Death Valley

Now that's a name designed for tourism.
Home to the lowest elevation in North America (86 meters below sea level), Death Valley has a reputation of being a cruel, inhospitable environment.
That's true, but not to the degree one might imagine.
Death Valley is long, narrow and surrounded by tall mountain ranges. It's dry and hot, with few shaded areas. How hot? In the summer of 2001, the temperature was over 38 °C (100 °F) for 154 days in a row.
That's harsh.
Landscapes
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View photo with title: Rocky Salt Landscape (Devil's Golf Course)
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View photo with title: Butterscotch Landscape (Sand Dunes)
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View photo with title: Badlands and Texture (Zabriskie Point)
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View photo with title: Alone In The Salt Flat (Badwater)
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View photo with title: Glowing Mountain (Golden Canyon)
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View photo with title: Devil's Corn Field
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View photo with title: Salt Coated (Devil's Golf Course)
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View photo with title: Marble Walls (Mosaic Canyon)
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View photo with title: Sand Textures and Shadows (Sand Dunes)
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View photo with title: Textured Sand Ripples, Small and Large (Sand Dunes)
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View photo with title: Chocolate Landscape (Zabriskie Point)
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View photo with title: Valley Vista (Mosaic Canyon)
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View photo with title: Desert Tennis Courts (Furnace Creek Inn)
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View photo with title: Foot Path (Mosaic Canyon)
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View photo with title: Desert Landscape (Sand Dunes)
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View photo with title: Sand and Grasses (Sand Dunes)
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View photo with title: Sand With Critter Tracks (Sand Dunes)
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View photo with title: John S. Cook Bank and Overbury Building (Rhyolite Ghost Town)
Today there are paved roads, air conditioned cars, and rest stops where you can buy water. When prospectors were travelling to California during the Gold Rush of 1849, no such provisions existed. And if you can imagine what it would be like to travel the landscape in a horse-drawn wagon, you might get a sense of why the area received the name it did.
As for the ‘death’ part? During the California Gold Rush era, only 1 death was recorded in Death Valley.
For a full account of the history and the national park, see the Death Valley Wikipedia page.
Related Galleries
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View gallery with title: Mining Landscapes - Bleak 'scorched-earth' landscape photos from nickel mining tailing ponds in Sudbury, Ontario.
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View gallery with title: Valley of Fire - Landscape photos from this state park near Las Vegas, Nevada. Mostly contains images of red sandstone rock formations.
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View gallery with title: Shipbreaking Yards - Industrial disposal and recycling on a huge scale. Interior and exterior photos of boats in a ship breaking yard, in the process of dismantling.