In a nutshell
Just 120 miles from Las Vegas, over the border into California, Death Valley contains the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere (282ft below sea level) and in summer it's the hottest place on earth. Look out for lone coyotes as you drive around exploring its weird mudflats and strange green lakes. If you come in spring, you may be surprised to find the landscape carpeted with wild flowers.
The vistas are extraordinary, with Devil's Golf Course - a vast expanse of knobbly salt formations - one of the high (low!) points. Another sightseeing gem is Artist's Palette, an eroded hillside covered in an intensely coloured mosaic of reds, golds, blacks and greens.
Gold, copper, lead and other minerals were once mined here and there are 8 ghost towns to explore. As you peruse the ruins you can picture the old days of the Wild West. Panamint City, for instance, was known as 'the toughest, rawest, most hard-boiled little hellhole that ever passed for a civilised town'! Another unusual attraction in the area is Scotty's Castle, built in the 1920s by an insurance magnate, and named after a local gold prospector. Imitating a Spanish manor house, it was never quite completed owing to the 1929 stock market crash. Take a tour with a park ranger to learn the story of 'Death Valley Scotty'.