Death Valley National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location	California & Nevada, USA
Nearest city	Pahrump, Nevada
Coordinates	36°14′31″N 116°49′33″W / 36.24194, -116.82583
Area	3,367,627.68 acres (13,628 km²) 3,348,928.88 acres (13,553 km²) federal
Established	October 31, 1994
Total visitation	744,440 (in 2006)
Governing body	National Park Service

Death Valley National Park is a mostly arid United States National Park located east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in southern Inyo County and northern San Bernardino County in California with a small extension into southwestern Nye County and extreme southern Esmeralda County in Nevada. In addition, there is also an exclave (Devil's Hole) in southern Nye County. The park covers 5,219 mi² (13,518 km²), encompassing Saline Valley, a large part of Panamint Valley, almost all of Death Valley, and parts of several mountain ranges. It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States and contains the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at Badwater, which is 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. It is also home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Some examples include Creosote Bush, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, and the Death Valley Pupfish — a survivor of much wetter times. Approximately 95% of the park is designated as wilderness. The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada A national park is a reserve of land, usually, but not always (see National Parks of England and Wales), declared and owned by a national government, protected from most human development and pollution. ... Image File history File links Red_pog. ... Image File history File links US_Locator_Blank. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Nevada. ... An aerial view from March 2005 shows development scattered across the valley floor. ... is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. ... In general terms, the climate of a locale or region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. ... The parks of the United States National Park system are one type of protected area in the United States and are operated by the U.S. National Park Service. ... This article is about the mountain range in the Western United States. ... Inyo County is a county located in east-central California, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park. ... San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area, containing more land than each of nine states. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Nye County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. ... Location in the state of Nevada Formed 1861 Seat Goldfield Area  - Total  - Water 9,295 km² (3,589 mi²) 1 km² (0 mi²) 0. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Nevada. ... D is Bs exclave, but is not an enclave. ... Devils Hole is a deep limestone cave filled with water of approximately 30°C (86°F). ... To help compare orders of magnitude of different geographical regions, we list here areas between 10,000 km² and 100,000 km². See also areas of other orders of magnitude. ... Saline Valley Saline Valley is an arid valley in the northern Mojave Desert of Southern California. ... The Panamint Valley is a long valley located east of the Argus Range and Slate Range, and west of the Panamint Range in eastern California, USA. The northern end of the valley is in Death Valley National Park. ... For other uses, see Death Valley (disambiguation). ... For exotic financial options, see Mountain range (options). ... The following is a list of places on land located below mean sea level. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... Badwater Basin elevation sign Badwater is a site in Californias Death Valley noted as the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, with an elevation of 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. ... For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... This article is about arid terrain. ... Binomial name Larrea tridentata (Sessé & Moc. ... Binomial name Shaw, 1804 Synonyms Desmarest Cuvier[1] Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)[2] is one of three species of mountain sheep in North America and Siberia; the other two species being Ovis dalli, that includes Dall Sheep and Stones Sheep, and the Siberian Snow sheep Ovis nivicola. ... For other uses, see Coyote (disambiguation). ... The Death Valley Pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus) is a species of fish that is the last known survivor of what is thought to have been an large ecosystem of fish species that lived in Lake Manly which dried up at the end of the last ice age leaving the present day... The Wilderness Act protects exceptional undisturbed natural areas and scenery, such as in the Ansel Adams Wilderness On federal lands in the United States, Congress may designate a wilderness area under the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964. ...

Mining was the primary activity in the area before it was protected. The first known non-Native Americans to enter Death Valley did so in the winter of 1849, thinking they would save some time by taking a shortcut to the gold fields of California. They were stuck for weeks and in the process gave the Valley its name even though only one of their group died there. Several short-lived boom towns sprung up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to exploit minor local bonanzas of gold. The only long-term profitable ore to be mined, however, was borax; a mineral used to make soap and an important industrial compound. 20-Mule Teams were famously used to transport this ore out of the Valley, helping to make it famous and the subject or set of numerous books, radio programs, television series, and movies. Death Valley National Monument was proclaimed in 1933, placing the area under federal protection. In 1994, the monument was redesignated a national park, as well as being substantially expanded to include, for example, Saline and Eureka Valleys. Chuquicamata, the second largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Boomtown can refer to: An American television show: Boomtown A town that experiences a sudden growth in population and economy: Boomtown (geography) A gaming community: Boomtown (community). ... Iron ore (Banded iron formation) Manganese ore Lead ore Gold ore An ore is a volume of rock containing components or minerals in a mode of occurrence which renders it valuable for mining. ... Borax from Persian burah. ... A collection of decorative soaps used for human hygiene purposes. ... Look up chemical compound in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Twenty mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that ferried borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1889. ... For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ... This article is about motion pictures. ... Navajo National Monument Devils Tower National Monument Statue of Liberty National Monument Fort Matanzas National Monument A National Monument is a protected area of the United States that is similar to a national park (specifically a U.S. National Park) except that the President of the United States can quickly... Saline Valley Saline Valley is an arid valley in the northern Mojave Desert of Southern California. ... Eureka Valley is located in Inyo County, in eastern California in the southwestern United States. ...

