At night stars, large in the black velvet sky, roll slowly toward the west. At one time this valley was occupied by a large lake, long since evaporated, whose ancient shores are indicated by faint benches or terraces on the sides of the Valley. Salts, washed from the mountains in the course of thousands of years, whiten large stretches. Gray gravel fans pour out from canyon mouths to sweep down hundreds of feet to the floor. These fans, looking as smooth as velvet from a distance, are actually channeled by watercourses and studded with great boulders.
Death Valley is divided into two shallow basins by a range of low hills.
Both Mount Whitney and Badwater are seen from Dante's View in the Black Mountains. Its water is deeply impregnated with bitter Glauber's and Epsom salts, as are also many springs in the region. The northern basin, smaller than the southern, holds the great tawny Sand Dunes, the white clay beds, and Mesquite Flat. The Last Chance Range pinches out the northern end of the Valley, and the Avawatz and Owlshead Mountains block it at the south. Heavy rains occasionally fall on these mountains, run swiftly off the steep slopes, and cascade into the Valley, soon to evaporate.