Places of interest in theDeath Valley area are mostly located withinDeath Valley National Park in easternCalifornia.
Aguereberry Point/ˈæ.ɡər.ˌbɛr.i/[1] is a promontory and tourist viewpoint in thePanamint Range, withinDeath Valley National Park inInyo County, easternCalifornia.
The point's elevation reaches 6,433 ft and is named for Jean Pierre "Pete" Aguereberry, aBasqueminer who was born in 1874, emigrated from France in 1890, and lived at and worked the nearby Eureka Mine from 1905 to his death in 1945.[2][1]
From this viewpoint, one can see the surrounding Panamint Range extending to the north and south;Death Valley to the east, withFurnace Creek and thesalt flats ofBadwater Basin to the southeast; andMount Charleston in Nevada far to the east.[3]
The Amargosa Chaos is a series ofgeological formations located in theBlack Mountains in southernDeath Valley. In the 1930s, geologistLevi F. Noble studied the faulting and folding in the area, dubbing it the "Amargosa chaos" due to the extreme warping of the rock. Later researchers discovered that the region had experienced substantial tension that pulled large blocks of crust apart.
Modern geologists have documented four major deformational events thatfaulted and folded the Amargosa Chaos. The first eventmetamorphosed Death Valley'sPrecambrianbasement rocks and occurred around 1,700 million years ago.
The second event began while layered younger Precambrian sediments were being deposited on top of the beveled surface of oldermetamorphic basement rocks. This deformational event shifted the crust vertically, creating thinning and thickening of somesedimentary layers as they were being deposited.
The two events responsible for the chaotic appearance of the Amargosa Chaos did not occur until over half a billion years later, duringMesozoic or EarlyTertiary time. This third event folded the layered Precambrian andCambrian sedimentary rocks.
The fourth and final event occurred quite recently, geologically speaking. This phase of deformation coincided with severe crustal stretching that created the deep valleys and high mountains of this part of theBasin and Range Province. In just a few million years, during LateMiocene toPliocene time, older rocks were intensely faulted and sheared. In some areas all that remains of some thick rock layers are lens-shaped pods of rock bounded on all sides by faults. Other layers have been sliced out of their original sequence altogether.
Artist's Drive rises up to the top of analluvial fan fed by a deep canyon cut into the Black Mountains. Artist's Palette is an area on the face of the Black Mountains noted for a variety of rock colors. These colors are caused by theoxidation of differentmetals (iron compounds produce red, pink and yellow, decomposition oftuff-derivedmica produces green, andmanganese produces purple).
Called the Artist Drive Formation, the rock unit provides evidence for one of the Death Valley area's most violently explosivevolcanic periods. TheMiocene-aged formation is made up of cemented gravel,playa deposits, and volcanic debris, perhaps 5,000 feet (1,500 m) thick.Chemical weathering andhydrothermal alteration cause the oxidation and other chemical reactions that produce the variety of colors displayed in the Artist Drive Formation and nearby exposures of the Furnace Creek Formation.
The Badwater Basin is a salt flat adjacent to the Black Mountains that descends to the lowestelevation inNorth America at 282 feet (86 m)[4] below sea level. The massive expanse of white is made up of almost puretable salt. The basin is the second lowest depression in theWestern Hemisphere, eclipsed only byLaguna del Carbón in Argentina at −344 feet (−105 m).
This pan was first created by the drying-up of 30-foot (9.1 m) deep Recent Lake 2000 to 3000 years ago. Unlike at the Devils Golf Course, significant rainstormsflood Badwater, covering the salt pan with a thin sheet of standing water. Each newly formed lake doesn't last long though, because the 1.9 inches (48 mm) average rainfall is overwhelmed by a 150-inch (3,800 mm) annualevaporation rate. This, the nation's greatest evaporation potential, means that even a 12-foot (3.7 m) deep, 30 miles (48 km) long lake would dry up in a single year. While flooded, some of the salt is dissolved, then is redeposited as clean, sparkling crystals when the water evaporates.
The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns were completed in 1877 by the Modock Consolidated Mining Company, above Death Valley in thePanamint Range, and were used to reducepinyon andjuniper tree wood tocharcoal in a process of slow burning in lowoxygen. This fuel was then transported tomines in The Argus Range, 25 miles to the west, to feedsmelting andore extraction operations.
Although the mines themselves were worked intermittently until about 1900, there is no clear evidence that the charcoal kilns were operational after 1879. They were restored byNavajo Indian stonemasons fromArizona in 1971.
The kilns were located here as the treessingle-leaf pinyon pine(Pinus monophylla) andUtah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) dominate the landscape in the upper Panamint Mountains. Shrubs ofMormon tea(Ephedra sp.), such asDeath Valley ephedra(Ephedra funerea), are spaced between them, with other xeric sub-shrubs andnativebunchgrasses.
