What do you associate with the word "desert?"

In reading an article about the wildflower superbloom currently underway in Death Valley, two things that epitomize common misconceptions about the park caught my eye.

First, the Las Vegas-based reporter who wrote the story described the explosion of flowers in this way: “The rain has since created the superbloom of wildflowers, transforming a normally brown landscape into a colorful sight.”

Later in the same piece, a visitor who was enjoying the display had this to say: “It’s my first time here. I thought it was going to be just desert.”

Normally brown landscape.

Just desert.

For many the word desert – particularly when associated with Death Valley, one of the hottest and driest places on earth – conjures up adjectives like barren, lifeless, desolate, and monochromatic: mostly negative connotations.

These descriptions couldn’t be more inaccurate.

The Dynamic Character of Death Valley

There is no denying the extreme climate, but Death Valley National Park is actually quite vibrant and dynamic, even without the superbloom. The flowers are icing on the cake.

The place is massive. At more than 3.4 million acres, it's by far the largest park in the lower 48. (Roughly 50% larger than Yellowstone, it's larger than the state of Connecticut.) The 11,000 feet of elevation change between the valley floor and the surrounding mountains create varied and diverse landscapes. Seasonal climate changes are dramatic. The ecosystem is complex.

More than one thousand species of plants and a wide variety of mammals and reptiles call it home, and it’s a stop for many migratory birds in spring, autumn and winter. Nearly three quarters of the park is covered with shrubs.

Hardly barren, and certainly not lifeless.

A Painted Landscape: From the Black Mountains to the Salt Flats

As for the “normally brown landscape,” within Death Valley you’ll find some spectacularly beautiful badlands: just as colorful (if not more so) than in South Dakota's Badlands National Park. Throughout the multi-hued Artist Drive in the Black Mountains, rock formations are painted with vivid yellows, browns, greens, aquas, pinks, reds and purples.

Thank tectonics for the rainbows in the rock: volcanic activity, faults, and uplifting has exposed layers of oxidized mineral deposits. Iron produces the reds, pink, yellows and browns. Greens and aquas come from mica, and manganese creates the purple and lavender hues.

The colors are at their most lovely late in the day when lit by the sinking sun, but I’m also partial to them early in the morning before the rays of light clear the hills behind them.

The Furnace Creek Formation, visible from above at Zabriskie Point, is also vibrantly colored. Here the colors are best before the sun comes up.

Further dispelling the myth of the "normally brown landscape" are the park's vast salt flats. At Badwater Basin, the valley floor is decorated in white: nearly 200 square miles of it. Other areas with large salt formations include Cottonball Basin and Salt Creek.

So while the wildflower bloom adds pop in the spring, the rest of the year is hardly monochromatic.

The Ever-Changing Hues of the Mesquite Sand Dunes

As for those browns, they're far from boring - and they are not always brown! The Mesquite Sand Dunes are a wonderful example, changing color based on the angle of the sun and the way the minerals in the sand reflect the light. They can appear to be golden, deep reddish-gold, white, pale tan, pink, lavender, soft blue, and deep blue.

These are just two examples of how wildly different the colors can be:

At night, the show overhead is spectacular. Classified as a Gold Tier-level Dark Sky Park, Death Valley is a wonderful place to sky-gaze and for astrophotography.

But it's just a desert!

I'm hoping the fellow who had those low expectations before seeing the park walked away feeling much differently. To describe this magical place in such a way misses almost everything that makes it so fascinating. It is a land of extremes on many levels: elevation, temperatures, geologic contrasts, and ecosystems. It's filled with life. The environment is dynamic (consider how the sand dunes are constantly reshaped by the wind, and the way the salt flats expand and contract). It is a textbook of tectonic and volcanic activity.

"Death Valley is a challenge to every skill you possess..."
~Ansel Adams

It's true; photographing Death Valley can be a challenge. Without a doubt, though, it's a worthy endeavor, and one worth repeating.

Especially if you want to stay inside the park at the single NPS lodging option, you've got to plan (far) ahead. Therefore, jumping in the car and heading for the California desert to take advantage of spur-of-the-moment weather conditions has never been an option for me. Because of that, I've learned over many visits to walk in with a completely flexible mindset.

For example, if there's no wind in the forecast it will be difficult if not impossible to capture pristine sand dunes. Without some help from Mother Nature to sweep away thousands of footsteps, it's a tough ask. Sometimes it's just not possible to outhike signs of people.

That kind of crushed me on my first visit. I had preconceived notions about the types of photographs I'd try to make at the Mesquite Dunes. Maybe too many. Considered in that light, the fact that I was forced to think differently wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Of course it's a huge park with no shortage of potential subject matter. But even at the dunes, I found plenty to work with in spite of all those tracks. Rather than sweeping landscapes, I went tighter: sometimes much tighter. Abstracts.

Looking for different ways to capture often-photographed subjects can result in more unique results.

Lesson learned: now I expect tracks at the dunes and am pleasantly surprised if I'm fortunate enough to get a windy day or two.

Every one of my visits to DVNP has been quite different in terms of the conditions. Each has been a great experience and left me wanting to return.

Planning Your First Visit: Stovepipe Wells to Furnace Creek

If you're new to the park, I recommend concentrating on two main areas: Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek/Badwater Basin. The drive time between Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek is around an hour. This will provide access to the badlands, the salt flats, and the sand dunes. You'll find ample opportunities to get off the beaten path (by foot) without getting too remote, and you won't be spending all your time driving.

During the course of a three-day shoot, narrowing your focus in this way will enable you to cover various locations such as the Mesquite Sand Dunes, Zabriskie Point and the salt flats in a variety of conditions without feeling rushed.

It's hard not to fall in love with Death Valley. From singing sand dunes and colorful canyons to snowy mountain peaks, it's vast and varied. Inspiring. Spectacular.

In Local News

The calendar says spring arrives tomorrow, but it seems like Old Man Winter gave up on the northern Rockies a while ago, unfortunately, After a strong start, with snowpack at 115% of average in the Tetons in early January, a dry pattern settled in and decided to stick around.

It's likely going to be the first below-average winter we've had in the Teton Range since the winter of 2014-2015. Perhaps we were due...

Local reservoirs aren't in great shape. Everyone is hoping for a wet spring to counteract last summer's light drought.

Both big ski resorts are still open, with closing dates coming soon (could be sooner than scheduled if the warm snap we're currently experiencing persists):

Grand Targhee's last day is set for April 19th, while Jackson Hole's will be April 12th.

Meanwhile, at Yellowstone, visitation totals for 2025 are in. It was another doozy, with 4,762,988 visits and 1,238,983 overnight stays. Visits does not equate with visitors; one person can be tallied for multiple visits during a single trip. Still, that's a hefty total.

It's another reason I avoid YNP like the plague during the summer.

Speaking of which, the park is preparing to open to vehicle traffic. The West Yellowstone entrance will open for the season on April 17th at 8am.