If you are visiting Death Valley in the cooler winter months, you can easily spend a week here exploring the different hiking trails, camping, and exploring all of the different sights.
But if you are thinking about visiting Death Valley anywhere between May 1st and November 1st, it will be far too hot to tackle any longer hikes. A full day of road tripping will cover a lot of ground (especially with this helpful itinerary, of course, nudge nudge!).
I did this whole itinerary in one day and started a little bit late, so I’ll add a few additional spots to stop at if you are more of a morning person than I am and manage to hit the road before 10 am!
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Closest Airport to Death Valley
The closest airport to Death Valley is the Las Vegas Airport. There are usually very cheap flights here, especially if you can manage to get one during the week. You can rent a car in Las Vegas and immediately hit the road.
If you land early enough in the day, you can drive to Death Valley and spend the night within the park. If you land later in the afternoon, you’re better off staying the night about an hour from Las Vegas in the town of Pahrump.
🛌 Where to Stay on Night One
If your flight lands earlier in the day, you can spend one and a half days in the park, which allows you to take your time a little bit more. Just make sure that you fill up your tank in Pahrump because once you enter the National Park, the gas is prohibitively expensive (Over $6 a gallon!).
Staying in Death Valley National Park
Staying inside the park is the more expensive option, although if you book in advance, you may be able to get a good deal. You can also camp during the cooler months, but camping is not allowed between May and November.
Food options are also much more limited here, so you’ll want to bring a cooler with plenty of breakfast and lunch options and double-check the restaurant opening times at the hotels so you don’t miss dinner.
- The Inn at Death Valley – Starting at $145 per night
- The Ranch at Death Valley – Starting at $138 per night
- Stovepipe Wells Village Hotel – Starting at $149 per night
Staying in Pahrump
There are fewer hotel options, but a ton of Airbnb options here that are all pretty affordable in comparison to the hotels. This is a great option for families as well, who require more than just a double bed in a hotel room, or those traveling with pets.
There are also a ton of food options in Pahrump, from local mom and pop restaurants to chain fast food places open late. There is also a big Walmart here where you can stock up on everything you need for your road trip (we bought a cooler here to keep everything cold in the desert!).
- Holiday Inn Express – Starting at $110 per night
- Saddle West Hotel Casino – Starting at $89 per night
- The Hideaway – Airbnb with covered carport starting at $86 per night
- Guesthouse in Pahrump – Airbnb casita starting at $81 per night
Map of One Day in Death Valley
🚗 Drive to Zabriskie Point
The drive from Pahrump to Zabriskie Point takes just under an hour.
As soon as you enter the National Park, there is a sign for a pull-off where there are bathrooms and a pay station. If you already have the America the Beautiful pass, you don’t need to stop here.
However, if you need to purchase your ticket to enter the park, this is the best place to do it. The machines only accept credit or debit cards. If you want to pay with cash, you’ll have to drive first to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. The cost for a pass is $30, and it is valid for 7 days.
Zabriskie Point is a logical first stop because it is the first viewpoint you come to as you enter the park from this side. It also offers a beautiful view over the park to give you an idea of just how big this park is (the largest in the continental US!)
If it’s not too hot and you feel up for it, you can go for a few light hikes from here, particularly the one to Red Cathedral.
If you haven’t yet purchased your park pass and you want to get an annual park pass (the America the Beautiful) or you want to pay in cash or get a map, your next stop should be the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center.
You will likely spend about 10-20 minutes here if you are just stopping for the view. Check AllTrails for detailed maps on the hiking trails.
Zabriskie Point has some stunning mountains in the foreground, and you can just about spot Badwater Basin in the distance.
📍 Stop 2: Badwater Basin
The next few stops are in the order that I did them in, and that was to drive to the furthest point in the journey, Badwater Basin. You’ll pass by the stops for the rest of the day, but it’s best to get to Badwater Basin as early as possible because it is the lowest and therefore hottest place in the National Park.
Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level (about 89 meters).
You park your car in one of the designated parking lots, and then you can walk out onto the salt flats. This basin was once part of Lake Manly, an enormous prehistoric lake that has obviously dried up, leaving behind these thick salt deposits.
There is a small amount of water near the parking lot that you can see for most of the year. If you have a very keen eye (or binoculars) you may be able to see the small endemic snail that manages to survive in this insane heat and dryness.
