After you've seen
Death Valley's top sights, there's plenty more to explore. These sights are perfect for your second Death Valley visit:
- Aguereberry Point: It's well worth the half-hour, six-mile drive off Emigrant Canyon Road to reach this panoramic vista point which overlooks the Furnace Creek Ranch and much of Death Valley from a height of 6,433 feet. Follow the fairly easy, wide trail that runs to the left of the big rock formation all the way to the end for the best views. Stop along the road to check out the Eureka Mine. This road is not paved, but most passenger vehicles with good clearance can make it.
- Wildrose Charcoal Kilns: Built by the Modock Mining Company in 1877 to make charcoal fuel for silver-mine smelters 25 miles away, these 25-foot-tall kilns are some of the best surviving examples of charcoal kilns in the Western U. S. They're four miles up Wildrose Canyon Road from its intersection with Emingrant Canyon Road.
- Harmony Borax Works: Located just off Highway 190 north of Furnace Creek, this plant processed as much as three tons of borax a day from 1883 through 1888. You can wander among the rusting remains of machinery and buildings.
- The Racetrack: Named for the oval shape of the flat, dry, lake bed, this place holds one of Death Valley's most intriguing mysteries. The boulders here, some of which weigh up to 700 pounds, move across the perfectly flat ground, leaving trails behind them to show you where they've been. This unusual spot is 28 miles southwest of Ubehebe Crater via an unpaved road (high-clearance vehicles recommended). Because the road conditions make going slow, the round trip will take most of a day.
- Mosaic Canyon: A short drive off the highway from Stovepipe Wells, this is one of Death Valley's most scenic and accessible slot canyons. The first mile in is the most interesting.
- Rhyolite: Located east of the national park on Bureau of Land Management property west of Beatty, Nevada, this is the best-preserved ghost town in the Death Valley area. At its peak, about 6,000 people lived here. Today, you'll find the well-preserved Bottle House and train depot, along with a three-story bank building, school, jail and store.