Day 28: Death Valley National Park (+ Star Wars)
National Park #11
Death Valley. The name certainly paints a picture. It conjures images of sweat-soaked travelers wilting in the hot midday sun. So you can imagine our surprise when we were met with 35 degrees and a wind stiff enough to knock you over. Such is Death Valley National Park in the middle of March.
It’s beautiful, haunting, and most importantly, Star Wars was filmed here! More on that later.
We started the day off with the short hike up Zabriskie Point, a short but steep hill that ends with a spectacular 360 view of the badlands and surrounding mountains.
The most popular drive in Death Valley is down Badwater Road, the main artery that takes you down to Badwater Basin. At 282 feet below sea level, the basin is the second lowest point in the western hemisphere, and covered by the broken ground of bright white salt flats. The basin itself is vast and takes much longer to walk to the center than a quick look from the road would suggest.
From the center of the basin, it truly feels like you are standing on an alien landscape (one with 40 mph winds no less). It also apparently makes a great backdrop for a Vuori Clothing commercial shoot.
Our last hike of the day took us to Golden Canyon Trail - which famously served as one of several Death Valley locations where Tatooine scenes from Star Wars Episode IV and Episode VI were filmed. Strolling down Golden Canyon Trail and you can literally see where R2D2 tried to make his escape from Luke in A New Hope. Luckily we ran into zero Sand People - though perhaps they were easily startled by us and came back in greater numbers after we left.
What’s that? You’d like even more Star Wars content? Well okay, if you insist, I will share my all time ranking of Star Wars movies:
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode IV: A New Hope
Rogue One
Episode VI: Return of The Jedi
Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
The Solo Movie
Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Literally Watching Paint Dry
Episode I: The Phantom Menace
What you need to know:
If you can, try to avoid the summer months when Death Valley lives up to its name. If you do go then, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
While much of the park is actually in California, the easiest way into the park is through Nevada. It’s only a 2-hour drive from Las Vegas.
There is a great resort in the park called The Oasis. We didn’t know about it beforehand or we would have stayed there - it looks fantastic and will allow you to spend more time and explore the park in depth.
Parking options are actually pretty limited on some of the trails off of Badwater Road, so get there early if you are hiking places like Golden Canyon.
Watch your step while walking around on the broken areas of the salt flats.
There is next to zero cell service here - almost from the second you enter the park.