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70-685: Places of interest in the Death Valley area are mostly located within Death Valley National Park in eastern California . Aguereberry Point / ˈ æ . ɡ ər . ˌ b ɛr . i / is a promontory and tourist viewpoint in the Panamint Range , within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County , eastern California . The point's elevation reaches 6,433 ft and is named for Jean Pierre "Pete" Aguereberry,

140-482: A Basque miner 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. From this viewpoint, one can see the surrounding Panamint Range extending to the north and south; Death Valley to the east, with Furnace Creek and the salt flats of Badwater Basin to the southeast; and Mount Charleston in Nevada far to the east. The Amargosa Chaos

210-532: A graben . 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 (see Basin and Range ). Darwin Falls is a waterfall located on the western edge of Death Valley National Park near the settlement of Panamint Springs , California. There are several falls, but they are mainly divided into

280-564: 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 the oxidation of different metals ( iron compounds produce red, pink and yellow, decomposition of tuff -derived mica produces green, and manganese produces purple). Called the Artist Drive Formation, the rock unit provides evidence for one of

350-441: A mile-long shallow depression in the center of the valley, supports Death Valley Pupfish . These isolated pupfish populations are remnants of the wetter Pleistocene climate. Darwin Falls , on the western edge of Death Valley Monument, falls 100 feet (30 m) into a large pond surrounded by willows and cottonwood trees. Over 80 species of birds have been recorded around the pond. Efflorescence , also known as salt flowers ,

420-565: A number of key contributors: Severe heat and dryness contribute to perpetual drought-like conditions in Death Valley and prevent much cloud formation from passing through the confines of the valley, where precipitation is often in the form of a virga . The depth and shape of Death Valley strongly influence its climate. The valley is a long, narrow basin that descends below sea level and is walled by high, steep mountain ranges. The clear, dry air and sparse plant cover allow sunlight to heat

490-507: A process of slow burning in low oxygen . This fuel was then transported to mines in The Argus Range, 25 miles to the west, to feed smelting and ore 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 by Navajo Indian stonemasons from Arizona in 1971. The kilns were located here as

560-637: A verified temperature of 129.2 °F (54.0 °C) was recorded and is tied with Mitribah , Kuwait , for the hottest reliably measured air temperature ever recorded on Earth. A temperature of 130 °F (54.4 °C) was recorded at the Furnace Creek weather station on August 16, 2020, but has not yet been officially verified. The valley again recorded that temperature on July 9, 2021; however, that temperature has not yet been officially verified either. The valley's lowest temperature, recorded at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek) on January 2, 1913,

630-464: Is Telescope Peak , in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet (3,366 m). A group of European-American pioneers got lost here in the winter of 1849–1850, while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, giving Death Valley its grim name. Although only one of the group members died here, they all assumed that the valley would be their grave. Death Valley

700-833: Is 2.36 inches (60 mm), while the Greenland Ranch station averaged 1.58 in (40 mm). The wettest month on record is January 1995, when 2.59 inches (66 mm) fell on Death Valley. The wettest period on record was mid-2004 to mid-2005, in which nearly 6 inches (150 mm) of rain fell in total, leading to ephemeral lakes in the valley and the region and tremendous wildflower blooms. Snow with accumulation has only been recorded in January 1922, while scattered flakes have been recorded on other occasions. See or edit raw graph data . In 2005, Death Valley received four times its average annual rainfall of 1.5 inches (38 mm). As it has done before for hundreds of years,

770-649: Is a desert oasis located in southern Death Valley National Park . The wetland lies at the southern tip of the Ibex Hills , on the floor of Death Valley and just northeast of the Amargosa River . Several springs overflow into pools totaling 6.6 acres (2.7 ha) in area, making the site the third largest marsh in the park. The pools provide habitat for several endemic species, including the Saratoga Springs pupfish . Other rare species present include

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840-673: Is a desert valley in Eastern California , in the northern Mojave Desert , bordering the Great Basin Desert . It is thought to be the hottest place on Earth during summer. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. It is 84.6 miles (136.2 km) east-southeast of Mount Whitney – the highest point in the contiguous United States , with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). On

