When we pulled into our driveway in November after our autumn trips, I thought my photography for the year had mostly wrapped up. Aside from an afternoon of local photography here and there, my camera would be getting a long rest for the winter. That was the plan until we started chatting about Death Valley and the ephemeral lake filling Badwater Basin right now. We really should go see it, right? Well, yes, we should. A day later, our trailer was packed and we were on the road.

To the uninitiated, it can seem strange to have a photographic obsession with a place called Death Valley National Park. Yet, after visiting for first time, most nature and landscape photographers quickly come to understand the appeal. The scenery is diverse, vast, surreal, and dynamic, all of which are qualities that make this landscape exciting for nature photography. For us, Death Valley holds the only permanent spot among our favorite places, with the other spots rotating based on recent trips we have enjoyed. It fully deserves this honor!

While visiting remote parts of the park is exciting, the more easily accessible landscape photography locations, like Badwater Basin, the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, and Zabriskie Point, are all equally incredible. This makes the park a great option for both short trips and extended explorations. Another benefit: when it is cold and snowy elsewhere, the weather in Death Valley is generally mild, at least at the lower elevations. With Las Vegas only a few hours away, this park is also easy to get to for anyone in North America.

If you have been considering a visit to this gem at the intersection of the Mojave and Great Basin deserts, this guide will help you get started in planning a landscape photography trip to Death Valley National Park. If you find this guide to be helpful, we think you will also enjoy our full ebook on the park, Desert Paradise: The Landscape Photographer’s Guide to Death Valley National Park (you can save 15% with the code PUPFISH). Below, we share a two-day itinerary, information about a few of our favorite locations, and some tips to help make make your visit to the park a success.

Badwater Basin with a thin layer of water over the polygon formations. Seeing the landscape like this is a very rare and special experience.

BEST LANDSCAPE AND NATURE PHOTO LOCATIONS

Even if you only have a day or two to visit Death Valley, you will be able to visit some of the most interesting photography locations in the park. Remember: Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States and it takes a long time to travel from place to place. As discussed below, the late fall, winter, and early spring are the best times of the year to visit Death Valley, which means shorter days.

With these considerations in mind for a short trip to the park, you will get the most photography time if you focus your visit around Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. These are the two major visitor hubs in the park and both have a range of visitor services. You can use these links to help plan your trip: Death Valley National Park current conditions, Death Valley public campgrounds, lodging and food in Furnace Creek, and lodging and food at Stovepipe Wells.

If you have 48 hours in the park, this is a sample itinerary that gets you to a few of the park’s best nature and landscape photography locations:

DAY ONE: If you arrive midday, spend the afternoon and sunset scouting and photographing the Mesquite Dunes. Give yourself at least a few hours so you have time to explore. The light on the dunes is nice and varied from afternoon through twilight so arrive early and stay late.
DAY TWO: Photograph sunrise from Zabriskie Point. Since the first light on the badlands can be among the nicest, arrive early. If you enjoy black and white photography, be sure to stay until direct light hits the badlands. On clear days, you will get a lovely mix of light and shadows well after sunrise. Consider visiting Artist Drive as a midday activity (if you would like to photograph that area, it is especially nice at sunset). A good sunset option is Badwater Basin. You will need to allow some time for scouting because this area is very large and finding the signature polygons, if they are present at the time of your visit, will take some effort.
DAY THREE: Revisit your favorite location. Since you will have already scouted both the Mesquite Dunes and Badwater Basin, you will have enough information to photograph them at sunrise. Although the Mesquite Dunes are equally nice at both sunrise and sunset, we generally prefer Badwater Basin at sunrise because the Panamint Mountains to the west will get beautiful early light.

Our ebook, Desert Paradise, includes more information on these three locations and many others, along with detailed itineraries, photography advice for working with all of Death Valley’s unique landscape features, and trip planning resources to both save you time and help you get the most out of your visit to the park.

The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes during a wind storm.

