"Death Valley California " a Death Valley National Park Travel Page by RAINBOWWINGS

Death Valley National Park, the most spectacular, hottest and lowest place on Earth! My mouth is still hanging open at the stunning scenery in this amazing place. Over 3 million acres of desert wilderness but teaming with wildlife this is a must to visit. Full of natural history with remains of the first settlers in this area dating back 10,000 years, who hunted big game, then the native indians who over 2,000 years ago lived by a 30ft deep lake, hunting smaller game and gathering seeds. Then in the mid 1800s the gold rush took place and as miners moved in they pushed the native indians out. They searched for gold ,silver and borax but by 1910 most of the mines had ceased to operate and only borax had been found.
As you drive thru the desert, a National Park, youŽll see lots of old, crumbled disused mines and wander how they ever managed to live, work AND survive in this extremely harsh environment. Only a handful of towns/villages remain, which most have been put back together again and use in tourism. The only way to see Death Valley is by car as public transport does not enter the Park, but you can do a coach tour from Las Vegas.

An oasis in the middle of Death Valley but also the hottest with summer temperatures reaching 134F, second highest temp recorded in the world with only the Sahara Desert beating it by 2 degrees in 1922. Normal summer temps stay around 120F, with the winter being mild and sunny with just an occasional storm. Furnace Creek is also the centre of Information for Death Valley and you can meet the rangers and see slides etc of the area.