Other historic charcoal kilns in the United States include theCottonwood Charcoal Kilns at Owens Lake, thePiedmont Charcoal Kilns in Wyoming, and theWalker Charcoal Kiln in Arizona.
Wildrose Canyon has 2 campgrounds above the kilns, Thorndyke at 7,490 feet and Mahogany Flat at 7923 feet. The latter is the trail head for the hiking trail to Telescope Peak and has views to the east down to Badwater.
From Dante's View one can see the central part of Death Valley from a vantage point 5,500 feet (1,700 m) above sea level. From hereBadwater Basin can be seen, which contains the lowest dry point in North America.Telescope Peak can also be seen from here which is 11,331 feet (3,454 m) above sea level. This is the greatest topographic relief in the conterminous U.S.
The mountain that Dante's View is on is part of theBlack Mountains which along with the parallelPanamint Range across the valley from what geologists call ahorst and the valley that is called agraben. These structures are created when the surface of the earth is under extensional, or a pulling force. The crust responds to this force by sending a large and long roughly v-shaped block of crust down which forms the bedrock of the valley floor (seeBasin and Range).
Darwin Falls is a waterfall located on the western edge of Death Valley National Park near the settlement ofPanamint Springs, California. There are several falls, but they are mainly divided into the upper and lower with a small grotto in between. The small, narrow valley where the creek and falls are located features a rare collection of riparian greenery in the vast desert and is home to indigenous fauna such as quail. The falls themselves support several small fern gullys.
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The Devil's Golf Course is a largesalt pan on the floor of Death Valley. It was named after a line in the 1934National Park Service guide book to Death Valley National Monument, which stated that "Only the devil could play golf" on its surface, due to a rough texture from the largehalite salt crystal formations.[5]
Lake Manly once covered the valley to a depth of 30 feet (9.1 m). The salt in the Devil's Golf Course consists of the minerals that were dissolved in the lake's water and left behind in theBadwater Basin when the lake evaporated. With an elevation several feet above the valley floor atBadwater, the Devil's Golf Course remains dry, allowing weathering processes to sculpt the salt there into complicated formations.
Through exploratory holes drilled by thePacific Coast Borax Company, prior to Death Valley becoming a national monument in 1934, it was discovered that the salt and gravel beds of the Devil's Golf Course extend to a depth of more than 1,000 feet (300 m). Later studies suggest that in places the depth ranges up to 9,000 feet (2,700 m).[6]
Devil's Golf Course can be reached from Badwater Road via a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) gravel drive, closed in wet weather. It should not be confused with an actualgolf course inFurnace Creek, also in Death Valley.
Between theLast Chance Range and Saline Mountains is thegraben Eureka Valley. Sand dunes cover 3 square miles (8 km2) of Eureka Valley, rising 680 feet (207 m) as one of North America's tallest dunes.[7] As sand moves down the dune face it produces a booming noise, known assinging sand phenomenon, due to the small grain size and loose, dry packing.[8] Endemic species include theEureka Dune Grass, theEureka Evening Primrose and theShining Locoweed.
Furnace Creek is a spring,oasis, and village that sits on top of a remarkably symmetricalalluvial fan. The main visitor center of the park is located here as well as theOasis at Death Valley resort complex. Controversy surrounds the use of Furnace Creek water to support the resort (complete with aswimming pool) and nearby facilities, including agolf course. The scarce springs and surrounding lush oases support thrivingplant communities and attract a wide variety of animals. As the resort grew, themarshes andwetlands around it shrank.
The highest temperature in North America was recorded at Furnace Creek Ranch (134 °F or 57 °C).
TheFurnace Creek Fault runs through this part of Death Valley.
Hells Gate is a point of interest located inDeath Valley National Park, at the intersection of Daylight Pass Road and Beatty Road.[9] There is a parking area and hiking paths.[10]
The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are at the northern end of the valley floor and are nearly surrounded by mountains on all sides. Due to their easy access from the road and the overall proximity of Death Valley toHollywood, these dunes have been used to filmsand dune scenes for several movies including films in theStar Wars series. The largest dune is called Star Dune and is relatively stable and stationary because it is at a point where the various winds that shape the dunes converge. The depth of the sand at its crest is 130–140 feet (40–43 metres) but this is small compared to other dunes in the area that have sand depths of up to 600–700 feet (180–210 metres) deep.
The primary source of the dune sands is probably the Cottonwood Mountains which lie to the north and northwest. The tiny grains ofquartz andfeldspar that form the sinuous sculptures that make up this dune field began as much larger pieces of solidrock.
