Floor elevation: −86 m (−282 ft)

Next time you complain about a heat wave passing through your town, consider taking a trip to Death Valley in the summer. The temperature in this national park routinely rises above 120 degrees. Death Valley National Park truly deserves its name from May through October, but from November through April, the weather here is comfortable enough for a hike to Stovepipe Wells. The view from Zabriskie Point already may be familiar to viewers of the Michelangelo Antonio movie of the same name.

Statistics

Death Valley National Park was established as a national monument by presidential proclamation in 1933 and as a national park in 1994. Its 3,367,627-acre landscape features a diverse topography that includes large sand dunes, vast salt flats, rock formations and canyons. The Park's Badwater Basin lies at 282 feet below sea level--the lowest elevation in the United States, and the second lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere. Elsewhere in the Park, elevations rise to 11,049 feet above sea level.

Inhabitants

The most inescapable fact about Death Valley National Park is that it is unfairly named. Life is actually quite abundant in the Park, which is home to more than 300 species of birds. These include red-tailed hawks, golden eagles, LeConte's thrasher, Townsend's solitaire and the house finch. Also living here are large mammals such as bighorn sheep and coyotes, as well as small mammals, amphibians and reptiles such as the desert banded gecko, the Pacific treefrog and a variety of lizards and snakes.

Attractions

Death Valley National Park remains a tourist attraction in part because of its outstanding geographical features. For example, the Devil's Golf Course, where salt-encrusted spires rise several feet, is actually what remains of a lake that existed between 25,000 and 50,000 years ago.Telescope Peak is the park's highest point. Bristlecone pines actually grow on its summit.

Temperatures

The highest temperature ever recorded in North America occurred at Death Valley National Park's Furnace Creek Ranch. In July, 1913, the temperature rose to 134 degrees Fahrenheit--a world record at the time that Libya has since eclipsed.

Origin of the Region's Name

Long before it was established as a national park, Death Valley received its name from a group of 49ers who attempted to cross the desert as a shortcut to gold in California. Dehydration set in quickly; one person died, and several others were rescued before they followed their friend to his desert grave. One of the 49ers turned around as they prepared to leave the desert and is quoted as saying, "Goodbye, Death Valley."

Movie Location

A number of films besides Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point" have been shot partially on location within the confines of Death Valley National Park For instance, the windswept Mesquite Flat Dunes is where R2-D2 and C-3PO cross the desert on their way to a fateful meeting with Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars." At least a dozen movies and TV shows with the words "Death Valley" in the title actually were filmed in or near Death Valley.

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