Photos: Exploring Death Valley National Park by motorcycle

A trio rides through Twenty Mule Team Canyon, a one-way 2.7-mile unpaved loop located in the Furnace Creek area of Death Valley. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

May 30, 2014 11:45 AM PT

The real wonders of a weekend in Death Valley National Park are off the beaten path, preferably on a motorcycle.

Two cyclists explore the landscape shortly after beginning a journey into Death Valley’s Titus canyon. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

The cyclists race through Titus Canyon Narrows. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

A motorcyclist takes a break from some desert riding to photograph the beauty of Titus Canyon Narrows. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

A geography class from West Hills College of Lemoore, Calif., explores the desert as motorcyclists ride past. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

1920s-era Scotty’s Castle is a Spanish-style mansion with its grounds open to the public. Visitors must join a park ranger to tour the castle’s interiors, its system of tunnels or Scotty’s ranch. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

A tourist photographs the beauty of the California desert just east of Father Crowley Vista Point. The motorcyclists are headed east on Highway 190. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

Highway 190 and the west entrance of Death Valley National Park. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, is a landscape of vast salt flats. Beyond it lies Telescope Peak, the highest point within Death Valley National Park and the tallest peak of the Panamint Range. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)