Death Valley

Death Valley might be one of the easiest National Parks to get to on the western half of the country. Just a short two hour drive from Las Vegas it is not to hard to get to Furnace Creek the location for two hotel options. I have only visited during the winter months in which the temperatures were in 80’s in the day and 40’s at night. Summer Time I would avoid with temperatures above 100 most days. It offers much to see though. You can go up to Dante’s View at about 5,500 feet overlooking Death Valley in some chilly temperatures. Take about a 45 minute drive down to Badwater Basin and be about -282 below sea level and about a 50 degree warming of the temperature outside. On the north end there is Scotty’s Castle which I have not made it to yet since it has been closed for a couple of years due to some flash flooding from a rainstorm that did a lot of damage. Once again this is a great park to see the night sky and the Milky Way. I went out the middle of one night and when I turned off my headlights I could not even see my hand in front of my face (PITCH BLACK). There is a picture below of the Milky Way with some clouds in the sky and a yellow horizon. That is not the sun it is actually the glow from Las Vegas over 200 miles away. You also have the Sand Dunes, Zabriskie Point, Devils Golf Course and Race Track. You also have Star Wars Canyon which is used to train fighter pilots to do low level flying in the canyon.