Welcome to Death Valley, a land of extremes where the sun sculpts the rugged landscape and the desert unfolds its secrets. As you embark on a journey into this otherworldly destination, prepare to be mesmerized by the raw beauty and unforgiving terrain that define Death Valley National Park. This long weekend promises an unforgettable adventure, blending the sublime landscapes, unique geology, and a touch of mystery that only this iconic desert landscape can offer. From the scorching depths of Badwater Basin to the tranquility of the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, your three-day escape is a gateway to the heart of one of the hottest, driest, and most enchanting places on Earth.

How To Get Here

You’ll need to rent a car for this itinerary. The two closest airports are LAS and LAX – Las Vegas or Los Angeles. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive from Vegas and close to 4 hours from LA. The drive is a bit redundant, but you can spice it up with a few stops along the way (listed below).

Best Time to Visit death valley

NOT SUMMER! We visited in early winter and found the daytime temperatures to be great! We camped in the park and needed light jackets at night.

Summer (June-August): Death Valley lives up to its name during the summer months. Average highs soar well over 100°F (over 37 °C), often reaching 115°F (around 46 °C) or more. Even nights offer little relief, with lows averaging in the upper 80s to low 90s F (around 32-37 °C).
Fall (September-November): The super hot scorching temperatures begin to subside, but the average highs are still in the high 90s to low 100s F (around 37-38 °C). Nights become a bit more comfortable, with lows averaging in the mid to upper 60s F (around 18-21 °C).
Winter (December-February): Winter is the mildest season in Death Valley. Average highs are pleasant, ranging in the mid to upper 60s F (around 18-21 °C). Nights can get chilly, with lows averaging in the mid to upper 30s F (around 3-7 °C).
Spring (March-May): Daytime temperatures begin to rise, averaging in the upper 80s to low 90s F (around 30-32 °C). Nights are still pleasant, with lows averaging in the mid to upper 60s F (around 18-21 °C).

How Much Time Do You Need IN DEATH VALLEY

Three-days is ideal if you want to see most of what the park has to offer, but you can hit most of the highlights in one day if you’re short on time.

ACCOMMODATIONS IN DEATH VALLEY

Staying near Death Valley National Park offers a unique and unforgettable experience. Here are some highly-rated hotel options to consider, each with its own distinct charm:

For a luxurious retreat: Check out The Inn at Death Valley. This historic hotel in the heart of the park offers comfortable rooms, nice views, and access to a spa, a gym, golf, and multiple dining options.



For a relaxed ranch experience: Stay at The Ranch at Death Valley. Here you’ll find a laid-back atmosphere with comfortable accommodations, a spring-fed pool (pretty warm at 87 degrees F), delicious dining options, and access to the lowest golf course in the world. They also have fire pits if you’d like to make some smores by a fire! This hotel is located near many of the main attractions and includes wifi.



Budget Friendly: Camping – there are multiple campgrounds but the one we chose (and really liked!) was the Furnace Creek campground. It has bathrooms (but not showers), water refills and big sinks for washing dishes and completing 10-step nighttime skincare routines. It is also located close to a lot of the main sites. If you do want to shower, you can purchase a shower pass and bathe at one of the hotels in the park. Each campsite comes with a picnic table and a fire pit, so don’t forget to pick up some firewood.

While National Parks aren’t necessarily known for their food, we did have one meal at a park restaurant that we enjoyed. We went to the Toll Road restaurant for their dinner buffet. For $25/person, you can have unlimited food from the buffet. The buffet had a salad bar, soups, pastas, vegetarian options like veggie burgers, and meat options like short ribs. While it was a bit more than I would have wanted to spend, after camping for a few nights, it was nice to dine at a restaurant right near our campsite. Two perks were that the service was outstanding and the restaurant has free wifi. After being disconnected for a few days, it was nice to plug back in to reality for an hour.

car services at the park

We ended up with a nail in our tire and had to get it patched. Being in the middle of the desert, we were nervous about the options, but were so happy with the great service provided at Death Valley Auto Repair. If you need car service during your visit, check ‘em out. They were quick and extremely affordable. We were also concerned about the prices, with limited options in the area, but they were very fair.

You can also rent a jeep here at Farabee’s Jeep Rentals & Tours if you don’t have an appropriate car.

Day 2 – SEEING THE REST OF THE HIGHLIGHTS

Today you’ll be spending the majority of your day looking at some of the most famous sites in the park, which all happen to be on one road – Badwater Road. If you only have one day in the park, I’d recommend following the itinerary for Day 2, and adding in stops at Dante’s View and Zabriskie Point.

Artists Palette
Start by heading to Artists Palette. It is both a viewpoint and a scenic drive. The drive is cool, but the viewpoint is the main attraction. You’ve probably seen this famous site on social media – and the pictures you’ve seen most likely have the saturation turned a bit up, so don’t be surprised if the colors are a *little* less vibrant than what you’ve seen online. If you haven’t seen pictures of Artists Palette, the view is of some rocky hills made up of a lot of different minerals which give off multiple colors, almost like a muted rainbow. You can get out of your car and walk through the little rocky hills to get some good pictures. There didn’t appear to be a real trail and was more of a choose your own adventure walk. I’d plan on spending 15 – 30 minutes here.

Get here early to beat the large crowds. We got there around 8:30 am and we were one of the first few cars, but the parking lot was full 30 minutes later. 

