Best trails in Death Valley National Park
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Visitor info
National Park Service regulations allow school groups and other approved national and international academic institutions to obtain a waiver of Park entrance fees, provided that visit is for educational or scientific purposes, and the resources or facilities that the group intends to use, support those purposes. Submit your waiver through the link below at least one month prior to your visit.
This permit allows persons traveling on one motorcycle to leave and re-enter the park as many times as they wish during the 7-day period from the date of purchase.
Non-commercial Groups (e.g., Scout groups, church groups, etc.) entering in a vehicle with a capacity of 16 persons or more are charged per-person for each person on board, not to exceed $200.
This permit allows a single individual traveling on foot or individuals traveling on one bicycle to leave and re-enter the park as many times as they wish during the 7-day period from the date of purchase.
This permit allows all persons traveling with the permit holder in one single private, non-commercial vehicle (car/truck/van/RV/aircraft) to leave and re-enter the park as many times as they wish during the 7-day period from the date of purchase.
This pass allows all persons traveling with the pass holder in one single private, non-commercial vehicle (car/truck/van) or those on a motorcycle to leave and re-enter the park as many times as they wish for 12 months from the month of purchase.
Join millions of people who enjoy our National Parks with the "America the Beautiful" National Park & Federal Recreational Lands Pass, otherwise known as the Interagency Annual Pass. The pass is valid for a year's worth of visits from the month of purchase at more than 2,000 federal recreation sites across the country.
No entrance pass required on these days:
Monday, January 20 — Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Saturday, April 19 — First day of National Park Week
Thursday, June 19 — Juneteenth National Independence Day
Monday, August 4 — Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
Saturday, September 27 — National Public Lands Day
Tuesday, November 11 — Veterans Day
The Interagency Access Pass is accepted here.
The Furnace Creek Visitor Center and Scotty’s Castle are accessible to visitors using mobility equipment or strollers and have wheelchair accessible restrooms. Orientation films include closed captioning. Social stories are available at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and on the website.
Loaner wheelchairs, assistive listening devices, audio descriptions, tactile exhibits, and Braille materials are available.
Many ranger-led programs have ASL interpreters available by reservation. Please contact the park at least 2 weeks in advance to make a reservation for interpretation services.
Additional information about accessibility at Death Valley National Park can be found on their website: https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm.
The Furnace Creek Visitor Center and Scotty’s Castle are accessible to visitors using mobility equipment or strollers and have wheelchair accessible restrooms. Orientation films include closed captioning. Social stories are available at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and on the website.
The Furnace Creek Ranch has wheelchair accessible rooms. It also has a wheelchair accessible general store, restaurants, saloon, borax museum, and post office. Furnace Creek Inn and Stovepipe Wells Resort have wheelchair accessible rooms. They also have wheelchair accessible swimming pools with lifts.
There are accessible restrooms or vault toilets at the following trailheads: Badwater, Zabriskie Point, Sand Dunes, Charcoal Kilns, Artist’s Palette parking on Artist’s Drive, and Ashford Mill.
Furnace Creek Campground has individual wheelchair accessible camping sites and restrooms.
Texas Spring Campground has individual wheelchair accessible camping sites and restrooms in the upper loop.
Sunset Campground has 16 individual wheelchair accessible camping sites and restrooms.
Stovepipe Wells Campground and Mesquite Springs Campground have no individual wheelchair accessible camping sites but have accessible restrooms and parking.
Thorndike Campground and Mahogany Flat Campground have no individual wheelchair accessible camping sites but do have accessible vault toilets.
Service animals must be on-leash throughout the park.
Trail reviews for Death Valley National Park
Climbed Mt. Perry today from Dante's Overlook. Absolutely incredible hike. Very rewarding w/ stunning views the entire afternoon. The trail is heavily traveled & easy to follow. Mt. Perry looks intimidating & technical during the approach, but it's not. There's a summit register to sign-in. Overall, my Garmin recorded 9.3 miles with 2,600 ft. of elevation gain & climb time of 4.5 hrs. This was the best way to experience a 1/2 day in Death Valley NP! Interesting note -- I had an issue with honey bees in the parking lot. They were harmless & didn't sting me, but I found them all over my car, my gear & myself. Didn't see a nest or anything & wasn't sure what was going on there. They weren't aggressive or anything & just a minor inconvenience.
Great and well maintained trail. Views are amazing—Mt. Whitney, Mt. Charleston (NV), much of Death Valley and Badwater Basin. 110 degrees in Death Valley but 60s at trailhead and probably 50s at the peak. Getting to Mahogany Flats is an adventure in itself. I don’t see how a non-4WD car makes it up the road from the kilns to the flats. I made it up in a 4WD Chevy Equinox which probably just has enough clearance. If any doubt, park at the kilns and hike the extra 1.25 miles each way. The road to the kilns becomes a rock road about 2 miles before you reach the kilns and from the kilns to the flats is much worse. Overall this an amazing hike that I would highly recommend.
Great introduction to Death Valley. Spectacular view of a unique landscape.
Weekend of May 10-11, 2025. Hiked from Badwater (the lowest point in the USA, at 282 feet below sea level) across Death Valley, past Shorty's Well and up to the summit of Telescope Peak (11,000 feet), then down to Mahogany Flat, where we had a car parked. 34 hours including one night sleeping on trail. This hike is very tough. Two guys in our party who have done R2R2R said this was harder. It is harder, and has more elevation gain, than cactus to clouds. Two other guys in our party, a triathlete and a marathon runner, were unable to summit. It is 11,300 feet of gain. It was 105 degrees in Death Valley and there was some snow on the summit of Telescope Peak, with howling winds. The 8 mile hike up the alluvial fan, immediately after crossing Death Valley floor is an unrelenting, hot, arid, hadean slog. The two hardest parts are the ascent from the Hannuapah Spring (you need to replenish water here, you cannot carry enough) up to the first ridgeline and the last mile or so up to the main trail that runs from Telescope Peak down to Mahogany Flats. One bit of advice, the minute you can see inside Shorty's Mine is when you veer hard right and ascend. Do not do it too much before or after that. I would not attempt this in Summer (too hot on valley floor and up the alluvial fan) nor winter (too cold, too much snow on the upper reaches of Telescope Peak). Also, ensure the spring is flowing before setting out. Ignore the warnings about illegal activity ruining the spring water, they are nonsense. There was illegal pot growing there years ago and they used some herbicides. I have drunk from that spring many times, as have many others, without issue. I would also DEFINITELY stage a car at Mahogany Flat, to avoid a brutal descent. Doing so turns an 11,000 descent into 3,000.
Beautiful place to Hike in Death Valley, many trail options around Zabriskie point allows you to customize your route based on time available.