We wanted to catch the superbloom. By the time we got there, it was already done. That’s fine — Death Valley doesn’t need flowers to be worth the drive, and apparently we needed a reason to finally go. We left Temecula at 5am on April 4th, kids in tow: Sophia, and Oliver. Our day trips have a habit of pushing the definition of “day trip,” and this one was no exception.
The drive out was about 4.5 hours. We stopped to fuel up somewhere along the way — $105.67 for 13.378 gallons of diesel, which felt about right for a car doing a 500-mile round trip through nowhere.
Furnace Creek
First stop was the Furnace Creek Visitor Center — we collect the National Parks passport stamps, so this was mandatory. The sign out front read 80°F when we pulled in. Cool enough that it felt pleasant after the drive. We got the stamp, grabbed some water, looked at the exhibits that were there, and moved on.
Zabriskie Point
From the visitor center we drove up to Zabriskie Point. The views there are legitimately hard to describe — layered badlands in every shade of tan and gold, carved ridgelines that look like they belong on another planet. We got the family photo.
Sophia decided Oliver needed a kiss on the head. Worth every minute of the drive — and I’m keeping that photo for the future when they are fighting and need a reminder that they have always loved each other.
20 Mule Team Canyon
20 Mule Team Canyon was a highlight I didn’t expect. It’s a one-way unpaved loop off the main road — the kind of place you wouldn’t even notice unless you were looking for it. Once you’re in it, you’re driving through narrow canyon walls with nobody else around. Formations you can’t see from the highway, no crowds, total quiet except for the crunch of the road. We took our time going through here and found ourselves looking in every direction.
Artist Drive
Artist Drive is another one-way road, this one paved, that winds through some genuinely strange geology. The main stop is Artist’s Palette; a hillside where the rock is streaked in green, pink, yellow, and purple from oxidized minerals. It looks artificial. It’s not. By this point we were in the 90s temperature-wise, dropping elevation as we headed toward the basin floor.
Badwater Basin
Badwater Basin sits at 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America. We pulled up, took the photo by the sign, and walked out onto the salt flats. The salt is real — I tasted it to confirm. It was salty. Sophia was starting to fade by this point, running on no nap and five hours of stimulus. She made her feelings known by screaming DADDY NO! as we made our way back to the truck.
The Drive Home
The drive back was five hours — traffic added the extra half. Sophia was asleep within minutes, holding a portable fan pointed directly at her face that we’ve learned to never leave home without. Oliver rode it out in his carseat like a professional.
We exited south out of the park and caught one last view — roadside sand dunes catching the afternoon light. A good note to end on.
5am start, 6pm home, two kids, one national park. We’ll do it again.