Dodging the heat in Death Valley

Extreme heat danger

Walking after 10.00 AM not recommended

Summer temperatures in Death Valley can reach as high as 47 Celsius / 116 Fahrenheit. Even in mid-October, when we visited, daytime highs were in the mid 30s Celsius / 90s Fahrenheit. Signs in various places warn against walking in these conditions. Nevertheless visitors want to see as much of this amazing landscape as they can, even if that involves taking some risks. We saw quite a few people venturing much further into the desert areas than we felt comfortable doing.

Of course we too wanted to see as much as possible, but I struggle in very hot weather. The solution? Choose walks that offer some shade, in a couple of the canyons that are to be found among the desert mountains here. Or get higher, where temperatures are naturally more moderate. So here is a selection of shorter walks that worked for us, for this week’s Monday Walks post.

Mosaic Canyon

The unpaved Mosaic Canyon Road (passable in a regular car) led us from the flat land around Stovepipe Wells Village towards a more mountainous area. From the parking area we followed a gravel path between rock walls that gradually closed in on us. Some of the rock was smooth as marble, in other places it lived up to the name of mosaic.

Walking into the canyon

We didn’t walk the full length of the canyon, which is about two miles long (so a four mile walk in and out again). When we reached a point where the path became more challenging, with slick rock to scramble over, we decided enough was enough given the heat in particular, so retraced our steps to the car.

Looking out of the canyon, and some of the formations that give it its name

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

The sign in my header photo is at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Despite its warning, we noticed several people walking well out into the dunes. We contented ourselves with a very short walk from the car, to get a few photos of another distinctive Death Valley landscape.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Artist’s Palette and Golden Canyon

After exploring Badwater Basin early the following morning (see my previous post), we took the one-way loop known as Artist’s Drive. This leads through some of the more colourful hills, reflecting the different minerals in the rocks, which give the drive its name. By now it was again very hot. We stopped for photos at the Artist’s Palette viewpoint but didn’t venture too far along the very exposed track.

Artist’s Palette (spot the people to get a sense of the scale here)

The path at Golden Canyon offered more shade. As with Mosaic Canyon we didn’t walk the full two miles but we did go far enough to capture some of the rather different rock formations here.

Golden Canyon

Dante’s View

The best advice if you want to dodge the heat in Death Valley is to get higher. To do just that we drove out to Dante’s View, about an hour from Furnace Creek. The road wound upwards and as we climbed we noticed the temperature gauge in the car dropping – from 86F at the bottom of the road to 75F at the top.

The road to Dante’s View and visitors at the viewpoint

When we got out of the car we loved this more moderate temperature and the pleasant breeze, so we decided to walk out along the point of land leading from the parking area. The views across the valley were stunning and I took far too many photos!

At Dante’s View

We were surprised to see dragonflies up here, miles from any water! I later read that some animal and insect species are relics of when this valley did contain water and have adapted to live in its now much harsher environment.

Dragonflies at Dante’s View

Of course there was much in the park that we didn’t see. Some areas are best reached in a 4×4, which we didn’t have. Some were too remote to include in our short two day stay. And some were closed due to road conditions. Nevertheless we felt we got a reasonable picture of this iconic national park that had long been on my wish-list.

I visited Death Valley in October 2024