910-565: Is a rare occurrence in Death Valley that occurs when rain soaks into the soil and dissolves salt beneath the surface causing the ground to appear as if there is a light dusting of snow . Death Valley is home to the Timbisha tribe of Native Americans , formerly known as the Panamint Shoshone, who have inhabited the valley for at least the past millennium. The Timbisha name for the valley, tümpisa , means "rock paint" and refers to

980-537: Is a series of geological formations located in the Black Mountains in southern Death Valley . In the 1930s, geologist Levi 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 that faulted and folded

1050-435: Is disputed; a record high low of 107 °F (42 °C) on July 12, 2012, is considered reliable. This is one of the highest values ever recorded. Also on July 12, 2012, the mean 24-hour temperature recorded at Death Valley was 117.5 °F (47.5 °C), which makes it the world's warmest 24-hour temperature on record. July 2024 was the hottest month ever recorded in Death Valley, with a mean daily average temperature over

1120-496: 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. 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

1190-491: Is home to the Timbisha tribe of Native Americans, formerly known as the Panamint Shoshone , who have inhabited the valley for at least the past millennium. Death Valley is a graben —a downdropped block of land between two mountain ranges. It lies at the southern end of a geological trough , Walker Lane , which runs north to Oregon. The valley is bisected by a right lateral strike slip fault system, comprising

1260-456: Is lithified alluvial sediment. Mosaic Canyon is a canyon in the north western mountain face of the valley which is named after a stream-derived breccia sediment with angular blocks of dolomite in a pebbly matrix. The entrance to Mosaic Canyon appears deceptively ordinary, but just a 1 ⁄ 4 mile (400 m) walk up the canyon narrows dramatically to a deep slot cut into the face of Tucki Mountain. Smooth, polished marble walls enclose

1330-531: 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 of quartz and feldspar that form the sinuous sculptures that make up this dune field began as much larger pieces of solid rock . In between many of the dunes are stands of creosote bush and some mesquite on

1400-519: Is the highest atmospheric temperature ever recorded on the Earth's surface. (A report of a temperature of 58 °C (136 °F) in Libya in 1922 was later determined to be inaccurate.) During the heat wave that peaked with that record, five consecutive days reached 129 °F (54 °C) or higher. Some modern meteorologists now dispute the accuracy of the 1913 temperature measurement. On June 30, 2013,

1470-556: 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; the Death Valley pupfish . Saratoga Springs ( 35°40′54″N 116°25′25″W  /  35.68167°N 116.42361°W  / 35.68167; -116.42361 )

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1540-714: The Amargosa tryonia snail , the Amargosa springsnail , the Saratoga Springs belostoma bug, the Amargosa naucorid bug, and the Death Valley June beetle . Plant life includes common reeds , bulrush and saltgrass . The springs were probably named in 1871 by the Wheeler Survey after the resort town of Saratoga Springs, New York , and were an important water source for the twenty-mule teams of

1610-457: The Basin and Range Province . In just a few million years, during Late Miocene to Pliocene 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 an alluvial fan fed by

1680-536: The California Gold Rush . It was called Death Valley by prospectors and others who sought to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields, after 13 pioneers perished from one early expedition of wagon trains. During the 1850s, gold and silver were extracted in the valley. In the 1880s, borax was discovered and extracted by mule-drawn wagons . Death Valley National Monument was proclaimed on February 11, 1933, by President Herbert Hoover , placing

1750-794: The Death Valley Fault and the Furnace Creek Fault . The eastern end of the left lateral Garlock Fault intersects the Death Valley Fault. Furnace Creek and the Amargosa River flow through part of the valley and eventually disappear into the sands of the valley floor. Death Valley also contains salt pans . According to current geological consensus, at various times during the middle of the Pleistocene era, which ended roughly 10,000–12,000 years ago, an inland lake, Lake Manly , formed in Death Valley. The lake