The natural environment of the area has been profoundly shaped by its geology, which is very long and complex. The oldest rocks are extensively metamorphosed and at least 1.7 billion years old. Ancient warm, shallow seas deposited marine sediments until rifting opened the Pacific Ocean. Additional sedimentation occurred until a subduction zone formed off the coast. This uplifted the region out of the sea and created a line of volcanoes. Later the crust started to pull apart, creating the Basin and Range landform we see today. Valleys filled with sediment and, during the wet times of ice ages, with lakes, such as Lake Manly. “Rock” redirects here. ... Metamorphism can be defined as the solid state recrystallisation of pre-existing rocks due to changes in heat and/or pressure and/or introduction of fluids i. ... Categories: Geology stubs | Plate tectonics ... Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska photographed from the International Space Station For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation). ... Earth cutaway from core to exosphere. ... Basin and Range index map - USGS The Basin and Range Province is a particular type of topography that covers much of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico that is typified by elongate north-south trending arid valleys bounded by mountain ranges which also bound adjacent valleys. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... For other uses, see Lake (disambiguation). ... The Lake Manly lake system as it might have looked during its last maximum extent 22,000 years ago. ...

The sign at the entrance of Death Valley National Park.

A slice through the highest and lowest points in Death Valley National Park.

Map of the park showing surrounding area and the previous smaller extent of the Park.

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1920 KB) Sign at the entrance of Death Valley National Park. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1920 KB) Sign at the entrance of Death Valley National Park. ... Image File history File links DevaxsectSM.svg‎ File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links DevaxsectSM.svg‎ File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (853x936, 1249 KB) Map created by Daniel Mayer using data from the National Park Service metadata Red dots are mine sites, blue triangles are camp sites, and blue question marks are tourist information facilities. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (853x936, 1249 KB) Map created by Daniel Mayer using data from the National Park Service metadata Red dots are mine sites, blue triangles are camp sites, and blue question marks are tourist information facilities. ...

[edit] Geographic setting

Within the park there are two major valleys: Death Valley and Panamint Valley, both of which were formed within the last few million years and both bounded by north-south-trending mountain ranges. These and adjacent valleys follow the general trend of Basin and Range topography with one modification: there are parallel strike-slip faults that perpendicularly bound the central extent of Death Valley. The result of this shearing action is additional extension in the central part of Death Valley which causes a slight widening and relatively more subsidence there. For exotic financial options, see Mountain range (options). ... Basin and Range index map - USGS The Basin and Range Province is a particular type of topography that covers much of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico that is typified by elongate north-south trending arid valleys bounded by mountain ranges which also bound adjacent valleys. ... Old fault exposed by roadcut near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. ...

Uplift of surrounding mountain ranges and subsidence of the valley floor are both occurring. The uplift on the Black Mountains is so fast that the alluvial fans (fan-shaped deposits at the mouth of canyons) there are relatively small and steep compared to the huge alluvial fans coming off the Panamint Range. In many places so-called "wine glass canyons" are formed along the Black Mountains front as a result. This type of canyon results from the mountain range's relatively fast uplift which does not allow the canyons enough time to cut a classic V-shape all the way down to the stream bed. Instead a V-shape ends at a slot canyon halfway down with a relatively small and steep alluvial fan on which the stream sediments collect. A vast alluvial fan blossoms across the desolate landscape between the Kunlun and Altun mountain ranges that form the southern border of the Taklimakan Desert in China’s XinJiang Province. ... Categories: US geography stubs | California mountains | Great Basin | Death Valley ... Butchers Creek, Omeo, Victoria A stream, brook, beck, burn or creek, is a body of water with a detectable current, confined within a bed and banks. ...

