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Zabriskie Point
Photograph by Michael Melford
Not for the faint of heart, Death Valley National Park, in California and Nevada, is hot and dry. Temperatures in the park once hit 134°F (57°C) in July 1913. Zabriskie Point, seen here, offers a spectacular view of the badlands.
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Devil's Cornfield
Photograph by Michael Melford
Thickly clumped stems of arrowweed (Pluchea sericea) form the "corn shocks" of the Devil's Cornfield in Death Valley National Park. A popular nearby area is the Devil's Golf Course, a rocky, salt-encrusted area where "only the devil could play golf."
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Badwater Basin
Photograph by Richard Reid
Visitors to Death Valley's Badwater Basin travel 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level to reach the lowest point in North America. The vast, cracked salt flats that cover the nearly 200 square miles (520 square kilometers) of the basin are made up of sodium chloride, better known as table salt.
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Death Valley Elevation
Photograph by Phil Schermeister
A road sign spells it out for drivers on a lonely stretch in Death Valley National Park: You're well below sea level here. The park is known for extremes: It is North America's driest and hottest spot and it has the lowest elevation on the continent.
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Eureka Dunes
Photograph by Michael Melford
The Eureka Dunes offer an eerie soundtrack to visitors who decide to make their way up its sandy slopes—a mysterious phenomenon known as singing sand results in heavy bass notes and drones that sound like they come from airplanes. The booming sounds only add to the desolate beauty of the dunes, the tallest in California.
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Palm Spring at Saline Valley
Photograph by Michael Melford
The natural hot springs at Saline Valley are sacred to the local Timbisha Shoshone tribe and are a relaxing place for a refreshing dip. The mineral-rich water, filled with calcium carbonate, tend to stop flowing occasionally due to rock fractures.
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Kilns at Wildrose
Photograph by Pete Ryan
Get close enough to the ten beehive-shaped structures that serve as the starting point for the Wildrose Peak Trail in Death Valley National Park and you might smell smoke—but don't panic, it's just a lingering smell from old kilns, which were built in 1876. The kilns were used to process silver and lead ore and are no longer in operation today.
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Natural Arches
Photograph by Ron Koeberer/Aurora Photos
Rocks sculptured by erosion, richly tinted mudstone hills and canyons, luminous sand dunes, and lush oases populate Death Valley National Park. Native Americans, most recently the Shoshone, found ways to adapt to the more recent and forbidding desert conditions that exist here now.