In between many of the dunes are stands ofcreosote bush and somemesquite on the sand and on dried mud, which used to cover this part of the valley before the dunes intruded (mesquite was the dominant plant here before the sand dunes but creosote does much better in the sand dune conditions).
Mesquite Spring is located in the northernmost part of Death Valley. This part of the valley has numerous cotton top cactus,blister beetles andcholla cactus. On the alluvial fan above the springs there are 2–3 thousand year oldpetroglyphs from the extinct Mesquite Spring culture.
The petroglyphs here are made possible because many of the rocks in these arid conditions havedesert varnish on them. This particular form of desert varnish takes 10,000 years to make 1/100 of an inch of varnish and is deposited by a certain type ofbacteria that collects theiron,manganese andclay needed to make the varnish.
Also, since varnish is created at a predictable rate, it is possible to date petroglyphs based on the amount of re-varnishing that has taken place since the marks were made. Varnish does not normally form on carbonate rocks because their surfaces weather too easily.
In a wash near some of the petroglyphs there is afault scarp that exposes somefanglomerate which is a type of sedimentary rock which looks likeconcrete with large rocks intermixed. In fact it is lithified alluvial sediment.
Mosaic Canyon is a canyon in the north western mountain face of the valley which is named after a stream-derivedbreccia sediment with angular blocks ofdolomite in a pebbly matrix. The entrance to Mosaic Canyon appears deceptively ordinary, but just a1⁄4 mile (400 m) walk up the canyon narrows dramatically to a deep slot cut into the face of Tucki Mountain. Smooth, polishedmarble walls enclose the trail as it follows the canyon's sinuous curves. The canyon followsfaults that formed when the rocky crust of the Death Valley region began stretching just a few million years ago. Running water scoured away at the fault-weakened rock, gradually carving Mosaic canyon.
Periodicflash floods carry rocky debris (sediment) eroded from Mosaic Canyon and the surrounding hillsides toward the valley below. At the canyon mouth water spreads out and deposits its sediment load, gradually building up a large wedge-shapedalluvial fan that extends down toward Stovepipe Wells. This canyon was formed through a process ofcut and fill which included periodic erosive floods followed by long periods of deposition and uplift. But due to the uplift when the next flood hit the area it would deeply cut the streambed which forms stairstep-shaped banks.
Mosaic Canyon's polished marble walls are carved from the Noonday Dolomite and other Precambriancarbonate rocks. These rock formation began aslimestone deposited during LatePrecambrian (about 850–700 million years ago) when the area was covered by a warm sea. Later addition ofmagnesium changed the limestone, a rock made of calcium carbonate, todolomite, a calcium-magnesium carbonate. The dolomite was later deeply buried by younger sediment. Far below the surface, high pressure and temperature altered the dolomite into themetamorphic rock, marble. The Noonday Dolomite has since been tilted from uplift.
Mosaic Canyon was named for a rock formation known as the Mosaic Breccia.Breccia is an Italian word meaninggravel. This formation is composed of angular fragments of many different kinds of parent rock, and it can be seen on the floor of the canyon just south of the parking area.
Natural Bridge Canyon is found on the east side of the park and is one of the few canyons with an official trailhead. Located four miles (6.4 km) south of the Artist's Drive scenic loop, the canyon contains anatural stone bridge, accessible after a fifteen-minute walk from the parking area.
The Panamint Valley basin runs between thePanamint Range to the east andArgus andSlate ranges to the west for 65 miles (105 km). It has a width of about 10 miles (16 km). It is anendorheic basin that can form a lake after heavy rain. Airspace above the valley is part of the Panamint Military Operating Area, restricted to US military use. The ghost town ofBallarat had 400 residents at the turn of the 20th century when mines were active in the area.
Racetrack Playa is a seasonallydry lake (playa) located in the northern part of the Panamint Mountains that is famous forrocks that mysteriously move across its surface. During periods of heavy rain, water washes down from nearby mountain slopes onto the playa, forming a shallow, short-lived lake. Most of the so-called 'sailing stones' are from a nearby high hillside of darkdolomite on the south end of the playa. Similar rock travel patterns have been recorded in several other playas in the region but the number and length of travel grooves on The Racetrack are notable. Racetrack stones only move once every two or three years and most tracks last for just three or four years.
Rainbow Canyon is a canyon near the western edge of the park. It is commonly used by the United States Military for fighter jet training and is frequented by photographers who, from the canyon rim, are able to photograph jets flying beneath them. Since a 2019 plane crash all military air traffic has been banned from flying below the rim.
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Red Cathedral is a geological formation located between highways 178 and 190. Formed of steep cliffs, it is composed of red colored oxidized rocks and is visible from Zabriskie point and the Golden Canyon trail.