Devil’s Golf Course
Next, continue heading down the road in the direction of Badwater Basin, until you reach the Devil’s Golf Course. This will require a short fiveish minute drive down a dirt road (on the right hand side of the road if you’re driving towards Badwater Basin) but it is well marked. Right at the parking lot there are tons of crazy looking formations made from salt. Take some amazing pictures and walk around for a bit, but be careful not to slip since the salty figures are sharp! There aren’t any official marked trails here.

Badwater Basin
Keep driving a little while longer and you will reach the park’s top attraction – Badwater Basin! This is where you will find a little spring with endangered snails not found anywhere else in the word as well as a short walk out into the basin. When we were there the basin was full of water from flooding which looked beautiful. However other times you may find the more famous dry salt flats with polygon shaped salt structures.

We timed it so that we made it here right in time for a ranger talk at 10AM. The talk was super informative and explained the history of the park and the flooding. Crazy how the flooding in the area, which used to be an extremely rare, once in 1000 year event, has happened a few times in the last 20 years. Ask the visitor center when this talk usually occurs if you want to make it!

When you’re done listening to the ranger talk, you can take a little walk out to the water or salty polygons depending on the water levels. If there’s been recent flooding, it will take a couple months for the polygons to form again.

Golden Canyon
Length: 2.9 miles total – out and back
Estimated Time: 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate (we found it to be an easy trail with a constant slight uphill climb)
Elevation Gain: 577 feet
Start your drive back towards the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and make one last stop along Badwater Road at Golden Canyon. Here you will have a couple different hiking options. We opted to do a 3 mile hike (1.5 miles each way). This was an out and back trail that you can make as short or as long as you want, but we recommend you go at least .5 miles in to get the experience. At the end of the hike you’ll have a view of the big red rock cliff called the cathedral. Along the walk you will see a lot of cool little slot canyons that you can walk through and colorful rocky dunes. It’s an easy walk with just a slight slope going up on the way out.

One thing to note – this trail has very limited shade. We visited in December, and even though it was only in the 70s, we were still working up a sweat being in the direct sunlight. Don’t forget your sunhats and water!

If you’re looking for a more strenuous, longer hike, you can walk all the way from the Golden Canyon to Zabriskie point. Check out the trail here!

Harmony Borax
If you’re getting tired, you can end the day with a stop at Harmony Borax. It is just a few minutes away from the Visitor Center. Here, there is a quick 10 minute loop trail that goes around an old Borax mine. It has a few different informational signs which were interesting to read and explain the rise and fall of the Harmony Borax company. You can get an idea of what the mine used to look like and see the tools that were used in Borax mining.

Mesquite Sand Dunes
Depending on the season, if there’s still sunlight. . . and you still have energy, stop by the Mesquite Sand Dunes. This is the perfect place to watch the sunset. You can take some pictures directly from the parking lot, wander through the sand, or if you’re feeling ambitious you can even climb to the highest dune!

When we were at Death Valley, sadly a lot of stuff was closed due to damage from flooding. We had originally planned to go to Ubehebe Crater, Racetrack Playa, and Keane Wondermine, with a quick stop at Teakettle Junction for a picture; however, all of that was closed. We planned a new day after talking with the ranger and ended up doing our favorite hike of the trip! When we go back to visit, which we definitely will, we will spend the day doing the activities we planned to do this day (Ubehebe Crater, Racetrack Playa, Keane Wondermine, Teakettle Junction).

Mosaic Canyon
Length: 3.4 miles total – out and back
Estimated Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation Gain: 964 feet
Head over to Stovepipe Wells, the other small town in the valley, and go to Mosaic Canyon. To reach the canyon, you’ll drive about a mile up a well graded dirt road. The hike is around 3.4 miles roundtrip (out and back); however, you don’t have to go the entire way to get a good feel for it. We recommend going at least until the first dry fall and then turning around. We went the extra half mile each way to the end, but the scenery was pretty similar to the beginning of the trail. Right before the first dry fall is where it becomes more of a cool slot canyon.

Pro Tip: grab a newspaper from the Visitor Center so you can see where the notable sites are, like the dry falls and slot canyons.

Rhyolite Ghost Town
Next, head out of the park towards Beatty to check out the Rhyolite ghost town which will take you around 45 minutes to get to. Rhyolite was founded in the early 1900s with the hope that it would become a successful gold rush town. It grew rapidly; however, it was quickly abandoned when the gold wasn’t as abundant as originally thought. If you’re interested in learning more about the once thriving town, there are informational signs in front of almost every building which explain the rise and fall of the town. You can see the building remains of the once booming town. The train depot is in the best shape, and they are working to restore it further. It was turned into a “Ghost” Casino a few years after the town was abandoned, but that eventually shut down as well. 

If you’ve never seen a “bottle house” you can see one in Rhyolite. The walls of the house are mostly constructed out of glass bottles, which were collected from the local bars and restaurants. Instead of living in the house, the builder raffled off the house for only $5 a ticket. Since the last inhabitants moved out, the house has been featured in a few movies!

There is an open air art museum with a few different structures to check out right when you enter. There are also statues of ghosts sprinkled throughout the town, making it a true ghost town.

Head Home
Ending near Beatty is perfect if you’re heading to Vegas since it’s in the same direction. If you have some time, we recommend stopping at the Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge and spending an hour or two there. Check out our post on Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge to plan your visit.

NOT DONE TRAVELING?

Check out our guides of nearby areas:
Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge – right by Death Valley!
Arizona
Best of Las Vegas – Off the Strip
Best of Las Vegas – On the Strip