We camped at Mesquite Springs Campground at the northern end of Death Valley. The first day we did the Titus Canyon Drive: This drive is 27 miles one way and 4WD vehicles with high ground clearance are necessary. The deep, narrow gorge of Titus Canyon cuts into the steep face of the Grapevine Mountains. Although the Grapevine Mountain range is quite young, geologically speaking, most of the rocks that make up the range are ancient Paleozoic rocks. These rocks formed at a time when Death Valley was submerged beneath tropical seas. The highest point along the drive is RED PASS at 5250 feet. The last 1.5 miles before mouth is the narrowest portion. There were lots of fun twists and turns, interesting views, and wonderful narrows in the last few miles. With some gorgeous, narrow, sinuous slots through blue limestone. We stopped for a short time to explore Leadfield, now a ghost town.

The next morning we visited Ubehebe Crater and were greeted by an eerie, surreal landscape. Ubehebe Crater is a 3000-year-old blast caused by rising magma violently mixing with ground water. The crater is about one half mile wide. The blast scattered cinders over 6 square miles. We hiked partially around it (a little more than one mile) and to the bottom and back. It’s a steep climb out. The crater is about 600 feet deep. Then we also hiked to a similar but smaller crater nearby, called LITTLE HEBE.

Our next stop was at Scotty’s Castle. We didn’t take the tour, but we did visit the gift shop. Next was the narrow, curvy, one-way, one lane called Artist Drive, that lead us up to the edge of the Black Mountains. Artist Drive rises up to the top of one of the alluvial fans fed by deep canyons cut into the Black Mountains. We saw rainbows of pink, green, purple, brown, and black rock debris drape across the front of the Black Mountains. Red, pink, yellow, orange, and brown colors result mainly from combinations of hematite, a red iron oxide, and limonite, a yellow iron oxide. The violets and greens are volcanic in origin.

We stopped for a bit at Zabriskie Point with a view of Manly Beacon. Looking out from the point, we were surrounded by yet another of Death Valley’s forbidding, almost unearthly, desert landscapes. These are badlands. Everywhere we looked, everything was bone-dry, finely sculpted golden brown rock. We hiked around and found natural tunnels and a deep sinuous slot canyon with some dry falls we climbed over and sheer cliffs, impossible to climb out of.

We returned to the maid drive near Twenty One Mule Team Canyon, and made another playful stop in the Sand Dunes. We then visited Badwater, the lowest point of elevation in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level. We took our group shot here before returning to camp for our last dinner in this amazing park.