Entire area in yellow is below sea level (USGS image)

At 282 feet (86 m) below sea level, Badwater on Death Valley's floor is the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere (behind Laguna del Carbón in Argentina), while Mount Whitney, only 85 miles (140 km) to the west, rises to 14,505 feet (4,421 m). This topographic relief is the greatest elevation gradient in the contiguous United States and is the terminus point of the Great Basin's southwestern drainage. Although the extreme lack of water in the Great Basin makes this distinction of little current practical use, it does mean that in wetter times the lake that once filled Death Valley (Lake Manly) was the last stop for water flowing in the region, meaning the water there was relatively saturated in dissolved materials. Thus salt pans in Death Valley are among the largest in the world and are rich in minerals, such as borax and various salts and hydrates. The largest salt pan in the park extends 40 miles (65 km) from the Ashford Mill Site to the Salt Creek Hills, covering some 200 square miles (500 km²) of the Valley floor (Badwater, the Devils Golf Course, and Salt Creek are all part of this feature). The second-most well-known playa in the park is the Racetrack, famous for its mysterious moving rocks. NPS/USGS image from http://www2. ... NPS/USGS image from http://www2. ... For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... Laguna del Carbón (Spanish for Coals lagoon) is a 105 metres (315 ft) below sea level depression located at coordinates in the Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. ... Mount Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States at elevation 14,505 feet (4,421 meters). ... The continental United States is a term referring to the United States situated on the North American continent. ... Drainage map showing the Great Basin in orange Various Definitions of the Great Basin (NPS) The Great Basin is a large, arid region of the western United States. ... For other uses, see Lake (disambiguation). ... The Lake Manly lake system as it might have looked during its last maximum extent 22,000 years ago. ... Salt pans can refer to: Salt pan (geology), a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals, usually found in deserts. ... For other uses, see Mineral (disambiguation). ... Borax from Persian burah. ... For other uses, see Salt (disambiguation). ... Hydrate is a term which means different things in inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry. ... It has been suggested that Playa lake be merged into this article or section. ... Satellite image of Racetrack Playa. ...

Death Valley and environs

Death Valley © 2004 Matthew Trump File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Death Valley © 2004 Matthew Trump File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

[edit] Climate

Death Valley is one of the hottest and driest places in North America due to its lack of surface water and its low relief. On July 10, 1913, a record 134°F (56.7°C) was measured at the Weather Bureau's observation station at Greenland Ranch (now the site for the Furnace Creek Inn), which is (as of 2007) the highest temperature ever recorded on that continent. Daily summer temperatures of 120 °F (49 °C) or greater are common as well as below freezing nightly temperatures in the winter. is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a scientific agency of the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere. ... 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Animated, colour-coded map showing the various continents. ...

Desert, radiator water tank near Grapevine

The National Weather Service reports that July is the hottest month, with an average high of 114.9°F (46.1°C). and an average low of 86.3°F (30.2°C). December is the coldest month, with an average high of 65.1°F (18.4°C) and an average low of 37.5°F (3.1°C). The record low at the Furnace Creek Inn is 15°F (-9.4°C). There are an average of 189.3 days annually with highs of 90°F (32.2°C) or higher and 138 days annually with highs of 100°F (37.8°C). or higher. Freezing temperatures (32°F/0°C or lower) occur on an average of 11.7 days annually. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 535 pixelsFull resolution (2449 × 1639 pixel, file size: 687 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 535 pixelsFull resolution (2449 × 1639 pixel, file size: 687 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... The National Weather Service (NWS) is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government. ...

Several of the larger Death Valley springs derive their water from a regional aquifer, which extends as far east as southern Nevada and Utah. Much of the water in this aquifer was placed there many thousands of years ago, during the Pleistocene ice ages, when climate was cooler and wetter. Today's drier climate does not provide enough precipitation to recharge the aquifer at the rate at which water is being withdrawn. [1] An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, silt, or clay) from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) on the geologic timescale is the period from 1,808,000 to 11,550 years BP. The Pleistocene epoch had been intended to cover the worlds recent period of repeated glaciations. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ...

The highest range in the park is the Panamint Range with Telescope Peak being its highest point at 11,049 feet (3,368 m). Death Valley is a transitional zone in the northernmost part of the Mojave Desert and is five mountain ranges removed from the Pacific Ocean. Three of these are significant barriers: the Sierra Nevada, Argus Range, and the Panamint Range. Air masses tend to lose their moisture as they are forced up over mountain ranges, in what climatologists call a rainshadow effect. Telescope Peak is a desert mountain from which one can see for hundreds of miles on the summit from Mount Whitney to Charlston Peak. ... For the indigenous American tribe, see Mohave. ... This article is about the mountain range in the Western United States. ... Argus Range, near Searles Dry Lake, Mojave Desert, California The Argus Range is a mountain range located in eastern California, southeast of the town of Darwin, between the Coso Range and the Panamint Valley. ... A rain shadow (or more accurately, precipitation shadow) is a dry region on the surface of the Earth that is leeward or behind a mountain with respect to the prevailing wind direction. ...

