Everyone Should Visit Death Valley National Park

One of the places everyone should go to at least once is Death Valley National Park.

People come all over the world to visit this park, but there are still many people from America that still haven't visited it and it's definitely a place you can't understand through just pictures.

Full of unique features, and with a complex geologic history, Death Valley is a place you should visit at least once, if not several times. There's so much to see and do, I always spot something new each time I visit.

Death Valley National Park is located midway between Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. In maps it may look way out in the middle of nowhere, but luckily there are many good highways to get there and it's not too bad of a drive.

If you are in Las Vegas or Los Angeles it makes a wonderful weekend trip. Just stay the night at the park and return home having experienced some of natures most incredible wonders.

If you're flying in, there are any number of airports within driving range. Las Vegas will probably be the easiest and cheapest. Then just get a rental car and drive over the breathtaking desert.

Anytime you go to Death Valley you need to prepare for the climate.

Yes, we all know the desert is hot and the temperature gets well over 100* during the summer. Death Valley once had the world record for the highest temperature ever on the face of the earth.

It's not always hot though. Since it's the desert, Death Valley can also get extremely cold. Deserts lose the heat they gathered during the day very quickly because there's nothing to hold it. That means once the sun goes down, it can get frigid. Bring a warm coat and warm sleeping clothes just in case. Usually during the summer even at night it rarely gets below 90*, but when it does get cold you'll get really cold.

And although deserts are called deserts because they don't get much rainfall and in Death Valley it is almost always extremely dry, what little rain does fall can cause flash floods. The land simply can't soak up rain quickly, so it can go roaring down a canyon taking out anything in its way. If you see rain, get out of any narrow canyons and get to high ground.

Death Valley is a land of extremes and as such you need to be very careful. I don't mean to scare you from visiting, but I don't want to see you endanger your family by ignoring the dangers.

So, how do you safely visit Death Valley?

• Try to visit when the weather will be good. Spring and Autumn are really the best times to visit.
• Bring warm clothes as well as cool ones so you don't freeze or get overheated.
• Drink water!
• Wear sunscreen even in the winter.
• Don't push yourself too hard, there are too many amazing things to see in one trip and you'll only hurt yourself trying to do it all.
• Talk to the rangers. They know where you should go that day and where to avoid and want to tell you. That's why there's a visitor's center.
• Avoid moving around during the hottest parts of the day.
• Wear a hat even in winter.
• Don't listen to your GPS, use your eyes and intelligence. If the GPS says to drive onto a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, please don't.
• And always, always, do I need to say it again?...Always bring water for you and your vehicle!

Two mountain ranges sandwich Death Valley between them like an Oreo Cookie. One of the mountain ranges is the Panamint Range it contains Telescope Peak which is 11,049 feet tall. The Black Mountains on the east are part of the Amargosa Range and contain Funeral Peak which is 6,384 feet tall.

These mountain ranges are really tall and still growing. And Death Valley has the lowest spot in the United States which makes for a huge difference in heights.

This big difference just doesn't show well in pictures. You need to stand at Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level, then drive up more than a mile into the air to Dante's View at 5,476 feet above sea level, then stare straight down at where you just were.

The valley spreads out below you, so far down you can barely see cars. The salt covered basin below you defies your depth perception and your brain feels overwhelmed with trying to understand how high you are and how far below you is the valley floor.

Looking down into Death Valley from Dante's View. Dante's View is 5,475 feet above sea level in the Black Mountains. Almost directly below is Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Across the valley is Telescope Peak, 11,043 feet above sea level and in the Panamint Range.

When people start talking about Death Valley, something that is always mentioned is that Death Valley is a land of extremes.

Death Valley is one of the hottest places on Earth. Summer temperatures almost always get above 100*. Death Valley holds the record high temperature in North America and possibly the world (the world record is disputed) at 134*. At night during the winter it can get below freezing.

Death Valley is one of the driest places on Earth. It gets less than 2" of rain a year and is considered the driest place in North America. And when it does rain, it may just flood.

Death Valley has one of the lowest places on Earth. Badwater Basin is 282' below sea level. Badwater Basin sits right below Telescope Peak which is over 10,000 feet high.

People do die in Death Valley, and if you don't want to endanger yourself or your family, you will bring water and make yourself drink it.

Every time I've gone to Death Valley, I've seen people hiking up canyons and walking around in the sun, without water. They're idiots.

Plan on drinking a minimum of a gallon a day.

You need to drink a lot more than you normally drink and have water with you at all times. You may not notice you are dehydrated until your body starts to shut down, and children are particularly susceptible since they have small bodies and can't hold as much water.

A great way to remember to drink enough water is to bring a stopwatch with you. Set the stopwatch to go off every once in a while, and when it does, stop and take a drink. This is also a great time to make sure everyone's feeling okay since it's easy to get distracted by all the beauty and not realize they're starting to feel sick, this is especially true with children.

Hydration packs are also great for making sure you're drinking enough. Small backpacks with water carrying bladders inside them, hydration packs make water easy to carry and easy to drink. Instead of having to stop and dig your water bottle out of your bag, or carry it in your hand the entire time, hydration packs allow you to easily drink on the move since they have a straw-like tube from the bag over onto your shoulder. It's very easy to turn your head slightly and suck down a gulp of water without stopping or even breaking stride. Also, since they usually carry about 2 liters of water, you can easily make sure you're drinking enough by making sure you go through two a day.

Furnace Creek is the oasis in Death Valley. As one of the only reliable and potable water sources around, it's long been the basis of human activity in the park.

It contains historic buildings, a lodge, a campground, a warm pool fed by a natural hot spring, and a very old date farm. It can be hard to get a spot but it's the best place to stay in Death Valley. And even if you can't stay at Furnace Creek itself, it's a good place to stop and do the tourist thing.

My poor quality pictures don't do this amazing park justice. Go visit Death Valley National Park as soon as you can and see the stunning views, intriguing geology, and beautiful and different wildlife.