There are few places on earth quite like Death Valley. Within this huge national park you’ll find epic sand dunes, rugged mountains, vast salt flats, intricate canyons and multi-coloured landscapes that feel like you’re walking through a paint pot.
This remarkable national park has so much to do that packing it all into a day is quite difficult - but if you follow our itinerary we’ll make sure you don’t miss any of the highlights! If you’re driving between Los Angeles and Las Vegas you just can’t miss stopping at Death Valley.
So here’s the definitive one day guide to Death Valley, checking off all the unmissable highlights.
How to visit Death Valley like a pro
Before you start
This is a pretty full on itinerary so be prepared for an early start and a late finish! To be able to cover the best things to do, you will want to leave pretty early.
This itinerary has been based around visiting in the cooler temperatures. We do not recommend hiking or doing any of the more vigorous parts of the itinerary in the summer as temperatures regularly go above 100F here (it holds the record for the highest temperature recorded on Earth).
Prepare - bring your own food and fill up on gas
As you can imagine, simple amenities aren’t cheap in Death Valley. Being a long way away from civilisation means that meals can cost a lot of money! We’d recommend packing a lunch before you leave as the prices in the park are eye-watering. If you are visiting any time other than winter, then bring a lot of water as it is seriously hot!
Similarly, gas is phenomenally expensive - it is the middle of the desert after all! So make sure you fill up before you enter the park.
You will do a lot of driving
Death Valley is HUGE and you will do a lot of driving, no matter what you choose to see. If you plan on just doing a day trip, then this will be even more. However, don’t let this put you off because the. driving is absolutely spectacular! Every single road we travelled in this national park was truly beautiful. Load up on snacks and enjoy the ride!
Death Valley in one day
Entering from California - The road from Panamint Springs
The road from Panamint Springs to the heart of the park is pretty stunning and we recommend taking the opportunity to pull over when there’s a good lay by and take in the view. The road goes straight into the mountains and the desert stretches for miles in all directions.
Early morning/sunrise - Zabriskie Point
If you decide that you want to catch a sunrise in the park, the best spot is definitely Zabriskie Point. This view is incredible at any time of day, but is extra special when you have the soft light of sunrise.
The viewpoint is a very short walk from the car park which is completely paved, making it easy for everyone to access.
Take the hike to Golden Canyon
We highly recommend taking one of the hiking paths that lead from Zabriskie Point. The trails here lead through a warren of ridges and canyons, with the highlight being the full trail to the Golden Canyon.
This hike has it all and you will pass hundreds of spectacular views whilst navigating this never-ending landscape. However, if you want to pack in a lot of other places you probably won’t have time to do the full trail, even walking for half a mile or so from Zabriskie Point will take you through some of the parks best scenery, and you’ll escape most of the crowds too.
It’s no small statement to say that this is one of the best hikes we did on the west coast of America.
Dante’s View
The drive up to Dante’s View is pretty steep - so steep in fact that it’s not recommended for some vehicles and trailers to use at all!
However, it’s well worth the drive and the view is absolutely spectacular, looking out over the expanse of Death Valley. You can see for miles up there and it is one of the best views in the whole of the park.
Badwater Salt Flats
The Badwater Salt Flats are incredible and are a highlight of any trip to Death Valley. From the car park you can walk for miles across the salt flat.
It’s a strange sensation walking across the salt crust as it crunches under your feet - it’s like walking on snow without the cold weather!
Obviously with just a day you won’t want to go too far and you’ll hit the salt almost as soon as you leave the car park, however, it’s worth noting that the pristine white salt takes around 20 minutes to get to. The salt nearest the car park is a mixture of white, grey and black in colour.
Standing on the bright white salt and looking out to the desert and mountains in the distance is an other-worldly experience.
Badwater Salt Flats are a great place to go star-gazing if you stay around the area overnight. The dry conditions, lack of light pollution and stable weather around Death Valley make this an exceptional place to see the night sky.