1820-485: The Oasis at Death Valley resort complex . Controversy surrounds the use of Furnace Creek water to support the resort (complete with a swimming pool ) and nearby facilities, including a golf course . The scarce springs and surrounding lush oases support thriving plant communities and attract a wide variety of animals. As the resort grew, the marshes and wetlands around it shrank. The highest temperature in North America

1890-746: The Piedmont Charcoal Kilns in Wyoming, and the Walker 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 here Badwater Basin can be seen, which contains

1960-473: The red ocher paint that can be made from a type of clay found in the valley. Some families still live in the valley at Furnace Creek. Another village was in Grapevine Canyon near the present site of Scotty's Castle . It was called maahunu in the Timbisha language , whose meaning is uncertain, although it is known that hunu means 'canyon'. The valley received its English name in 1849 during

2030-409: The 1880s. The area saw a failed nitrate rush in 1902, and similarly unsuccessful attempts to mine gold and silver 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 successful talc mines in the nearby Ibex Hills. Death Valley Death Valley

2100-545: The Amargosa Chaos. The first event metamorphosed Death Valley's Precambrian basement 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 older metamorphic basement rocks. This deformational event shifted the crust vertically, creating thinning and thickening of some sedimentary layers as they were being deposited. The two events responsible for

2170-408: The Death Valley area's most violently explosive volcanic periods. The Miocene -aged formation is made up of cemented gravel, playa deposits, and volcanic debris, perhaps 5,000 feet (1,500 m) thick. Chemical weathering and hydrothermal alteration cause the oxidation and other chemical reactions that produce the variety of colors displayed in the Artist Drive Formation and nearby exposures of

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2240-554: The Devil's Golf Course remains dry, allowing weathering processes to sculpt the salt there into complicated formations. Through exploratory holes drilled by the Pacific 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

2310-688: The Furnace Creek Formation. The Badwater Basin is a salt flat adjacent to the Black Mountains that descends to the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. The massive expanse of white is made up of almost pure table salt . The basin is the second lowest depression in the Western Hemisphere , eclipsed only by Laguna del Carbón in Argentina at −344 feet (−105 m). This pan

2380-482: The Noonday Dolomite and other Precambrian carbonate rocks . These rock formation began as limestone deposited during Late Precambrian (about 850-700 million years ago) when the area was covered by a warm sea. Later addition of magnesium changed the limestone, a rock made of calcium carbonate, to dolomite , a calcium-magnesium carbonate. The dolomite was later deeply buried by younger sediment. Far below

2450-499: The afternoon of July   10, 1913, the United States Weather Bureau recorded a high temperature of 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, which stands as the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded on the surface of the Earth. This reading, however, and several others taken in that period are disputed by some modern experts. Lying mostly in Inyo County, California , near

2520-452: The area under federal protection. In 1994, the monument was redesignated as Death Valley National Park , as well as being substantially expanded to include Saline and Eureka Valleys. A number of movies have been filmed in Death Valley, including: Elevation Elevation is not to be confused with the distance from the center of the Earth. Due to the equatorial bulge , the summits of Mount Everest and Chimborazo have, respectively,

2590-478: The area. Racetrack Playa is a seasonally dry lake (playa) located in the northern part of the Panamint Mountains that is famous for rocks 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 dark dolomite on

2660-965: The border of California and Nevada , in the Great Basin , east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve . It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west. The Grapevine Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi (7,800 km ). The highest point in Death Valley National Park

2730-462: 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 a natural stone bridge , accessible after a fifteen-minute walk from the parking area. The Panamint Valley basin runs between the Panamint Range to

2800-496: The canyon mouth water spreads out and deposits its sediment load, gradually building up a large wedge-shaped alluvial fan that extends down toward Stovepipe Wells. This canyon was formed through a process of cut 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

2870-432: The chaotic appearance of the Amargosa Chaos did not occur until over half a billion years later, during Mesozoic or Early Tertiary time. This third event folded the layered Precambrian and Cambrian 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

