Daytime highs reached a temperature of 127⁰F for four days in a row. The average temperature was 108.1⁰F including overnight lows. In July 2018, the hottest place on Earth experienced its hottest month on record. A stark day fades to evening at Badwater Basin. After thousands of years, enough salts have settled here at the bottom of the continent to create this vast, surreal scene. As the water evaporates, minerals concentrate until only the salts remain. Here, at Badwater Basin, the water forms temporary lakes after heavy storms. But how did the salt get there? Rain and minerals dissolved from rocks drain to lower elevations. What many visitors mistake for snow covering the ground is actually a thick layer of salt on the valley floor. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is a surreal landscape that tricks the senses. Death Valley is the lowest point in North America. In celebration of the park’s anniversary, here are 12 things you might not have known about Death Valley!ġ. Located in both California and Nevada, it’s the largest national park in the lower 48 states and has nearly 1,000 miles of roads that provide access to both popular and remote locations in the park. More than just a scorching desert, Death Valley offers park visitors a striking contrast of landscapes to explore - from the snow that frosts the park’s towering peaks to the lush wildflower meadows and small oases that provide a reprieve from the heat to seemingly endless desert plains.Įstablished on October 24, 1994, Death Valley National Park is a beautiful but challenging landscape where unique wildlife have developed ingenious adaptations to the arid, harsh environment.

As the hottest, driest and lowest national park, Death Valley is a land of extremes.

Deadly feet update