Death Valley would indeed be an easy place to die. F. This is the driest and the hottest spot in North America. During the other six months the heat is merely miserable. Yet there is far more to the park than dry heat. Sand dunes are carved into shapes of staggering beauty, especially striking at dawn and dusk.
Colorful cliffs stand above endless flats of creosote bush.
More than 900 species of plants have been identified within the park, and nights come alive to the scurrying of small mammals. Coyotes live here with gray and kit foxes, bobcats, jackrabbits, desert tortoises and a variety of bats and birds, lizards and snakes. Desert bighorn sheep live in the higher elevations where you can find a dry forest of pinyon, juniper, mountain mahogany and a few bristlecone pines. Wildflowers bloom in spectacular variety when enough rain falls. You are free to hike the Wilderness, limited only by your ability to carry water and your courage, but camping is currently allowed only in designated locations.