TREAT THE LANDSCAPE WITH RESPECT

Before discussing the photo locations, we want to talk about the importance of being a respectful visitor to this landscape. One of the best things about Death Valley National Park is that off-trail foot travel is permitted but all visitors need to be responsible in how they take advantage of this privilege. While Death Valley looks like a rugged and hearty landscape from afar, many of its features are actually quite sensitive to visitation.

In recent years, driving off of designated routes has become increasingly problematic, with visitors leaving massive scars on sensitive playas and other landscape features. Do not, under any circumstance, drive off road in the park. Another example particularly relevant to photography: while your footprints will blow away with the next wind storm when it comes to sand dunes, climbing up the side of a badland for a better view will leave a more permanent visual scar on the landscape. Simply, when you visit Death Valley, be mindful of your impact and do not damage the landscape in any way in pursuit of a photograph. Strive to practice Nature First’s 7 Principles for Responsible Photography and Leave No Trace principles at all times.

MESQUITE FLAT SAND DUNES

Although Death Valley National Park has multiple fields of sand dunes, the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are the easiest to visit due to their proximity to Stovepipe Wells. (The visitor services at Stovepipe Wells are less than a five-minute drive from the parking lot for the sand dunes.) This popularity comes with a cost, however. The sheer number of people on the dunes, photographer and non-photographer alike, can make it very difficult to find clean and footprint-free dunes near the parking lot. The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes cover about fourteen square miles of land. If you are physically capable of walking, it is possible to find solitude and areas with fewer footprints, despite the main access area being one of the busiest in the park.

The Mesquite Dunes are not particularly tall for dunes, and the tallest dunes are easily seen from the road. Smaller dunes surround the tall dunes on all sides, with picturesque mountains in all directions. The prominent Tucki Mountain to the south and the colorful Grapevine Mountains to the northeast make particularly nice backdrops for photos here. You will find opportunities to photograph grand landscapes, intimate landscapes, and abstracts, with excellent photo opportunities lasting for a few hours in morning and the afternoon. Be sure to arrive early and stay late since the light changes significantly, providing a range of photography opportunities over the course of a single visit.

ZABRISKIE POINT

The Zabriskie Point Overlook is popular for a reason. It offers a fantastic view of the Panamint Mountains, Death Valley’s salt flats, and colorful badlands, including the prominent Manly Beacon—all in the same photograph. Even after extensively exploring the park, we still enjoy making at least one visit to this area during every trip. Just be prepared for a small crowd of people, especially on weekends. The Zabriskie Point parking area is a ten minute drive from Furnace Creek. Although most people photograph Zabriskie Point at sunrise, there are also a variety of options for landscape photography in the afternoon and around sunset. Especially on a clear day, the badlands look the nicest well before sunrise and well after sunset, so we encourage you to arrive early and stay late.

On the west side of the parking area, you will find a short but steep paved trail that winds uphill to the main overlook. Most photographers photograph from this overlook. Directly below the overlook to the west, there is a small badland nub that offers a slightly better view than the overlook itself. There are fewer distracting elements in compositions from the nub, plus you have some options for a wider view. Be sure to bring a longer lens, as you will find many options for photographing smaller sections of the badlands, as well. There are also many other opportunities for hiking and photography in this area if you have some extra time. (One of the few official hiking trails in the park winds through the badlands below the overlook).

BADWATER BASIN

The Badwater Basin salt flats and their characteristic white polygon formations are perhaps the most iconic landscape feature in Death Valley National Park. This reputation is well-deserved, as this area is fascinating to explore and photograph. The exact structure, shape, height, color, and density of the salt polygons will vary seasonally with evaporation cycles and rain. The polygons range from being almost white, short, and delicate to tall, craggy, and brownish. Sometimes, you can find this full range of patterns in a short five-minute walk. At other times, you might not find any of the fresh white patterns, with the more rugged patterns dominating. Right now, Badwater Basin is filled with a thin layer of water after Hurricane Hilary, which is offering an ephemeral opportunity for water reflections.

