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Death Valley National Park

The Road Through Twenty Mule Team Canyon, Death Valley National Park

This rollercoaster of a 2.5 mile (4 km) gravel road will take you through "colorful, eroded badlands" and parts of where scenes from "Star Wars VI: Return Of The Jedi" was filmed. Located just east of Zabriskie Point off of CA-190, "the road is usually fine for most cars, those with especally low clearance are not recommended. Check with a ranger for current conditions."

Rebecca Latson
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National Parks Traveler Quiz And Trivia #62: The Death Valley Edition

If you go looking for dry desert landscapes beneath an unrelenting sun at Death Valley National Park, you’ll find them. If you go looking for lusher landscapes at this national park, believe it or not, you’ll find that, too, in this national park that is a contrast and a wonder. This month’s quiz and trivia piece is all about those wonders.

A Telephoto Shot Of A Death Valley Salt Pan In The Badwater Basin Area, Death Valley National Park

“The source of Badwater’s salts is Death Valley’s drainage system of 9,000 square miles—an area larger than New Hampshire. Rain falling on distant peaks creates floods that rush ever lower. Along the way, minerals dissolve from rocks and join the flood. Here, at the lowest elevation, floods come to rest, forming temporary lakes. As the water evaporates, minerals concentrate until only the salts remain. After thousands of years, enough salts have washed in to produce layer upon layer of salt crust.”

Rebecca Latson
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Three Days In Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park covers much more acreage than just the valley itself. It’s the largest U.S. national park outside of Alaska at 3,422,024 acres. With a park that size, you probably aren’t going to see everything you want in the space of a day or a week, for that matter. But you can still see and do plenty, even if you have no more than three days.

Waiting For Sunrise At Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park

Zabriskie Point, "named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century, which had its mining operations in Death Valley," is an iconic location for watching (and photographing) sunrise, sunset, and night skies.

Rebecca Latson
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A Storm A-Brewing At Over Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park

While "thunder bumpers" make for starkly beautiful images, dark storm clouds in the distance are not to be taken lightly in Death Valley National Park. Thunderous rainstorms blowing debris across the road and flash floods can ruin a good trip pretty quickly. The Traveler wrote about the August 2022 flood in this national park.

Rebecca Latson
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The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.