Despite the seemingly unliveable heat, charting the hottest temperature ever recorded in the US at 57° Celsius (!), Death Valley has plenty of endemic wildlife, best seen on ranger-led tours of higher regions and the oasis of Grapevine Canyon.īefore venturing out, find the park’s main visitor centre within the commercial hub of Furnace Creek where you can buy a 7-day entry permit for you and your car for just $30.
In addition to the epic desert scenery (at its best within the salty Badwater Basin and Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes), the park also surprises with its canyons, volcanic craters, dappled oases and stark mountains covering 130,000 square kilometres of sun-scorched land. Once serving as the setting for Tatooine, the desert planet in Star Wars, Death Valley has more than one claim to fame. The furthest we’ve ventured so far, at 200 kilometres from Las Vegas, to where Nevada meets California, we find the vast Death Valley National Park. While Lake Mead in the north is the closest section of the Recreation Area to Vegas, Lake Mojave along the Arizona-Nevada border is another contender, allowing for upstream hikes along the gorge to Grapevine Canyon and more spectacular desert views. The restaurants and modern amenities dotted around the lake mean you can shower and eat well before exploring more of the area on day two, following the 5-kilometre historic railway to Hoover Dam or tackling the Black Canyon Water Trail by hike or river raft if feeling adventurous. Besides alfresco lunching, many weekend visitors opt to stay the whole weekend on rural camping retreats in view of lava hills, red sandstone formations and bighorn sheep. The largest man-made lake reservoir in America by capacity, Lake Mead is perfect for boating, jet skiing and water skiing adventures, though reclining with a picnic lakeside is just as appealing. One of the Las Vegas day trips also needing less than an afternoon is found within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, based 30 minutes outside of Las Vegas on the skirts of the Colorado River.