Salt shoreline remodeled landscape at Devil's Golf Course from Dante's View

The exaggerated rainshadow effect for the Death Valley area makes it North America's driest spot, receiving about 1.7 inches (43 mm) of rainfall annually at Badwater (some years fail to register any measurable rainfall). Annual average precipitation varies from 1.90 inches (48 mm) overall below sea level to over 15 inches (380 mm) in the higher mountains that surround the Valley. When rain does arrive it often does so in intense storms that cause flash floods which remodel the landscape and sometimes create very shallow ephemeral lakes. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 537 pixelsFull resolution (2449 × 1645 pixel, file size: 659 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 537 pixelsFull resolution (2449 × 1645 pixel, file size: 659 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Devils Golf Course The Devils Golf Course is a large salt pan in Death Valley National Park, with a rough surface formed of large salt crystals. ... Dantes View, Devil Golf Course, salt shoreline Dantes View is a viewpoint terrace placed at 5,475 feet (1. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of sandstone by flash floods A Flash Flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas (washes), rivers and streams, caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ...

Normal annual precipiation at Furnace Creek Inn is 2.33 inches (59 mm), which reported 2.59 inches (66 mm) during the month of January 1995 and a maximum 24-hour rainfall of 1.47 inch (37 mm) on April 15, 1988. Four inches (10 cm) of snow fell at the popular resort in January 1949 and snow flurries were reported as recently as January 5, 1974. is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ...

The hot, dry climate makes it difficult for soil to form. Mass wasting, the down-slope movement of loose rock, is therefore the dominant erosive force in mountainous area, resulting in "skeletonized" ranges (literally, mountains with very little soil on them). Sand dunes in the park, while famous, are not nearly as numerous as their fame or dryness of the area may suggest. One of the main dune fields is near Stovepipe Wells in the north-central part of the Valley and is primarily made of quartz sand. Another dune field is just 10 miles (16 km) to the north but is instead mostly composed of travertine sand. Yet another dune field is near the seldom-visited Ibex Hill in the southernmost part of the park, just south of Saratoga Springs (a marshland). Prevailing winds in the winter come from the north, and prevailing winds in the summer come from the south. Thus the overall position of the dune fields remain more or less fixed. Loess field in Germany Surface-water-gley developed in glacial till, Northern Ireland Technically, soil forms the pedosphere: the interface between the lithosphere (rocky part of the planet) and the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. ... Mass wasting, also known as mass movement or slope movement, is the geomorphic process by which soil, regolith, and rock move downslope under the force of gravity. ... This article is about the sand formations, for other meanings see Dune (disambiguation) Mesquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by eolian (wind-related) processes. ... For other uses, see Quartz (disambiguation). ... Travertine Travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park A carving in travertine Travertine is a sedimentary rock. ...

See also: Places of interest in the Death Valley area

Places of interest in the Death Valley area are mostly located within Death Valley National Park in eastern California. ...

[edit] Human history

[edit] Early inhabitants and passers-through

Petroglyphs above Mesquite Springs by the Mesquite Flat People.

Four known Native American cultures have lived in the area during the last 10,000 years or so. The first known group, the Nevares Spring People, were hunters and gatherers who arrived in the area perhaps 9000 years ago (7000 BCE) when lakes were still in Death Valley and neighboring Panamint Valley—remnants of the once huge lakes Manly and Panamint. A much milder climate persisted at that time, and large game animals were still plentiful. By five thousand years ago (3000 BCE) the culturally similar Mesquite Flat People displaced the Nevares Spring People. Around 2000 years ago (start of the common era) the Saratoga Spring People moved into the area, which by then was probably already a hot, dry desert (the last known lake to exist in Death Valley likely dried up a thousand years before). This culture was more advanced at hunting and gathering and was skillful at handcrafts. They also left mysterious stone patterns in the Valley. Photo taken by Daniel Mayer in April 2003. ... Photo taken by Daniel Mayer in April 2003. ... For other uses, see Petroglyph (disambiguation). ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... For other uses, see Lake (disambiguation). ... The Lake Manly lake system as it might have looked during its last maximum extent 22,000 years ago. ... Game is any animal hunted for food. ... “BCE” redirects here. ... This article is about arid terrain. ...

