But only one 49er is known to have perished crossing Death Valley. Fifty years later, it was a center of borax mining and today, its extreme environment attracts campers, hikers, nature lovers and tourists from worldwide. Death Valley National Park is the largest national park outside of Alaska.
Death Valley forms part of the Basin and Range Province of the Great Basin Desert.
It is similar to other basins of the region, but is unique because it contains the lowest, hottest, driest location in the western hemisphere. Nearly 550 square miles of its area lie below sea level. Ecologically, its plants and animals are representative of the Mojave Desert. Most of the surface water in Death Valley is in saline ponds and marshes around the salt pan. Most of the year the bed of the Amargosa River is only a series of dry channels.