Whether you are looking for another National Park to check off your bucket list or another day trip from Vegas, Death Valley National Park is a must see. Death Valley is about a two hour drive from the strip in Las Vegas making it a fun and easy day trip away from all the hustle. This National Park is enormous, covering 3,422,024 acres making it the fifth largest National Park in the US. Even though the park is incredibly large, you can still see and do a lot in just one day in Death Valley, but you will want to make sure you have a car.
When I was researching what stops to make in Death Valley, I started to get a little overwhelmed. Ultimately, I was searching for ‘what to do in Death Valley in one day’ when what I really wanted to do was everything, which would take days. Since we were driving back to Vegas I knew we only had a few hours so it was key to be prepared with stops ahead of time. The itinerary below gives you all the stops we made in Death Valley National Park in one day.
Preparing for your day trip to Death Valley National Park
- There is almost no cell service in park, so make sure you do your research a head of time. Plan your itinerary and take screenshots on your phone of things and stops you want to remember.
- Pack some water and some snacks. It can get extremely hot in the park and you will want to make sure that you have something to drink and eat for those long stretches of driving.
- Make sure your gas tank is full!
- Arrive early if you can. It gets so hot in the park during the day that it can be unbearable. Arriving early will allow you to see more and get in a few hikes before it gets too hot.
Getting into the Park & Visitor’s Center
When you enter the park, there will be a few automated machines where you can buy your park pass for the day. Once you arrive at the visitor’s center, you will need to show the receipt for your park pass to get a map to the park. I recommend taking a map because it makes planning your stops a whole lot easier when you can see everything laid out in front of you. You can always look back at your screenshots, but I like having the map so I can see everything at once and decide the order of my stops.
There are a few stops you can make before you get to the visitors center, but as I mentioned, I like going right to the visitors center first and then finalizing a game plan. Visiting this park is mostly driving through and hopping out at the different stops to explore and take some photos. It was so hot in the park at the end of May that we couldn’t do much hiking.
Death Valley One Day Itinerary
The temperature was around 90 degrees when we visited Death Valley National Park at the end of May. By the time we left Vegas and drove three hours to the park, it was around 11am so the temperature was already close to 90 degrees. Don’t make the same mistake as me. Leave earlier and give yourselves plenty of time to get to the park and account for some traffic. You may also get some better photos if you don’t arrive mid day in the harsh sunlight. Because of our late arrival, we knew that we wouldn’t be doing any hiking. Our plan was just to stop at each site, do a little exploring and get some cool photos.
Visitor’s Center
Once you have your map, you can pick the order of your stops depending on where you entered/exited the park. You will also want to know if there are any road closures or inaccessible stops that day. Check out the temperature reading for the day and make sure you have plenty of water and snacks on hand. It is helpful to view updated park information on the park’s website beforehand too.
Stops for one day in Death Valley National Park
- Zabrinski’s Point
- Visitor’s Center
- Badwater Basin
- Artist’s Drive – Artist’s Pallete
- Mesquite Sand Dunes
Zabriskie Point
From my research, this stop is most famous for it’s beautiful sunrises. We did not make it for sunrise, but still is a cool stop to add to you itinerary!
Bad Water Basin
This was our first stop because you can take Badwater road right to Badwater Basin. Badwater Basin is a gigantic salt flat that stretches as far as the eye can see. The basin is the lowest elevation in North America. This stop has some spots for parking and a boardwalk to get out onto the salt flats. It can get super hot here, so keep that in mind when you start venturing out. This is a super cool spot and was high on my Death Valley itinerary!
Artist’s Palette
Head towards Artist’s Drive to see the beautiful colors in Artists Palette. The road is a one way loop with different spots to pull over and enjoy the view. Once you get to Artist’s Palette, there is a small parking lot here and a short trail that takes you into the colorful hills.
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
I am super bummed that we didn’t get a chance to see the sand dunes, but we had a flight to catch! I would have made this the last stop of the day and headed there right before sunset. I hear that it can get pretty dark after sunset so be prepared if you are going out onto the dunes.
More stops for one day in Death Valley
To get even more out of your one day in Death Valley National Park, you could stay the night near the park the night before or after your day trip. If we had more time I would have included these stops
- Stargazing – this is high on my bucket list!
- Sunrise at Zabrinske Point
- Hiking in Mosaic Canyon or Golden Canyon
There are a few other National Parks within driving distance to Death Valley! If you are visiting Vegas and looking for some day trips away from the strip, make sure you check out this post where we drove from Vegas to Valley of Fire, Zion, the Grand Canyon as well as Death Valley!
Save my Itinerary for What to do in Death Valley in One Day!
Leave a Reply