Death Valley National Park, spanning California and Nevada, is a vast and surreal desert landscape known for its extreme temperatures, otherworldly salt flats, towering sand dunes, and rugged mountains. Famous as the hottest, driest, and lowest national park in the U.S., it hosts Badwater Basin, which lies 282 feet below sea level. The park’s strikingly diverse terrain includes areas like the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, colorful Artist’s Palette, and the unique rock formations at Zabriskie Point. Despite its harsh conditions, Death Valley teems with resilient wildlife, wildflowers that bloom after rare rains, and offers some of the clearest night skies for stargazing in the country.