Dante’s View offers a wide vista of Death Valley National Park with the Badwater Basin below, rimmed by the Panamint Mountain Range. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Death Valley is the largest of America’s national parks, at 3.4 million acres. Visitors should have a vehicle with high clearance and lots of water. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park is the lowest spot in North America at 282 feet below sea level. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The highest spot in the park, Telescope Peak at 11,049 feet, is reflected in standing water in Death Valley’s lowest place, Badwater Basin. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The 600-foot deep Ubehebe Crater is located in the northern area of Death Valley, where a powerful volcanic steam explosion created the the colorful hole in the ground suitable for hiking. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Teakettle Junction is a wide spot on Racetrack road and located six miles from the Racetrack. Travelers on the rough road hang teakettles on signage, creating a sort of open-air art installation. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Rusty old cars dot the landscape of Leadville, a ghost town in Titus Canyon. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The skies above Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are awash with colors at sunrise as a winter storm moves into the area. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Even though the mystery of the moving rocks has been solved, the Racetrack is a huge part of the lore of Death Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Standing water on the edge of the Racetrack. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The setting sun leaves a rim of color on the tops of the Funeral Mountains. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Some of the visitors to Death Valley may choose to stay at the Furnace Creek Ranch, which has two restaurants, a bar, horseback riding and a swimming pool. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Death Valley may be the hottest, lowest and driest location in the country, but on winter evenings the firepits at Furnace Creek Ranch provide warmth and a place to gather. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The Inn at Furnace Creek offers higher-end lodging and dining with a view of the park. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The inn was built by the Pacific Coast Borax Company and opened in 1927 with a spring-fed swimming pool. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Unique salt structures form in the Badwater Basin, where water combines with the natural salt deposits at 282 feet below sea level. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A closer look at a salt formation. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A couple out for an early morning walk in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are dwarfed by the surrounding landscape. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Vegetation dots Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A visitor to the dunes performs her best gymnastic moves on a hill of sand. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
There are places in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes where dried mud forms a patchwork of hard tile-like patterns. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The gas station in Panamint Springs has some of the most expensive gas in the park. For a more affordable fill-up, try the station in Stovepipe Wells Village. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Rhyolite, Nev., a ghost town a short drive away from Death Valley National Park, greets visitors with a giant metal statue of a miner. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The Tom Kelly Bottle House in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nev., was built in 1906 from bottles discarded by the town’s numerous saloons. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Visitors begin their tour of Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley’s Grapevine Canyon, where millionaires Al and Bessie Johnson built a castle in the 1920s after forging a friendship with con man Walter Scott. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The music room of Scotty’s Castle. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A spiral staircase is part of the castle’s unique architecture. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Two of Death Valley Scotty’s hats are displayed in his bedroom. Walter Scott tempted the Johnsons into investing in a fictional gold mine. Even after realizing he was being swindled, Albert Johnson formed a lifelong friendship with the man and even housed him on the property. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Those touring Scotty’s Castle can see a cross on a hilltop next to Scotty’s grave. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Travelers in the park look through telescopes at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A roadrunner scampers across the grounds of the Inn at Furnace Creek. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
A coyote near Panamint Springs. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The stars shine brightly over Death Valley National Park near Furnace Creek Ranch. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