A thousand years later the nomadic Timbisha (formerly called "Shoshone" and also known as "Panamint" or "Koso") moved into the area and hunted game and gathered mesquite beans along with pinyon pine nuts. Because of the wide altitude differential between the valley bottom and the mountain ridges, especially on the west, the Timbisha practiced a vertical migration pattern. Their winter camps were located near water sources in the valley bottoms. As the spring and summer progressed, grasses and other plant food sources ripened at progressively higher altitudes as the weather warmed. November found them at the very top of the mountain ridges where they harvested pine nuts before moving back to the valley bottom for winter. Several families of Timbisha still live within the Park at Furnace Creek (Timbisha is the Native name of the village). The former village of Maahunu located near Scotty's Castle has been abandoned although many of the baskets on display at the Castle were made by the Timbisha, who worked there as laborers and housekeepers before the National Park Service took over its care. dh;ofehoooooooooovi;ovhid;hvsaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhw;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;iah;oooooooooo fio;a This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Species Many; see text. ... Species Section Cembroides     Pinus cembroides     Pinus orizabensis     Pinus johannis     Pinus culminicola     Pinus remota     Pinus edulis     Pinus monophylla     Pinus quadrifolia Section Rzedowskiae     Pinus rzedowskii     Pinus pinceana     Pinus maximartinezii Section Nelsoniae     Pinus nelsonii The pinyon pines (or piñon pines), are a group of pines, which grow in the southwestern United States... Furnace Creek is a census-designated place located in Inyo County, California. ... Scottys Castle Scottys Castle is a a two-story Spanish Villa located in northern Death Valley National Park, California, USA. It is also known as Death Valley Ranch. ...

The California Gold Rush brought the first Europeans known to visit the immediate area. In December 1849 two groups of California Gold Country-bound White travelers with perhaps 100 wagons total stumbled into Death Valley after getting lost on what they thought was a shortcut off the Old Spanish Trail. Called the Bennett-Arcane Party, they were unable to find a pass out of the valley for weeks and were forced to eat several of their oxen to survive but were able to find fresh water at the various springs in the area. They used the wood of their wagons to cook the meat and make jerky. The place where they did this is today referred to as "Burned Wagons Camp" and is located near the sand dunes. The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutters Mill. ... Gold Country (also Mother Lode Country) is a region of northeastern California famed for the mines and mineral deposits which so famously brought the 49ers west for the California Gold Rush. ... The Old Spanish Trail is a historic trade route which connected the northern New Mexican settlement of Santa Fé with that of Los Ángeles in California. ... The Death Valley 49ers were a group of pioneers who faced great hardship when they attempted to reach the Sutters Fort area during the California Gold Rush via the Nevada and California deserts. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ...

After abandoning their wagons they eventually were able to hike out of the valley through the rugged Wingate Pass. Just after leaving the valley one of the women in the group turned and said, "Goodbye Death Valley," giving the valley they endured its name (in fact only one person of the group died in Death Valley, an elderly man named Culverwell, who was half dead already when he entered the Valley). Included in the party was William Lewis Manly whose autobiographical book Death Valley in '49 detailed this trek and greatly popularized the area (geologists later named the prehistoric lake that once filled the valley after him). William Lewis Manly (St. ... For other uses, see Lake (disambiguation). ...

[edit] Boom and bust

20 Mule Team in Death Valley

The ores that are most famously associated with the area were also the easiest to collect (and most profitable): evaporite deposits such as salts, borate, and talc. Borax was found by Rosie and Aaron Winters near Furnace Creek Ranch (then called Greenland) in 1881. Later that same year the Eagle Borax Works became Death Valley's first commercial borax operation. William Tell Coleman built the Harmony Borax Works plant and began to process ore in late 1883 or early 1884 until 1888. This mining and smelting company produced borax to make soap and for industrial uses. The end product was shipped out of the valley 165 miles (265 km) to the Mojave railhead in 10-ton-capacity wagons pulled by "twenty mule teams" that were actually teams of 18 mules and 2 horses each. The teams averaged two miles (3 km) an hour and required about 30 days to complete a round trip. The trade name 20-Mule Team Borax was established by Francis Marion Smith's Pacific Coast Borax Company after Smith acquired Coleman's borax holdings in 1890. A very memorable advertising campaign used the wagon's image to promote the Boraxo brand of granular hand soap and the Death Valley Days radio and television programs. Mining of the ore continued after the collapse of Coleman's empire, and by the 1920s the area was the world's number one source of borax. Some 6 to 4 million years old, the Furnace Creek Formation is the primary source of borate minerals gathered from Death Valley's playas (See Zabriskie Point for more information). NPS image from [1] This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... NPS image from [1] This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Borates in chemistry are chemical compounds containing boron bonded to three oxygen atoms written as B(OR)3. ... Talc (derived from the Persian via Arabic talq) is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula H2Mg3(SiO3)4 or Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. ... Xanterra Parks & Resorts is a United States park and resort management company. ... William Tell Coleman (1824-1893) was an American pioneer. ... A collection of decorative soaps used for human hygiene purposes. ... Mojave is a town located in Kern County, California. ... Twenty mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that ferried borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1889. ... Twenty-mule-team Borax is a brand of cleaner manufactured by the U.S. soap firm Dial Corporation. ... Francis Marion Borax Smith (February 2, 1846 - August 27, 1931) was an American borax magnate and civic builder of Oakland, CA. Francis Marion Smith was born in Richmond, Wisconsin on February 2, 1846. ... The Pacific Coast Borax Company was founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Marion Smith. ... Boraxo is a American brand of powdered hand soap. ... Death Valley Days was a long-running American radio and television anthology about true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. ... This article refers to the natural feature Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Monument. ...

