IN PHOTOS: 14 Freaky Landscapes in Death Valley You Need to See in Your Lifetime

One of the Most Extreme Places in the West Coast

Death Valley National Park covers 3.4 million acres in California’s Mojave Desert and has some of Earth’s strangest landscapes.

It also holds several world records: it’s the biggest national park in the US, the driest place in North America, and the hottest spot on Earth.

Extreme Facts

Death Valley spreads across Eastern California’s northern Mojave Desert.

It’s surrounded by two massive mountain ranges, the Amargosa and Panamint. During past ice ages, Lake Manly filled the valley and created a massive lake 90 miles long.

The valley floor contains an impressive 9,000 feet of built-up sediment. The valley became known as Earth’s hottest place when temperatures hit 134℉  in 1913.

Still, more than 900 types of plants grow in the valley, while animals like kangaroo rats, coyotes, and red-tail hawks have adapted to survive among the salt flats and smooth marble canyons.

Geographical Features

Geographical features of Death Valley including mountains, valleys, and extreme landscapes.

Artist’s Palette

Artist’s Palette is one of Death Valley’s most photographed spots, where rocks stained with different minerals create a rainbow of colors along the winding one-way Artist’s Drive.

Iron in the rocks creates bright reds, pinks, and yellows, while manganese adds splashes of purple, and broken-down mica creates ghostly greens. The formation is 5,000 feet thick from centuries of piled-up volcanic debris.

Love Star Wars? You might recognize this area from Star Wars, where the Jawas captured R2D2.

Badwater Basin Salt Flats

These vast salt flats stretch across nearly 200 square miles of Death Valley at 282 feet below sea level.

A short boardwalk takes you to the salt flats, where different types of salt—sodium chloride, calcite, gypsum, and borax—create geometric salt patterns across this ancient lakebed.

This unique place is home to the rare Badwater snail and salt-loving pickleweed plants near its spring-fed pool.

Ubehebe Crater

This Ubehebe Crater is half a mile wide and up to 777 feet deep, formed when hot magma met underground water, creating powerful steam explosions thousands of years ago.

You can explore it via three trails: Walk the 1.5-mile rim trail for sweeping views, or take on the challenging descent to the crater floor, dropping 700 feet.

For more volcanic features, hike the mile-long uphill path to Little Hebe crater, where you’ll see actual lava formations among gray volcanic ash deposits.

Zabriskie Point Badlands

Over millions of years, erosion has carved Zabriskie Point into one of Death Valley’s most striking sights, creating colorful badlands with dramatic yellow and brown stripes.

This area formed when ancient Furnace Creek Lake dried up 5 million years ago. The leftover sediments tilted and eroded into the amazing landscape you see today.

Standing tall among these otherworldly formations is Manly Beacon, rising 823 feet above the valley floor. Named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, who ran the local borax company, this spot has appeared in movies like Star Wars and draws crowds for Death Valley’s spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

Dante’s View

Dante’s View offers a stunning lookout from its position at 5,475 feet on top of the Black Mountains.

From this dramatic viewpoint, you can see the extreme contrasts of America’s most extreme landscapes, including Badwater Basin far below at -282 feet and Telescope Peak rising to 11,049 feet.

The overlook got its name from the Italian poet Dante Alighieri in 1926, and later became famous as the filming location for the Mos Eisley spaceport in Star Wars.

Natural Bridge Canyon

Not far from Dante’s View, you’ll discover another of Death Valley’s remarkable features in Natural Bridge Canyon.

The natural bridge spans 50 feet across the canyon walls and is one of only 17 major natural bridges in the park.

You can reach Natural Bridge Canyon by driving 1.5 miles on a dirt road off Badwater Road, then hiking a 2-mile round trip trail.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Though they cover less than 1% of the park, the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are one of the most popular spots at Death Valley.

They rise dramatically to heights of 100 feet, creating a landscape so striking that Hollywood used it as the backdrop for Star Wars’ planet Tatooine.

Here you’ll find three types of dunes—crescent, linear, and star-shaped—all formed by wind-blown sand from nearby canyons.

Mosaic Canyon

This 4-mile round-trip hike leads through polished marble walls and narrow passages, showing off beautiful formations where angular rock pieces are naturally cemented together like a mosaic.

The canyon has three narrow sections that reveal rock layers 750-900 million years old, shaped by countless flash floods. A

s you hike, you’ll face increasingly challenging obstacles, including a tilted 20-foot dry waterfall at 1.5 miles, before reaching the grand finale: a 25-foot vertical dry waterfall in a natural amphitheater.

Desolation Canyon

Located just 3.7 miles south of CA-190, this 3.6-mile round-trip hike takes you through a maze of colorful badlands and volcanic formations in the Black Mountains.

You’ll need to carefully climb over two challenging dry waterfalls which are 8 and 6 feet high. While there aren’t official trail markers, the canyon’s natural drainage shows you the way.

Racetrack Playa Sailing Stones

Deep in Death Valley’s remote backcountry lies one of nature’s most puzzling mysteries: the sailing stones of Racetrack Playa.

This 3-mile-long dry lakebed, sitting at 3,708 feet elevation, features rocks that appear to move on their own, leaving long trails behind them.

Scientists finally solved the mystery in 2013, discovering that thin sheets of ice, water, and wind work together to push these rocks at speeds of 7 to 16 feet per minute during rare weather conditions.

Devil’s Golf Course

Rising from Death Valley’s sun-baked floor, Devil’s Golf Course is a landscape of sharp salt crystals stretching 40 miles across the Mojave Desert.

These razor-sharp salt formations grow incredibly slowly, just one inch every 35 years, creating a terrain that looks like coral reefs. The salt flat formed when ancient Lake Manly dried up 2,000-4,000 years ago.

On hot days, you can hear strange popping sounds as the crystals expand in the heat.

Eureka Dunes

Far in Death Valley’s remote northwestern corner, you’ll find California’s tallest sand dunes in Eureka Valley.

These impressive dunes rise 680 feet above an ancient lakebed and stretch three miles long.

They also support a delicate ecosystem, including five types of beetles and three plants found nowhere else on Earth.

Golden Canyon

Golden Canyon has winding corridors of sun-warmed, amber-colored cliffs just two miles south of CA-190. Check out the dramatic rock layers filled with huge boulders and delicate deposits of silt and clay.

You can choose from several trails ranging from 2 to 7.8 miles, with the highlight being the stunning Red Cathedral formation.

Furnace Creek Formation

Furnace Creek Formation tells a 7,000-foot-thick story of ancient geological processes.

Visiting Death Valley in 2025

If you’re planning to visit Death Valley National Park in 2025, the best time is between October and April. Entrance fee is $30, with free days available. No public transportation exists, so plan for gas stops.