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2940-629: The depth ranges up to 9,000 feet (2,700 m). 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 actual golf course in Furnace Creek , also in Death Valley. Between the Last Chance Range and Saline Mountains is the graben Eureka Valley. Sand dunes cover 3 square miles (8 km) of Eureka Valley, rising 680 feet (207 m) as one of North America's tallest dunes. As sand moves down

3010-416: The desert surface. Summer nights provide little relief: overnight lows may dip just into the 82 to 98 °F (28 to 37 °C) range. Moving masses of super-heated air blow through the valley, creating extremely high ambient temperatures. The hottest air temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 134 °F (56.7 °C), on July 10, 1913, at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek ), which, as of 2022,

3080-488: The devil could play golf" on its surface, due to a rough texture from the large halite salt crystal formations. 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 the Badwater Basin when the lake evaporated. With an elevation several feet above the valley floor at Badwater ,

3150-619: The dune face it produces a booming noise, known as singing sand phenomenon, due to the small grain size and loose, dry packing. Endemic species include the Eureka Dune Grass , the Eureka Evening Primrose and the Shining Locoweed . Furnace Creek is a spring, oasis , and village that sits on top of a remarkably symmetrical alluvial fan . The main visitor center of the park is located here as well as

3220-491: The east and Argus and Slate ranges to the west for 65 miles (105 km). It has a width of about 10 miles (16 km). It is an endorheic 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 of Ballarat had 400 residents at the turn of the 20th century when mines were active in

3290-582: The landscape at different scales. Tools inside the GIS allow for manipulation of data for spatial analysis or cartography. A topographical map is the main type of map used to depict elevation, often through contour lines . In a Geographic Information System (GIS), digital elevation models (DEM) are commonly used to represent the surface (topography) of a place, through a raster (grid) dataset of elevations. Digital terrain models are another way to represent terrain in GIS. USGS (United States Geologic Survey)

3360-621: The largest elevation and the largest geocentric distance. In aviation, the term elevation or aerodrome elevation is defined by the ICAO as the highest point of the landing area. It is often measured in feet and can be found in approach charts of the aerodrome. It is not to be confused with terms such as the altitude or height. GIS or geographic information system is a computer system that allows for visualizing, manipulating, capturing, and storage of data with associated attributes. GIS offers better understanding of patterns and relationships of

3430-403: 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 the Black Mountains which along with the parallel Panamint Range across the valley from what geologists call a horst and the valley that is called

3500-466: The lowest spot in the valley filled with a wide, shallow lake, but the extreme heat and aridity immediately began evaporating the ephemeral lake . The pair of images (seen at right) from NASA's Landsat 5 satellite documents the short history of Death Valley's Lake Badwater : formed in February 2005 (top) and evaporated by February 2007 (bottom). In 2005, a big pool of greenish water stretched most of

3570-494: The modern history of the region, primarily 1883 to 1907. Death Valley has a subtropical , hot desert climate ( Köppen : BWh ), with long, extremely hot summers; short, warm winters; and little rainfall. The valley is extremely dry because it lies in the rain shadow of four major mountain ranges (including the Sierra Nevada and Panamint Range ). Moisture moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass eastward over

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3640-426: The month of 108.5 °F (42.5 °C). Four major mountain ranges lie between Death Valley and the ocean, each one adding to an increasingly drier rain shadow effect, and in 1929, 1953, and 1989, no rain was recorded for the whole year. The period from 1931 to 1934 was the driest stretch on record, with only 0.64 inches (16 mm) of rain over a 40-month period. The average annual precipitation in Death Valley

3710-448: The mountains to reach Death Valley; as air masses are forced upward by each range, they cool and moisture condenses, to fall as rain or snow on the western slopes. When the air masses reach Death Valley, most of the moisture in the air has already been lost and thus there is little left to fall as precipitation. The extreme heat of Death Valley is attributable to a confluence of geographic and topographic factors. Scientists have identified