Skidoo in 1906

Later visitors stayed to prospect for and mine deposits of copper, gold, lead, and silver. These sporadic mining ventures were hampered by their remote location and the harsh desert environment. In December 1903, two men from Ballarat were prospecting for silver. One was an out of work Irish miner named Jack Keane and the other was a one-eyed Basque butcher named Domingo Etcharren. Keane, quite by accident, discovered an immense ledge of free-milling gold by the duo's work site and named the claim the Keane Wonder Mine. This started a minor and short-lived gold rush into the area. The Keane Wonder Mine along with mines at Rhyolite, Skidoo and Harrisburg were the only ones to extract enough metal ore to make them worthwhile. Outright shams such as Leadville also occurred, but most ventures quickly ended after a short series of prospecting mines failed to yield evidence of significant ore (these mines now dot the entire area and are a significant hazard to anyone who enters them). The boom towns which sprang up around these mines flourished during the first decade of the 20th century but soon slowed down after the Panic of 1907. USGS PD image from a series of pages starting at [1]. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... USGS PD image from a series of pages starting at [1]. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Chuquicamata, the second largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ... For other uses, see Copper (disambiguation). ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... For Pb as an abbreviation, see PB. General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series Post-transition metals or poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Standard atomic weight 207. ... This article is about the chemical element. ... For other meanings, see Gold rush (disambiguation) A California Gold Rush handbill A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers into the area of a dramatic discovery of commercial quantities of gold. ... Rhyolite, Nevada is a ghost town in Nye County, Nevada west of Death Valley near Beatty, Nevada. ... The site of Skidoo today This article is about an American ghost town. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

[edit] Early tourism

Scotty's Castle under construction

The first documented tourist facilities in Death Valley were a set of tent houses built in the 1920s where Stovepipe Wells is now located. People flocked to resorts built around natural springs thought to have curative and restorative properties. In 1927, one of the borax companies working in the Valley turned its Furnace Creek Ranch crew quarters into a resort, creating the Furnace Creek Inn and resort. The spring at Furnace Creek was harnessed to develop the resort, and as the water was diverted, the surrounding marshes and wetlands started to shrink.^[1] PD NPS image from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... PD NPS image from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... This article is about marsh, a type of wetland. ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ...

Soon the Valley was a popular winter destination. Other facilities started off as private getaways but were later opened to the public. Most notable among these was Death Valley Ranch, better known as Scotty's Castle. This large ranch home built in the Spanish Revival style became a hotel in the late 1930s and, largely due to the fame of Death Valley Scotty, a tourist attraction. Death Valley Scotty, whose real name was Walter Scott, was a gold miner who pretended to be owner of "his castle," which he claimed to have built with profits from his gold mine. Neither claim was true, but the real owner, Chicago millionaire Albert Mussey Johnson, encouraged the myth. When asked by reporters what his connection was to Walter Scott's castle, Johnson replied that he was Mr. Scott's banker.^[2] Scottys Castle Scottys Castle is a a two-story Spanish Villa located in northern Death Valley National Park, California, USA. It is also known as Death Valley Ranch. ... The Spanish Colonial Revival Style was an architectural movement that came about in the early 20th century after the opening of the Panama Canal and the overwhelming success of the novel Ramona. ... Walter Scott, aka Death Valley Scotty and a train in Chicago in 1926. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Albert Johnson (left) and Walter E. Scott pose together for a photo. ...