Give yourself 15-25 minutes to walk around, see the salt flat up close, and take some cool photos. Don’t stay too long if it’s hot!
Badwater Basin still manages to have water in May!
📍 Stop 3: Natural Bridge Trail
After leaving Badwater Basin, you will retrace your footsteps, starting with a stop at Natural Bridge. The road that takes you to the Natural Bridge Trailhead is a one-mile unpaved road, but it is very well packed, so most cars can easily make it down here without a problem.
We had a Hyundai Elantra rental car and took it slow, but made it without incident. Just keep your eyes out for any bigger rocks or potholes.
Once at the trailhead, it is about .5 miles to the Natural Bridge, which is a rock formation that looks like an arch or a bridge that goes over the path. It is worth stopping even on a hot day to check it out. Just make sure you have plenty of sunscreen on, a wide-brimmed hat, and a liter of water each.
The bridge rises 35ft (11m) above the trail, and the bridge is about 35ft thick. The trail to the bridge is made up of small pebbles and sand, which makes walking up to it (it’s also a slight incline) pretty difficult. Take your time and enjoy the canyon along the way.
If you’re visiting in the cooler months, you can take this trail further into the canyon for a longer hike. Just make sure you have enough snacks and water.
As you make your way back to the parking lot, the canyon opens back up, and the view over Badwater Basin is amazing. This was one of my favorite places to view it from in the entire park.
Depending on how slow you take the trails, give yourself about 30 minutes here.
Natural Bridge takes a few minutes to walk to from the parking lot and is a very cool place to see up close.
📍 Stop 4: Devil’s Golf Course
Every single person I saw here was making some sort of golf joke. While not an essential part of the stop, it does make you laugh to think about anyone playing golf on this insane terrain.
The name was given to this area thanks to a guidebook about the area that was written back in the 1930s, where the author said that, “only the devil could play golf on such a surface.”
These salt structures have formed over thousands of years, and indeed, when miners were exploring the area, they discovered that salt could be found as deep as 1,000 feet!
The landscape here is constantly changing due to the winds, and apparently, if you listen closely on a hot day, you can hear the salt cracking. I was there when it was 107 degrees Fahrenheit, though, and I didn’t hear any cracking. Maybe that’s too hot?!
Some people stopped here for a few minutes, snapped photos, and got back in the car. It is difficult to walk on the salt mounds and can be dangerous if you aren’t sure-footed. Give yourself up to 15 minutes here.
Devil’s Golf Course is one of the most unique landscapes I have ever seen!
📍 Stop 5: Artist’s Drive + Artist’s Palette
One of the most picturesque areas in the National Park, Artist’s Drive is a 9-mile one-way road that winds through some absolutely stunning mountains.
The color of the Artist’s Palette, which is one particularly mountain view about halfway along the road, depends largely on time of year and time of day (where the sun is for lighting).
When I went in May at around 2 pm, it wasn’t very bright. But you could see a ton of different colors. While it was pretty cool to see up close, I thought that the first stop along the route was more impressive. I also loved how close to the canyon you get as you drive along the scenic road here.
Just remember that it is a one-way road, so if you see somewhere that you want to stop along the way, stop, because you can’t come back to it unless you drive out and then start again!
The drive takes about 20 minutes since you will want to take it nice and slow and enjoy the views. There are two places to stop, which you’ll want about 10 minutes each for.
Artist’s Palette mountains are bright and colorful.
📍 Stop 6: Golden Canyon
If you want to do some hiking while you’re here, this is another way to access the trail that takes you to Red Canyon and Zabriskie Point.
If you’re up for a short walk, you can walk about 15 minutes to where the canyon opens up, and you get an amazing view of Red Cathedral, an enormous rock that looks quite an awful lot like a cathedral.
Make sure to bring plenty of water. Even though it’s a short walk, it will be very hot at this point in the day, especially if you are visiting from around April to November.
If you don’t want to hike, you can opt to skip this stop altogether because you can’t really see anything from the parking lot.
If you are walking to the viewpoint of the Red Cathedral, give yourself at least 30 minutes here, if not 45.
Red Cathedral is well worth walking to. It’s only about 10 minutes from the parking lot to this viewpoint.
