From one California overlook, you can see the highest and lowest points in America at once

A mile above Death Valley’s floor

Death Valley National Park covers 3.4 million acres, the largest national park in the lower 48 states. Most of it bakes at the bottom.

But drive up to the crest of the Black Mountains, and you hit Dante’s View at 5,476 feet, where the whole valley spreads out below you in every direction.

Badwater Basin sits directly beneath you, 282 feet below sea level. The vertical drop between where you stand and the salt flats down there is more than a mile.

A deputy sheriff picked the spot in 1926

Businessmen from the Pacific Coast Borax Company spent April 1926 searching for the best viewpoint in Death Valley. They had almost settled on Chloride Cliff in the Funeral Mountains.

Then Charlie Brown, a local deputy sheriff from Greenwater, brought them to this ridge on the Black Mountains instead. One look and the decision was made.

They named it after Dante Alighieri, the 14th-century Italian poet whose Divine Comedy walks through the circles of Hell, the terraces of Purgatory and the spheres of Paradise.

Two elevation records from one spot

Look northwest on a clear day and you can spot Mount Whitney, 85 miles out beyond the Panamint Range. At 14,505 feet, it holds the title of the highest point in the contiguous United States.

Now look straight down. Badwater Basin sits 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America.

Very few places in the country put that kind of spread in front of you at the same time, from a single piece of ground.

Salt flats that stretch nearly 200 square miles

Directly below, the white crust of Badwater Basin covers the valley floor. Those salt flats run nearly 200 square miles, made mostly of sodium chloride.

Beyond them, the Panamint Range rises sharply on the far side. Telescope Peak crowns the range at 11,049 feet, the highest point in the park.

The vertical rise from the basin floor to that summit is more than 11,300 feet across just 15 miles. The scale hits you all at once from up here.

Spot tiny figures on the basin with binoculars

Turn north and you can see Furnace Creek with the Funeral Mountains rising behind it. To the east, the Greenwater Range stretches out toward the horizon.

The ridge continues south toward Coffin Peak, and the overlook sits on its north side along the Black Mountains crest. Bring binoculars or a zoom lens and you can pick out tiny figures walking the salt flats far below.

They look like ants on a white tablecloth.

Walk the ridge in either direction

Trails extend along the ridgeline from the parking area both ways. A short path heads north to a rocky point with wide-open views of the entire valley.

Another trail runs south to a second viewpoint area.

The ground is rocky and the elevation can slow you down, but most people handle it fine at an easy pace. Give yourself 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how far you want to go.

The farther you walk, the fewer people you see.

The 8-mile ridge hike to Mt. Perry

If the short ridge walk leaves you wanting more, keep going north toward Mt. Perry. The round trip covers about eight miles with roughly 1,200 feet of elevation gain along the ridgeline.

Views open up in both directions as the valley stretches out below you. Far fewer people venture this far, so solitude comes easily.

This one is best for experienced hikers who are comfortable on exposed terrain. You earn every mile of quiet out here.

It’s 25 degrees cooler than the valley floor

Temperatures at Dante’s View typically run 15 to 25 degrees cooler than down below. Wind at the overlook drops the number even further, especially in fall, winter and spring.

Bring a jacket or windbreaker, even when the valley floor is pushing triple digits. The elevation and breeze make this one of the more comfortable spots in the park during warmer months.

You can stand here in a light layer while the basin below shimmers with heat.

Sunrise paints the Panamint Range first

Dante’s View draws crowds at both ends of the day. At sunrise, the first light hits the Panamint Range while the valley floor stays dark in shadow.

At sunset, the salt flats and surrounding peaks pick up warm color that shifts by the minute. Photographers come back again and again for the way light moves across this much open landscape.

If you want a little space to yourself, walk a short distance along the ridge and let the crowd thin out.

The Milky Way fills the sky on new moon nights

Death Valley earned its Gold Tier International Dark Sky Park designation on Feb. 20, 2013, the highest darkness rating awarded. At 3.4 million acres, it holds the title of the largest Dark Sky Park in the world.

On a new moon night at Dante’s View, the Milky Way stretches across the sky in full detail, edge to edge. During a full moon, the salt flats below glow a ghostly white under the moonlight.

Either way, you won’t want to leave after dark.

A bronze tactile map marks the landscape

The viewing area at Dante’s View has been renovated and stabilized for a better experience.

A bronze tactile map of the surrounding landscape, created by artist Bridget Keimel, lets you trace the peaks and valleys with your fingers.

Private donations and park entrance fees funded the project, with support from the Death Valley Natural History Association and The Fund for People in Parks.

The overlook is wheelchair accessible from the parking area, and vault toilets are available on site.

An 80-mile lake once filled this valley

During the Pleistocene era, a massive body of water called Lake Manly filled Death Valley. It stretched about 80 miles long and reached up to 600 feet deep.

As the climate warmed after the last Ice Age, the lake slowly dried up. What it left behind is the thick salt crust that now covers the basin floor.

Stand at Dante’s View and you look down on the ancient bed of a vanished inland sea, bone dry for thousands of years.

Drive up to Dante’s View in Death Valley

You can reach Dante’s View by taking Dante’s View Road, about 25 miles south of Furnace Creek. The drive takes roughly 45 minutes, and the last stretch climbs steeply at a 14 percent grade.

The road is paved the whole way, but vehicles over 25 feet in combined length cannot use the final six miles. A paved parking area sits at the top with a wheelchair-accessible viewing platform.

Death Valley National Park requires an entrance pass, which currently costs $30 per vehicle and covers seven days.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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