[edit] Protection and later history

Civilian Conservation Corps workers in Death Valley

President Herbert Hoover proclaimed a national monument in and around Death Valley on February 11, 1933, setting aside almost 2 million acres (8,000 km²) of southeastern California and small parts of westernmost Nevada. Twelve companies worked in Death Valley using Civilian Conservation Corps workers during the Great Depression and into the early 1940s. They built barracks, graded 500 miles (800 km) of roads, installed water and telephone lines, and erected a total of 76 buildings. Trails in the Panamint Range were built to points of scenic interest, and an adobe village, laundry and trading post were constructed for Shoshone Indians. Five campgrounds, restrooms, an airplane landing field and picnic facilities were also built. PD photo from http://www. ... PD photo from http://www. ... Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the thirty-first President of the United States (1929–1933), was a world-famous mining engineer and humanitarian administrator. ... Navajo National Monument Devils Tower National Monument Statue of Liberty National Monument Fort Matanzas National Monument A National Monument is a protected area of the United States that is similar to a national park (specifically a U.S. National Park) except that the President of the United States can quickly... is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Nevada. ... CCC workers on road construction, Camp Euclid, Ohio 1936 The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families, established on March 19, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ... Renewal of the surface coating of an adobe wall in Chamisal, New Mexico Adobe is a natural building material composed of sand, sandy clay and straw or other organic materials, which is shaped into bricks using wooden frames and dried in the sun. ... This article is about the Native American tribe. ... Airplane and Aeroplane redirect here. ... Friends and family gather for a picnic in a public park in Columbus, Ohio, c. ...

Creation of the monument resulted in a temporary closing of the lands to prospecting and mining. However, by prior agreement, Death Valley was quickly reopened to mining by Congressional action in June of the same year. As improvements in mining technology allowed lower grades of ore to be processed and new heavy equipment allowed greater amounts of rock to be moved, mining in Death Valley changed. Gone were the days of the "single-blanket, jackass prospector" long associated with the romantic west. Open pit and strip mines scarred the landscape as internationally owned mining corporations bought claims in highly visible locations of the national monument. The public outcry that ensued led to greater protection for all national park and monument areas in the United States. Congress in Joint Session. ... The El Chino mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine Open-pit mining refers to a method of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow. ... Strip mining is the practice of mining a seam of mineral ore by first removing all of the soil and rock that lies on top of it. ...

Inside an abandoned mine at Leadfield

Congress passed the Mining in the Parks Act in 1976 which closed Death Valley National Monument to the filing of new mining claims, banned open-pit mining and required the National Park Service to examine the validity of tens of thousands of pre-1976 mining claims. Mining was allowed to resume on a limited basis in 1980 with stricter environmental standards. The park's Resources Management Division monitors mining within park boundaries and continues to review the status of 125 unpatented mining claims and 19 patented claim groups, while insuring that federal guidelines are followed and the park's resources are being protected. As of 2003, the only active mining operation in Death Valley National Park is the Billie Mine, an underground borax mine located along the road to Dante's View. Download high resolution version (1107x885, 173 KB)Photo taken by Daniel Mayer in April 2003. ... Download high resolution version (1107x885, 173 KB)Photo taken by Daniel Mayer in April 2003. ... The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ...

Death Valley National Monument was designated a biosphere reserve in 1984. On October 31, 1994, the Monument was expanded 1.3 million acres (5,300 km²) and redesignated a national park by passage of the Desert Protection Act. This made it the largest national park in the contiguous United States. A biosphere reserve is an international conservation designation given by UNESCO under its Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB). ... is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada A national park is a reserve of land, usually, but not always (see National Parks of England and Wales), declared and owned by a national government, protected from most human development and pollution. ... The continental United States refers (except sometimes in U.S. federal law and regulations) to the largest part of the U.S. that is delimited by a continuous border. ...

Many of the larger cities and towns within the boundary of the regional ground water flow system that the park and its plants and animals rely upon are experiencing some of the fastest growth rates of any place in the United States. Notable examples within a 100-mile radius of Death Valley National Park include Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nevada. In the case of Las Vegas, the local Chamber of Commerce estimates that 6,000 people are moving to the city every month. Between 1985 and 1995, the population of the Las Vegas Valley increased from 550,700 to 1,138,800.^[3] Groundwater is any water found below the land surface. ... Vegas redirects here. ... An aerial view from March 2005 shows development scattered across the valley floor. ...

A desert telephone box between Junction and Furnace Creek near the crossroad for Dante's View

Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 407 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1652 × 2431 pixel, file size: 740 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 407 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1652 × 2431 pixel, file size: 740 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...

