Death Valley National Park 

For another December birthdays and Christmas trip, we visited Death Valley National Park. Death Valley is another vast national park, and on this trip we explored the section closest to Las Vegas.

Even though the landscape appears harsh at first glance, it quickly became one of the most unforgettable parks we have visited together as a family.  

The immense scale of the park is difficult to understand until you stand within it. Surrounded by mountain ranges, salt flats, and endless desert valleys, the landscape feels almost otherworldly. One of the most memorable stops was Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Standing out on the salt flats while looking up toward the mountains creates a beautiful contrast.

Despite the name “Death Valley”,  there is an incredible beauty to the colors, silence and open space of the desert. The sweeping overlooks allowed us to see the vast valley stretching for miles below.

Death Valley first became protected as a national monument in 1933 under President Herbwert Hoover and later became a national park in 1994. Today it is the largest national park in the contiguous United States outside of Alaska. The park preserves not only dramatic desert landscaped but also the homestead of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, whose history is this region goes back centuries.

Trips like this remind me how much I enjoy exploring the National Park with my family. Every park has its own personality, and Death Valley National Park was a remarkable experience with its vast landscapes and dramatic mountain views.