Artist’s Palette
For an incredible dry and arid place, Death Valley landscape is full of surprises - the biggest being the Artist’s Palette. Within this canyon is a bright, multi-coloured mountainside that looks exactly as the name suggests. You’ll see rocks of all colours directly from the lookout in the car park but you can also walk into the mountains if you want to immerse yourself.
We only walked for around ten minutes and got up close to so many incredible colours, it almost didn’t feel real. What makes it even more remarkable is the surrounding area is a relatively drab browny - yellow colour!
Sunset - The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
Another highlight of Death Valley is the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Almost out of nowhere these huge, towering sand dunes appear, adding to the amazing variety of things you can see in Death Valley in one day.
We recommend coming here for sunset to enjoy a really spectacular show to finish your day. It will also mean you avoid walking in the heat of the day.
The tip is to arrive at least an hour before the sun is due to set and start walking away from the car park. The best spots are on the sand dunes that are at least half mile from the parking lot as they are taller and have very few people there.
This is sand though, so the walk is slow and pretty tiring. However, getting to the top of one of these dunes will offer panoramic views of this stunning national park - a fitting way to end an epic day in Death Valley.
Key information about visiting Death Valley in a day
Getting to Death Valley
Death Valley is a long way from most cities, so before you leave make sure you’ve filled up with gas. The fuel in the park is incredibly expensive!
It is a four hour drive from Los Angeles and just under two hours from Lone Pine in the beautiful Alabama Hills of the Sierra Mountains. From Las Vegas it’s a 2 hour 30 drive.
If you’re doing a road trip, our recommendation would be to visit Alabama Hills, then visit Death Valley before finishing in Las Vegas.
If you want more than a day
There are plenty of things to do and places to stay if you fancy spending longer in Death Valley - it’s actually what we strongly recommend if you have the chance. This way you don’t have to compress everything into a single day, especially when you could spend 4-6 hours driving!
Entrance Fee for Death Valley
Death Valley is a National Park, so it is covered on the Annual Pass you can buy for $80 at any national park. If you want to buy an entry just for this park, then the following fees apply:
Entrance fee per vehicle: $30
Entrance fee per person on foot or bicycle: $15
Entrance fee per motocycle: $25
Annual Death Valley Pass: $55
Entry tickets can be bought at visitors centres in Stovepipe Wells, Furnace Creek or along the Daylight Pass Road to Beatty. Just make sure you have a ticket before embarking on any of the Death Valley hikes.
Where to stay in Death Valley if you want to make it an overnighter
There are four options in Death Valley which range from central but expensive, to far out, but a lot cheaper. This will be the choice you have to make (well, unless you fancy camping in the park which is a great option if you have limited time). The most central area is Furnace Creek.
Furnace Creek - The Inn at Death Valley
Furnace Creek is the prime location for visiting Death Valley as you can reach almost everywhere of interest in a relatively short journey. The Inn at Death Valley isn’t cheap, but you’ll be waking up to this incredible landscape in the premium location. If you can stretch your budget this is definitely where you want to be.
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Beatty - El Portal (40 minutes from Death Valley)
If you don’t fancy camping, then Beatty is the cheapest option for accommodation when visiting Death Valley, and this is where we stayed. The hitch is that the journeys are much longer (it will take 40 minutes to get to Stovepipe Wells and 50 minutes to Furnace Creek) and the town has little going for it - only the RV park sells fresh food for example and even that was limited!
We didn’t stay at El Portal but wish we did. We went for the cheapest option in town and let’s just say you get what you pay for (we’ll spare you the gruesome details but it wasn’t a clean room!).
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Pahrump - Holiday Inn Express & Suites (1 hour 15 from Death Valley)
The final option would be Pahrump. We didn’t visit this location but read a lot about it ahead of time. It has a far greater range of accommodation and is probably a lot nicer than Beatty but as it was slightly further out so we chose Beatty. With hindsight that might not have been the best choice.
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites is one of the best choices outside of the park and offers everything you expect: comfortable, big rooms and a great place to rest up after a day hiking in the park.
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Are you planning a trip to the west coast? What would you put into a 1 day itinerary for Death Valley? Let us know in the comments below!