📍 Stop 7: Furnace Creek
If you didn’t stop into Furnace Creek earlier in the day, it’s a nice visitor center with a small museum where you can learn more about the National Park.
It’s also a nice stop at this point in the day because the air conditioning feels glorious, there are bathrooms, and there are snacks and cold drinks to purchase. If you brought your own water bottle (which I hope you did!), then you can refill it with what feels like ice-cold water from the water fountain.
If you made the mistake of not topping up your gas tank before getting to the park, then you can also get some gas here for about $6.50 a gallon.
15-30 minutes at the visitor center is enough time to cool off, read the different plaques around the museum, and grab a cold drink.
📍 Stop 7: Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
The last stop on our whirlwind one-day Death Valley itinerary was to the majestic Mesquite Sand Dunes. It is a beautiful place to visit towards the end of the day when the sun is lower and the light on the dunes makes the whole area light up in a golden hour glow.
The Mesquite Sand Dunes were named for the many Mesquite trees that are scattered around the dunes. These trees have grown in an almost knarled way, their trunks winding left and right.
The reason for this is that they have to try to stay above the sand as it often shifts with the wind. It is a survival mechanism that helps them thrive in this inhospitable landscape.
A few people made the mistake of taking their shoes off at the entrance to the dunes, thinking that they could walk across the sand with bare feet, and they were doing the hot sand run back to the parking lot pretty quickly. This sand gets very hot, so keep your shoes on to walk on it.
You can walk out around the dunes at your own risk. Be sure to always keep the parking lot in view. It is very thick sand and very difficult to walk on, especially when it’s hot.
Give yourself at least 10-15 minutes here to enjoy the dunes, more if you plan to walk further out.
The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes was one of my favorite spots to explore!
📍 Stop 8: Hell’s Gate
As you leave Death Valley National Park and make your way to Beatty, Nevada, there is one last viewpoint worth stopping at. There is a parking lot on your left side. Once you park, cross the street and look for the mound of red rocks almost directly across the crosswalk.
If it’s cooler, you can climb up the trail that leads to the bigger hill to the left. If it’s still warm or you’re done hiking for the day, you can simply stay at this viewpoint and still get an incredible view back over the National Park. It’s the perfect way to say goodbye.
You only need about 5-10 minutes here to take in the views before you head out.
🫏 Spend the Night in Beatty, Nevada
There are roughly 640 people living in Beatty (pronounced like Bay-tee) and roughly 800 wild donkeys. This was enough to convince me to visit this small town about 45 minutes from the exit of the National Park.
It rounds out the one-day Death Valley itinerary very well and allows you to keep road tripping through southern Nevada to places like Ash Meadows, Mt. Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, or Valley of Fire.
There are only about four hotels in Beatty, so it’s not hard to narrow it down. I preferred the Exchange Motel because it’s the most centrally located. It was clean and affordable, and the bed was comfortable.
The other three options are:
The view from Hell’s Gate is wide open, giving you an idea of just how enormous this National Park is.
Where to Go if You Have More Time
If you are spending the night in one of the hotels in Death Valley or you are an early bird and arrived to the park before 9am, then you’ll likely have a few more daylight hours left to explore a few other fantastic spots within the park.
- Ubehebe Crater: This is a stunning volcanic crater that is a whopping 600 feet deep and half a mile across. It’s a two-hour round trip from Furnace Creek, so you want to make sure you have the daylight to explore it. If you have more time, you can camp near the crater, making it well worth the journey.
- Rhyolite Ghost Town: This is a great place to stop on the way to Beatty after you leave the park. It has a little art gallery and a welcome office where you can learn a little bit about the history, and then all of the crumbling buildings have plaques to tell you about what was here back when this was a thriving metropolis!
Tips for Exploring Death Valley
- Bring more water than you think you’ll need. We brought two gallons of water in the trunk, plus we each had a full 32-oz bottle with us in the front seat. Bring electrolyte tabs or packets like Liquid IV or Nuun, or pack a few Gatorades in the cooler.
- Bring lunch and snacks. There aren’t any places to stop for food except at Furnace Creek, and the prices are very high. Stop at a supermarket the night before and pack a picnic in a cooler.
- Don’t forget sunscreen, a wide-brimmed hat (this is my personal favorite), sunglasses, and comfortable walking shoes. If you are very sensitive to the sun, consider a UV shirt for extra protection.