17 votes

Trip report Death Valley - Ash Meadows wildlife refuge

We are just back from a first ever trip to Death valley national Park to check out the wild flowers.

We saw fields carpeted in bright yellow. We also saw more sparse purple flowers. We also drove through areas of the park that were as dry and dessicated as you can imagine. This is the wettest season of the year and it is still the desert.

Some of the highlights for me were the rock formations. We had planned a second day to explore more and hike, but weather prevented it. We still saw very impressive sights. Shout-out to a helpful ranger at the information desk who helped us choose.

One of the best experiences was outside the park. We would have missed this entirely without advice from Tildes. We visited Ash Meadows wildlife refuge where we saw the pupfish. We also saw a roadrunner, a large grey snake on the road, (we were driving) and a very pale raptor, possibly an osprey.

Thank you @chromebby and @worldasis.

Thanks also @skybrian. We drove through Panamint but stayed in Tecopa.

Death valley has not changed my top three so far US national parks but it is beautiful and impressive. I would go back to explore more but not in summer.

5 comments

  1. [3]
    worldasis
    Link
    If you enjoy national parks and deserts, you should check out Big Bend National Park, if you haven't yet.

    If you enjoy national parks and deserts, you should check out Big Bend National Park, if you haven't yet.

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      In which season?

      In which season?

      1. worldasis
        Link Parent
        Fall, winter and spring tend to be best. It starts to get hot in may and stays hot through about September. December and January are our coldest months

        Fall, winter and spring tend to be best. It starts to get hot in may and stays hot through about September. December and January are our coldest months

  2. [2]
    cfabbro
    Link
    AFAIK, pings/mentions still don't actually work in topic text yet. But putting them in a comment will trigger them: /Offtopic

    AFAIK, pings/mentions still don't actually work in topic text yet. But putting them in a comment will trigger them:

    Thank you @chromebby and @worldasis.

    Thanks also @skybrian. We drove through Panamint but stayed in Tecopa.

    /Offtopic

    6 votes