3780-453: The mouths of the canyons, they widen and slow, branching out into distributary channels. The paler the fans, the younger they are. In spite of the overwhelming heat and sparse rainfall, Death Valley exhibits considerable biodiversity. Flowers, watered by snowmelt, carpet the desert floor each spring, continuing into June. Bighorn sheep , red-tailed hawks , and wild donkeys may be seen. Death Valley has over 600 springs and ponds. Salt Creek,

3850-579: 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 the Panamint Range , and were used to reduce pinyon and juniper tree wood to charcoal in

3920-470: The road and the overall proximity of Death Valley to Hollywood , these dunes have been used to film sand dune scenes for several movies including films in the Star 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

3990-410: 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 and cholla cactus . On the alluvial fan above

4060-513: 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

4130-432: The springs there are 2-3 thousand year old petroglyphs from the extinct Mesquite Spring culture. The petroglyphs here are made possible because many of the rocks in these arid conditions have desert varnish on them. This particular form of desert varnish takes 10,000 years to make 1/100th of an inch of varnish and is deposited by a certain type of bacteria that collects the iron , manganese and clay needed to make

4200-466: The surface, high pressure and temperature altered the dolomite into the metamorphic 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 meaning gravel . This formation is composed of angular fragments of many different kinds of parent rock, and it can be seen on the floor of

4270-415: The trail as it follows the canyon's sinuous curves. The canyon follows faults 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. Periodic flash floods carry rocky debris (sediment) eroded from Mosaic Canyon and the surrounding hillsides toward the valley below. At

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4340-581: The trees single-leaf pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla) and Utah juniper ( Juniperus osteosperma) dominate the landscape in the upper Panamint Mountains. Shrubs of Mormon tea (Ephedra sp.) , such as Death Valley ephedra (Ephedra funerea) , are spaced between them, with other xeric sub-shrubs and native bunchgrasses . Other historic charcoal kilns in the United States include the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns at Owens Lake,

4410-494: 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. The Devil's Golf Course is a large salt pan on the floor of Death Valley. It was named after a line in the 1934 National Park Service guide book to Death Valley National Monument, which stated that "Only

4480-484: 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 a fault scarp that exposes some fanglomerate which is a type of sedimentary rock which looks like concrete with large rocks intermixed. In fact it

4550-459: The way across the valley floor. By May 2005, the valley floor had resumed its more familiar role as Badwater Basin , salt-coated salt flats . In time, this freshly dissolved and recrystallized salt will darken. The western margin of Death Valley is traced by alluvial fans . During flash floods , rainfall from the steep mountains to the west pours through narrow canyons, picking up everything from fine clay to large rocks. When these torrents reach

4620-430: Was 15 °F (−9 °C). The highest surface temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 201.0 °F (93.9 °C), on July 15, 1972, at Furnace Creek , which is the highest ground surface temperature ever recorded on earth, as well as the only recorded surface temperature of above 200 °F (93.3 °C). The greatest number of consecutive days with a maximum temperature of at least 100 °F (38 °C)

4690-400: Was 154, in the summer of 2001. The summer of 1996 had 40 days over 120 °F (49 °C), and 105 days over 110 °F (43 °C). The summer of 1917 had 52 days when the temperature reached 120 °F (49 °C) or above, 43 of them consecutive. The highest overnight or low temperature recorded in Death Valley is 110 °F (43 °C), recorded on July 5, 1918. However, this value

4760-482: 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 rainstorms flood 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) annual evaporation rate. This,

4830-593: Was nearly 100 miles (160 km) long and 600 feet (180 m) deep. The end-basin in a chain of lakes that began with Mono Lake , in the north, and continued through basins down the Owens River Valley , through Searles and China Lakes and the Panamint Valley, to the immediate west. As the area turned to desert, the water evaporated, leaving an abundance of evaporitic salts, such as common sodium salts and borax , which were later exploited during

4900-468: Was recorded at Furnace Creek Ranch (134 °F or 57 °C). The Furnace Creek Fault runs through this part of Death Valley. Hells Gate is a point of interest located in Death Valley National Park , at the intersection of Daylight Pass Road and Beatty Road. There is a parking area and hiking paths. 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

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