[edit] Telephone history

While the area has modern telephone service today, the park is a rural area.

Before the 1980s, a variety of telephone technologies of different eras connected communities within the park. The area was within the Pacific Telephone area of the former Bell System. An electromechanical step-by-step central office at Furnace Creek switched calls for dial telephones in the resort and Visitor Center area. At the time, service was constrained to rotary dial only. Coin service was provided and included dialtone-first 9-1-1 service when that rolled out. In the field of telecommunications, a central office or telephone exchange houses equipment that is commonly known as simply a switch, which is a piece of equipment that connects phone calls. ...

A 454 MHz (Furnace Creek to Stovepipe Wells) / 459 MHz (reverse direction) full-duplex Rural Radio Telephone Service link went from Furnace Creek Central Office to Stovepipe Wells. The channel pairs were shared with Improved Mobile Telephone Service, which was not offered on UHF in Death Valley. The link used single-frequency (SF) signaling. Subscribers at Stovepipe Wells used non-dial phones, (manual service). To place a call, they would just go off-hook and wait for the operator. To reach Stovepipe Wells from anyplace in North America, callers would dial "0" for the operator and ask for Stovepipe Wells California Toll Station Number... (and the single-digit number). Although Death Valley was in 619 area code at the time, the operator routing for Stovepipe Wells was through Los Angeles: KP 213+181 ST. The caller's local toll operator would have to call an operator in Los Angeles, who would manually set up the call. In the field of telecommunications, a central office or telephone exchange houses equipment that is commonly known as simply a switch, which is a piece of equipment that connects phone calls. ...

Death Valley Junction was also on manual service. A multi-circuit open wire ran from Furnace Creek Central Office to Death Valley Junction. An unusual, non-dial 1A1 Coin Collector was installed at the Amargosa Hotel. Its bright red instruction card said, "Do Not Deposit Coins," as there was no way to send coin relay commands (e.g. coin return/coin collect) over the manual circuit.

[edit] Geologic history

Main article: Geology of the Death Valley area

The Death and Panamint valleys area from space. The elliptical depression to the left is the Searles Lake basin, the smaller linear valley is Panamint Valley and the larger one is Death Valley. The mountain range between Death and Panamint valleys is the Panamint Range, and the Black Mountains bound the other side of Death Valley. (NASA image)

The park has a diverse and complex geologic history. Since its formation, the area that comprises the park has experienced at least four major periods of extensive volcanism, three or four periods of major sedimentation, and several intervals of major tectonic deformation where the crust has been reshaped. Two periods of glaciation (a series of ice ages) have also had its effects on the area, although no glaciers ever existed in the ranges now in the park. The exposed geology of the Death Valley area presents a diverse and complex story that includes at least 23 formations of sedimentary units, two major gaps in the geologic record called unconformities, and at least one distinct set of related formations geologists call groups. ... PD NASA image from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... PD NASA image from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... This article is about volcanoes in geology. ... Sedimentation describes the motion of particles in solutions or suspensions in response to an external force such as gravity, centrifugal force or electric force. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... A glaciation (a created composite term meaning Glacial Period, referring to the Period or Era of, as well as the process of High Glacial Activity), often called an ice age, is a geological phenomenon in which massive ice sheets form in the Arctic and Antarctic and advance toward the equator. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... This article is about the geological formation. ...

Little is known about the history of the oldest exposed rocks in the area due to extensive metamorphism (alteration of rock by heat and pressure). Radiometric dating gives an age of 1700 million years for the metamorphism (during the Proterozoic: See bottom of the geologic timeline). 1400 million years ago a mass of granite now in the Panamint Range intruded this complex. Uplift later exposed these rocks to nearly 500 million years of erosion. “Rock” redirects here. ... Metamorphism can be defined as the solid state recrystallisation of pre-existing rocks due to changes in heat and/or pressure and/or introduction of fluids i. ... Radiometric dating (often called radioactive dating) is a technique used to date materials, based on a comparison between the observed abundance of particular naturally occurring radioactive isotopes and their known decay rates. ... The Proterozoic (IPA: ) is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. ... Download high resolution version (498x662, 16 KB)PD USGS image from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Close-up of granite from Yosemite National Park, valley of the Merced River Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ...

The Pahrump Group of formations is several thousand feet (hundreds of meters) thick and was deposited from 1200 million to 800 million years ago. This was after uplift-associated erosion removed whatever rocks covered the Proteozoic-aged rock. Pahrump is composed of arkose conglomerate<