, reminding us spectators that despite the name, Death Valley is vivid, alive and absolutely magical.
Want more Death Valley inspiration? Check out my Death Valley guest post on We Are Travel Girls!
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