Much of Salt Creek is usually dry at the surface and covered by a bright layer of salt which was created by many flooding and subsequent evaporation of water that periodically flows at the surface. Over time the small amount of solutes in the water accumulate to form this linear salt pan. Another part of salt creek runs with brackish water year-round. It is here that the last survivor of Lake Manly resides; theDeath Valley pupfish.
Saratoga Springs (35°40′54″N116°25′25″W / 35.68167°N 116.42361°W /35.68167; -116.42361[11]) is a desertoasis located in southernDeath Valley National Park. The wetland lies at the southern tip of theIbex Hills, on the floor of Death Valley and just northeast of theAmargosa River. Several springs overflow into pools totaling 6.6 acres (2.7 ha) in area, making the site the third largestmarsh in the park. The pools provide habitat for severalendemic species, including theSaratoga Springs pupfish. Other rare species present include theAmargosa tryonia snail, theAmargosa springsnail, the Saratoga Springs belostoma bug, the Amargosa naucorid bug, and theDeath Valley June beetle. Plant life includescommon reeds,bulrush andsaltgrass.
The springs were probably named in 1871 by theWheeler Survey after the resort town ofSaratoga Springs, New York, and were an important water source for thetwenty-mule teams of the 1880s. The area saw a failednitrate rush in 1902, and similarly unsuccessful attempts to minegold andsilver in the middle part of the decade. The Pacific Nitrate Company arrived in 1909 and built a small camp, but left within a few years. From the 1930s through the 1960s the springs provided water for the successfultalc mines in the nearby Ibex Hills.
Except for two partially collapsed stone structures, little evidence remains of human habitation at the spring. A dirt road provides access to an overlook of the area, but human entry into the wetland itself is prohibited in order to the protect the sensitive habitat.
This desertbutte was once an island in a lake that filled Death Valley several times during thePleistoceneice ages. Scientists call all manifestations of this large body of waterLake Manly. There are different horizontal linear features on the northeast flank of the butte that are ancient shorelines from this lake.
It takes some time for waves to gnaw away terraces like the ones seen on Shoreline Butte, so these benches provide records of times when the lake level stabilized long enough for waves to leave their mark on therock. The highest strandline is one of the principal clues that geologists use to estimate the depth of the lake that once filled Death Valley. Shorelines of ancient Lake Manly are preserved in several parts of Death Valley, but nowhere is the record as clear as at Shoreline Butte. Several lakes have occupied Death Valley since the close of the Pleistocene epoch 10,000 years ago, but these younger lakes were quite shallow compared to Lake Manly (See Badwater and Devils Golf Course above).
At the junction where the unimproved road from Ubehebe Crater meets roads to the Racetrack Playa and Hunter Mountain (36°45′37″N117°32′33″W / 36.76028°N 117.54250°W /36.76028; -117.54250), there is a sign reading "Teakettle Junction."[12] While the origin of the name is unknown, it has become a tradition for visitors to attach teakettles to the sign with messages written on them.[13][14][15][16]National Park Service rangers will sometimes remove a number of teakettles when there are too many.[17]
The rock at the junction includes the bedrock sandstone of theEureka Quartzite strata.[18]
Telescope Peak is the highest point within Death Valley National Park and was named for the great distance visible from the summit – from atop this desert mountain one can see for over one hundred miles in many directions, including west toMount Whitney, and east toCharleston Peak. Its summit rises 11,331 feet (3,454 m) above Badwater Basin, the lowest point in Death Valley at −282 feet (−86 m).
Titus Canyon is a narrow gorge in theGrapevine Mountains near the eastern boundary ofDeath Valley National Park. It featuresmegabreccia and other rock formations,petroglyphs, and wildlife of various kinds, includingbighorn sheep. Along the road to the canyon standsLeadfield, aghost town dating to the 1920s.
Ubehebe Crater is the largest of more than a dozen of in theUbehebe Craters field. As groundwater exploded into steam due to the heat of magma underneath, an empty pit was left behind and the debris spread around the field. Erosion over the millennia since the eruption revealed multi-colored stripes on the crater walls dating to theMiocene. Visitors can hike on trails to the bottom or around the rim.
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Ventifact Ridge is a part of abasaltic lava flow. The rocks on its exposed and barren ridge are famous for being shaped bywind erosion and are calledventifacts. Sharp edges of ventifacts calledKanters are formed when two or more facets (planar surfaces) intersect. Open grooves in the ventifacts are called flutes. Most of the holes in the basalt are vesicles that were formed when gas escaped from the cooling lava. Some of these have been expanded or even merged by sandblasting.
Non-stop winds on this ridge are concentrated and compressed at the top of the hill and are very fast as a result. These strong winds pick-up dust and sand (mostly from the two closest alluvial fans), which literally sand-blast exposed surfaces. Winds strong enough for sandblasting come from the north and the south.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Park Service.