Because of the dynamic nature of this landscape, you should give yourself plenty of time to scout with each visit to Badwater Basin. The Badwater salt flats cover nearly 200 square miles, so there is a lot to explore beyond the main access point, which is the Badwater Basin parking lot (it takes about 30 minutes to get from Furnace Creek to the parking area but expect to spend more time looking for composition options). We enjoy photographing Badwater Basin at both sunrise and sunset, with a slight edge going to sunrise because the early light is especially flattering on the Panamint Mountains to the west. If you have never visited Badwater Basin before, however, sunrise is probably not the time to do it for the reasons we explained above.

Intricate patterns found on the Death Valley salt flats.

DON’T GET LOST AND BE SAFE

Both Badwater Basin and the Mesquite Dunes require exploration. Although both are iconic subjects, there is no single iconic view. Instead, both require walking from the parking lot to look for composition options. We highly recommend using a GPS (ensuring you have a fully charged phone battery), marking the location of your car, and recording a track. We use the Gaia GPS app and it is very helpful for navigating and recording waypoints for photography reference. (You can read about how we use the Gaia app for nature photography here.) Death Valley is a pretty safe place during cooler months but visiting any of these locations in the summer can be deadly because of the heat. Regardless of the time of year, you should be prepared with water, food, and sun protection at a minimum. You can find the National Park Service’s safety recommendations here.

Dappled light on the colorful Grapevine Mountains.

TRAVEL PLANNING AND PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Below, we share some travel planning and photography tips to help you get the most out of your visit to Death Valley National Park. You can find more detailed information on each of these topics in our ebook, Desert Paradise.

THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT (November - March)

Summer temperatures in Death Valley National Park, especially at the lower elevations (including popular photography locations like Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point, and the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes) are extremely hot. The park gets so hot in the late spring, summer, and early fall that heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and dehydration are real possibilities. (A person dies from the heat in the accessible and close-to-Furnace-Creek Zabriskie Badlands every few years so take the heat very seriously.) While you can visit during these times of year, it is much safer and more enjoyable to visit from November through March.

Beyond the more comfortable temperatures, winter in Death Valley is also the "rainier" season, a term that is relative since the park receives only about two inches of rain a year. Visiting during this time of year means there is a higher likelihood for dynamic weather, including storms, clouds, and virga (rainfall that does not reach the ground), along with the possibility of ephemeral conditions like rainbows and water in the desert landscape.

Though the temperatures at the lower elevations of Death Valley National Park are usually comfortable in the winter, it is frequently windy. Higher elevation locations, like the Eureka Dunes, the Racetrack, and Dante’s View, regularly experience below freezing temperatures during this time of year. The peaks in the Panamint Range that can be seen from Badwater Basin are often covered in snow. During storms, some typically accessible locations at higher elevations can be closed due to snow. Pack appropriately for a full range of temperatures and weather, especially if you plan to visit any higher elevation locations. This can mean a range of clothing from shorts and t-shirts to warm winter clothing—all for the same trip.

Sand patterns at the Mesquite Dunes on a clear day.

Embrace Clear Skies

Even during the late fall, winter, and early spring when storms are more common, it is highly likely that you will have clear skies during your trip. While clear skies are often very disappointing for landscape photographers, Death Valley National Park is full of landscape features that can work well under these conditions if you bring an open mind. If you are faced with cloudless skies during your visit, here are some opportunities for you to consider.

BADLANDS: The badlands, such as those around Zabriskie Point, can glow at dawn or dusk on a clear day. This glow happens about twenty minutes before sunrise and twenty minutes after sunset on clear days so you want to arrive early and stay late. The best glow will happen in the direction opposite of the rising or setting sun (so facing west at sunrise, for example).

SAND DUNES: Sand dunes are a very versatile photography subject because they can be photographed in a variety of conditions. With clear skies, more intimate photographs of the dunes, highlighting the interplay between light and shadow and showing texture, are possible. These types of photographs often require a mid to long telephoto lens, so be sure to bring this kind of lens along if you have one. When the winds are high, the blowing sand coupled with clear skies can produce dramatic photographs, as well. Just be sure to protect your gear as blowing sand can and will get everywhere.

Reflected light on rock formations in one of Death Valley’s many canyons.

