Death Valley
Death Valley is a sunken graben in eastern California along the northern edge of the Mojave Desert — and by the World Meteorological Organization's reckoning, the site of the highest air temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth: 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Furnace Creek on July 10, 1913. The valley runs north to south between the Amargosa Range to the east and the Panamint Range to the west, covering roughly 3,000 square miles (7,800 sq km); Telescope Peak, the park's high point, rises to 11,049 ft (3,368 m). The name traces to the winter of 1849–50, when a group of gold-rush pioneers became lost here and barely survived. Dried salt pans, debris fans washed down from the mountains, and wildflowers after spring rains: the extremes are famous, but the details reward anyone who looks closely.
United States · 31 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
Ubehebe Crater
Stand at the rim of Ubehebe Crater and you're looking down into a bowl roughly half a mile (1 km) wide and 500 to 777 feet (152–237 m) deep, its walls a layered cross-section of dark volcanic cinders and rust-orange bedrock. The crater sits at the north end of the Cottonwood Mountains. Geologists once dated its eruption at 2,000 to 7,000 years ago; a 2012 study pushed that estimate down sharply, to roughly 800 years — geologically speaking, almost yesterday. Wind at the rim is reliably fierce, with gusts frequently exceeding 50 mph.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Harmony Borax Works
On the edge of the salt flats near Furnace Creek Spring, a scatter of rusted boilers and crystallizing tanks marks Death Valley's most famous industrial ruin: Harmony Borax Works. What made it legendary is the twenty-mule team — eighteen mules and two horses hauling two freight wagons and a water wagon across the desert to the nearest railhead at Mojave. The site is now a protected landmark within Death Valley National Park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 1974. A short loop trail with interpretive signs tells the story of this brief, brutal chapter in desert industry.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Pogo Mine
Also known as Ponga Mine, Pogo Mine is a mid-twentieth-century talc operation in the Ibex Hills near Saratoga Spring at Death Valley's southern tip. Ernest Huhn discovered the deposit in the mid-1930s; Southern California Minerals Company mined it at scale from 1948 until 1955, extracting roughly 12,554 short tons of talc over seven years. After closure, ownership passed to Pfizer, Inc. The site retains a small shaft, wooden ore bins, and the collapsed foundations of a headframe.
Sources: npshistory.com
Superior Mine
Superior Mine was the largest and most productive talc operation in the southern Death Valley region. Southern California Minerals Company began mining here in 1940, and by the peak year of 1959 the site had yielded roughly 141,000 short tons of talc — far more than any other mine in the area. Intermittent work continued into the early 1960s before the mine closed; ownership then passed to Pfizer, Inc. The site preserves corrugated-metal buildings, a steel headframe, and the scarred terrain left by later open-pit operations, making it the best-preserved of the Ibex Hills mining group.
Sources: npshistory.com
White Cap Mine
Also called Whitecap Talc Mine, White Cap Mine sits adjacent to Superior Mine within the Ibex Hills talc district. Southern California Minerals Company opened the mine in 1947 and operated it only until 1951 — four years that produced roughly 6,315 short tons of talc from a single ore body. The wooden headframe and ore bins have survived in fair condition. After closure in 1951, the property passed to Pfizer, Inc.
Sources: npshistory.com
Saratoga Mine
Saratoga Mine consists of three separate claim groups spread across the southern end of th… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: npshistory.com
Salt Creek
Salt Creek is a shallow, roughly mile-long (1.6 km) channel running through the center of… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Stovepipe Wells
The name itself tells a story. During the mining boom, the only cross-valley road linking… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · digital-desert.com
Devil's Cornfield
Early park promoters gave this place its name by imagining the clumps of silvery-grey plan… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: digital-desert.com · hmdb.org
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are Death Valley's most accessible and best-known dune field, rig… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · nps.gov · nps.gov
Devil's Golf Course
The name comes from a 1934 National Park Service guidebook that noted 'only the devil coul… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · wikidata.org
Mormon Point
Mormon Point is a large promontory of the Black Mountains pushing into the valley floor, n… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: deseret.com · en.wikipedia.org
Badwater Basin
Most of the time, Badwater Basin's floor is a white plain of salt crystals. In 2005, unusu… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Mushroom Rock
Mushroom Rock is a boulder of porphyritic andesite — about 50 percent plagioclase crystals… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: digital-desert.com · lasvegasareatrails.com
Ubehebe Crater Overlook
The Ubehebe Crater Overlook is a viewpoint right beside the parking area, positioned direc… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Sunset Viewpoint
This viewpoint sits just east of Stovepipe Wells Village, facing the 14-square-mile (36 sq… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: nps.gov
Surveyors Well
Surveyors Well is a hand-dug desert well in the backcountry of northern Death Valley, in t… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: openstreetmap.org
Midway Well
Midway Well is an abandoned former campground along the North Highway in northern Death Va… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: pocketsfullofdustcom.wordpress.com
Bennetts Well
Bennetts Well sits near one of Death Valley's most storied campsites: the place where the… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · dvnha.org
Ashford Mill Site
The ruins of Ashford Mill lie 121 feet (37 m) below sea level in the southern valley — the… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Mesquite Dunes
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are Death Valley's largest and most accessible dune field, spread… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: nps.gov · nps.gov · wikidata.org
The Ranch at Death Valley
The Ranch at Death Valley occupies the site of Greenland Ranch, established in 1883 by Wil… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: legendsofamerica.com · en.wikipedia.org · nps.gov
Emigrant Ranger Station
The Emigrant Ranger Station is a stone building near Death Valley's western entrance, comp… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: livingnewdeal.org · hmdb.org
Borax Museum
The Borax Museum, housed in a building dating to 1883, is a mining-history museum dedicate… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Mission Ruins
The Mission Ruins are the remains of an adobe structure at the heart of the Furnace Creek… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: oasisatdeathvalley.com · legendsofamerica.com
Borax Museum Exhibits
The Borax Museum is Death Valley's most richly stocked outdoor history exhibit. At its cor… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wonderfulmuseums.com · inspiredimperfection.com
Furnace Creek Ranch Stables
Furnace Creek Ranch Stables offers guided horseback rides across the Death Valley floor, o… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: furnacecreekstables.com · oasisatdeathvalley.com
Burnt Wagons Point
Burnt Wagons Point marks a former settlement close to Stovepipe Wells, roughly 55 miles (8… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Wildlife Overlook
This birding platform alongside the Furnace Creek airport road is one of the few purpose-b… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: medium.com
Confidence Mill Site
The Confidence Mill Site is the remains of an 1890s gold-processing mill in the Ibex Hills… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: walkingwildandfree.com
Ibex Dunes
Ibex Dunes are the most remote and least-visited dune field in Death Valley, tucked behind… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: nps.gov · faculty.epss.ucla.edu · wikidata.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Death Valley?
Ubehebe Crater, Harmony Borax Works, Pogo Mine and more — 31 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Death Valley guide free?
The first 5 spots are free to read; the other 26 unlock with a one-time purchase (not a subscription).