Zabriskie Point
Death Valley is home to a wide variety of unique landscapes, and other than maybe Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point is one of the most popular and iconic sites in the entire park. It makes for a nice quick pit stop in the summer or a scenic hike in the cooler months. If you’re entering Death Valley National Park from the east on Route 190, then Zabriskie Point will be one of the first real attractions you’ll encounter.
There is a parking area off of Route 190 about 7.5 miles west of the pay station and about 4.5 miles east of Furnace Creek.
From the parking area, there is a short paved path that leads up to a scenic overlook that provides incredible views of the surrounding colorful landscape with the Black Mountains in the background. The view is particularly spectacular at sunrise or sunset. If you’ve ever visited the Badlands of South Dakota, the striated mountains will look very familiar.
If you would prefer to immerse yourself in the surrounding lunar landscape, the Badlands Loop hike begins just north of the parking area and takes you down into the badlands below Zabriskie Point. The 2.5-mile hike is not difficult, but the intense heat of Death Valley National Park makes any hike potentially dangerous. Even short hikes like this require what may seem like excessive amounts of water, and should be avoided in the middle of the day during the summer.
Read More: Top Things to do in Death Valley
Despite being the largest national park in the lower-48, it doesn’t take long to see most of the most popular sites in the park in a matter of one or two days. Part of this is because it’s so incredibly hot that you don’t want to spend too much time outside of your vehicle (especially in the summer), and part is because many of the highlights are easily accessible from the primary park roads and are not particularly spread out from one another. If you only plan on a quick visit or even just driving through Death Valley, Zabriskie Point is not to be missed.