CANYONS: Death Valley has many canyons—we know because we have hiked to more than seventy of them. Exploring the park’s canyons is a good midday activity, especially on clear days. Mosaic Canyon near Stovepipe Wells is the most accessible, with many more options for those who want to venture off the beaten path. These canyons often do not receive much direct light and thus can be photographed through much of the day. Just like the reflected light that makes the sandstone canyons of Arizona so beautiful, some of Death Valley's canyons can display a surprising range of colors.

MUD: Cracked mud is everywhere in Death Valley National Park and like badlands, this mud can glow at dusk because of its reflective surface. Cracked mud can also be photographed with low-angled light to show textures and patterns, as well. The very remote and difficult to reach Racetrack is Death Valley's most well-known playa but visitors can also find cracked mud in many places throughout the park, including in washes, along the highway through the Panamint Playa, and even in between sand dunes in some spots.

Cracked mud patterns in Death Valley National Park.

GRAND LANDSCAPES: While this may be an unconventional opinion, clear skies can also be good for wide-angle grand landscapes in Death Valley National Park, specifically when photographing the Earth’s shadow and Belt of Venus opposite the rising or setting sun. These blue and pink bands happen before sunrise and after sunset and are most obvious on clear days. White salt flats like those at Badwater Basin are very reflective to they take on these colors on clear days, offering subtle but beautiful lighting conditions. The second photo in this post shows what Badwater Basin can look like on a clear day.

It is also worth noting that we have repeatedly seen clear skies at dawn turn into a blazing sunrise shortly after. An example from the photo of Badwater Basin below: we could see a sky full of stars when we left our campsite to photograph sunrise. About 45 minutes later, the sky was full of stormy pink clouds. Since weather can develop quickly in Death Valley, it is almost always worth getting up for sunrise if you have limited time in the park.

Death Valley National Park is home to a few Joshua tree forests, all of which requite travel on backcountry roads to access.

Get Off the Beaten Path and Consider Visiting Remote Parts of the Park

The popular photography locations around Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells offer many excellent opportunities but comprise only a small sliver of Death Valley National Park. There are other highly scenic valleys inside the park boundaries besides Death Valley itself (the Panamint Valley, the Saline Valley, and the Eureka Valley to name three). Beyond the most easily accessible parts of the park, you can find more dune fields, expansive views, mud playas, Joshua trees, canyons, and more.

While visiting these remote locations requires more effort, time, and scouting, one major reward is the opportunity to discover unique opportunities for photography. Unlike many national parks, off-trail hiking is permitted in Death Valley as long as you are not causing any damage to the natural resources (never drive off-road in the park—it is both illegal and highly destructive). If you see something interesting, you are free to explore on foot. Some of our favorite photos from the park have resulted from this kind of exploration. You can also access more remote locations via the park's network of backcountry roads . Desert Paradise, our ebook on Death Valley, hiking books (like Michel Diggonet’s books on the park), and backcountry road guides are a good place to start your research.

While some remote locations can be visited with a standard passenger car, others require a 4WD or high clearance vehicle, supplies, and a lot of experience with backcountry travel. Always make sure you are fully prepared before heading out on any dirt road in Death Valley National Park, as the terrain and weather can be very hazardous or even deadly for the ill-prepared. Be sure to always check on current road conditions, consult a current weather forecast, never venture out in hot weather, and bring a detailed map, water, and extra supplies.

Note: Many of the backcountry roads are closed right now for repair from damage related to Hurricane Hilary. Since the condition of park roads can vary significantly based on recent weather events, it is essential to check on current conditions before heading out.

Ripples in wet mud, which formed after a heavy rainstorm in Death Valley National Park.

INCLUDE INTIMATE LANDSCAPES, SMALLER SCENES, AND ABSTRACTS IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY PLANS

While the iconic grand landscape scenes in Death Valley National Park get a lot of well-deserved attention, there are just as many opportunities for photographing smaller scenes and abstract subjects. This park is full of subjects that can be photographed in all different types of natural light or are small enough for you to create your own shade over them. Some subjects for intimate landscapes, macro photography, and abstracts include salt crystals, isolated patches of flowers, mud cracks, cactus, desert plants, rock patterns, reflected canyon light, badlands, and colorful mountains.

A telephoto and macro lens can greatly expand your opportunities for creative photography, so we highly recommend bringing them along on any photography trip to Death Valley National Park. To find smaller scenes, it helps to walk through the landscape more slowly with a focus on observing the details around you. Look for patterns, shapes, repetition, or texture. Once you identify an interesting subject, you can zoom in on it, excluding the surrounding context. It is also important to note that very large landscapes can also work for more intimate compositions. For example, if you see layers of repeating sand dunes, you can consider eliminating the sky to just focus on the repetition, which creates a more intimate composition in the process.

If you are newer to photographing smaller scenes, our ebook, Beyond the Grand Landscape, offers advice on working with these subjects, including chapters on mindset, building your observation skills, composition, working with natural light, and field technique.

A sampling of the desert plants in Death Valley. You do not need a “superbloom” to find interesting plants and flowers to photograph.

Stay Up-to-Date on Current Conditions

For Death Valley National Park, there are several ephemeral events that are worth staying informed about in case you have the opportunity to plan a last-minute trip.

DESERT WILDFLOWERS: Death Valley wildflowers are rarely prolific so it is worthwhile to make a special trip to see the flowers when they are in bloom. Although you can always find some isolated patches of flowers in off years (and these patches are more than enough for flower and plant photography), "superbloom" years are spectacular to witness and photograph. 2016 was a great year and 2005 was even better. Wildflowers usually bloom in late January and February at lower elevations and throughout spring at higher elevations. The Desert USA website is a good resource for staying informed about wildflower conditions in the park.

If you do visit to see the flowers, please show care and respect for the landscape: do not, under any circumstance, trample the flowers for a photograph. Do not pick the flowers either, as they are food for pollinators and need to go to seed in order for there to be future blooms. Also be cautious about what you share on social media during these periods (like delaying your posts and not including specific location information). Death Valley does not have the infrastructure or staff to handle large influxes of careless visitors so you can help in these ways if you do visit during a busy time.

Badwater Basin seen under rare conditions (flooded with a thin layer of water over the polygons).

FLOODING IN BADWATER BASIN: Significant rains can sometimes cause flooding in Badwater Basin, filling the salt polygons with water and creating exciting photo opportunities. In October 2015, a massive flood event left Badwater Basin flooded for almost a month (though the road to it was closed for much of that time). A lesser weather event happened in January 2016 that left parts of it flooded for about 10 days as well, and Hurricane Hilary brought back ancient Lake Manly for months in 2023. Follow Death Valley National Park on Instagram and Facebook to be alerted to these weather events.

We have been fortunate to see and photograph each of these ephemeral events and they were each highlights of our time in Death Valley. If you are in the park during a long, heavy rainstorm, you may want to visit Badwater Basin to see if it has experienced flooding. Badwater Basin is very large and finding flooded sections after a rainstorm can require a lot of scouting. Also, heavy rains do not consistently result in flooding, so do not get your hopes up until you actually see flooded polygons.

Colorful badlands in Death Valley National Park.

AN INSPIRING LANDSCAPE

Ten years ago, we would never have expected that Death Valley National Park would be the place we return to each year for an extended photography trip. With every mile hiked, we come up with more ideas of places we want to see for the first time or return to for another visit. The diversity, vastness, and dynamism of this landscape come together to make it a continuously exciting and challenging place to visit and photograph. The well-known locations are incredible yet this landscape also holds so many secrets for those who are interested in exploring it more extensively. It is also pretty nice to be wearing shorts in December…

If you are planning a photography trip to Death Valley National Park and appreciated this blog post, we think you will also find our ebook, Desert Paradise: The Landscape Photographer's Guide to Death Valley National Park to be a very helpful resource. Desert Paradise includes many of our favorite locations in the park, as well as extensive photography tips specifically focused on working with Death Valley’s unique landscapes, and time-saving trip planning resources to help you make the most of your time in the park. You can use the discount code PUPFISH and save 15%.