Death Valley, Natural History Photography Blog

Photos of the Racetrack in Death Valley National Park, and the Racetrack’s sliding rocks (or sailing stones).

The Racetrack is an ancient dry lake bed in Death Valley, famous for its sailing stones. Located between the Last Chance Mountains and the Cottonwood Mountains, the Racetrack Playa lies at 3600′ above sea level, is about 3 miles long by 1 mile wide in size, and appears almost perfectly flat. Much of the year the Racetrack lakebed is totally dessicated and covered with small hexagonal mud patterns, although during the two rainy seasons that Death Valley experiences the playa becomes muddy and is sometimes “underwater”. At the south end of the Racetrack Playa are found the Racetrack’s famous “sailing stones”. Typically about the size of a shoe box or larger, the stones mysteriously move about the playa leaving trails behind them. Noone has actually observed any of the stones moving. One theory about their locomotion suggests that a combination of wet mud (during the winter rainy season) and high winds, perhaps combined with a thin layer of ice atop the mud, allows the stones to slide. Evidence indicates that the rocks move once every few years, and that tracks last only 4-5 years. My hunch is the occasions of the stones’ movement is a function of seasonal weather patterns and the presence or absence of sufficient water, wind and ice to trigger the sailing phenomenon. The sailing stones originate on the slope of a hill that rises above the south end of the playa. Many of the stones have moved hundreds of yards from their source, out toward the center of the lake bed, each leaving a striated channel behind it in the mud, like the wake of a boat.

Sunset over the Racetrack Playa. The Cottonwood Mountains rise above the flat, dry, ancient lake bed. Image ID: 25265   Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Racetrack Playa, an ancient lake now dried and covered with dessicated mud. Image ID: 25315

The Grandstand, standing above dried mud flats, on the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. Image ID: 25318

A sliding rock of the Racetrack Playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter. Image ID: 25243   Location: Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Sailing stone on the Death Valley Racetrack playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter. Image ID: 25333

At the north end of the Racetrack is found the “Grandstand”, an assemblage of giant round boulders stacked in the middle of the playa. In the olden days**, miners would gather on the Grandstand to stage and watch horse races on the playa.

Our visit: After we left the Eureka Valley Sand Dunes, we drove on some long but easy dirt roads to Scotty’s Castle where we stopped for lunch and to stretch our legs. We saw some great expanses of flowers along the way, evidence that the wildflower bloom comes later to the higher-altitude reaches of Death Valley. After Scotty’s Castle, we drove to the Racetrack via the notorious Uhebehebe-Crater-to-Racetrack-Road, a 27-mile-long dirt road that is famous for its tire-piercing ability and funky Teakettle Junction at which a photo must be taken. (Yes, those are actual teakettles hanging from the Teakettle Junction sign.) 4WD is not required for this drive but the suspensions that 4WD vehicles typically have are helpful for the washboard track. Sturdy tires with sidewall puncture resistant are also helpful. I have experienced a flat tire on this road in the past and it was a bummer, but on this visit we were in a well-equipped off-road vehicle and the road was in super shape so we made it to the Racetrack in about 45 minutes with no drama. We spent one sunset admiring the sailing stones, then shot some night sky photos and milky way timelapse video while camping at the primitive campground beyond the Racetrack. We returned to look at the rocks again at sunrise the next morning, then climbed to the top of the Grandstand on our way back out to Uhebehebe Crater. We saw one car in the distance while we were at the playa, but never actually enountered another person the entire time we were there. It was great.

I wish Leonard Nimoy would produce an episode of “In Search Of” about these uber-curious stones since it is my theory that, while they are interesting to landscape photographers, the mud tracks are actually landing strips left behind by tiny alien spacecraft. I discovered another Alien Spaceport in California some years ago. I now believe there is a network of these facilities, with the Racetrack being just one example. I will continue my investigations in this regard.

**Olden days (n): a technical term referring to a vague period in history that occurred sometime before I was alive and about which I know virtually nothing.

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The Devil’s Golf Course is a curious assemblage of crystalline salt shapes spread over a large swath of the Death Valley salt pan. This saltpan, which is the lowest point in Death Valley National Park, and indeed the western hemisphere, holds a small amount of subsurface moisture. This water is extremely salty and briny, a result of the accumulation of minerals that were left behind when the 30-foot-deep Holocene-era lake disappeared (the accumulation continues with each year’s winter rains). Capillary action draws the subsurface moisture upward. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind salt crystals that form myriad fantastic shapes. The growth is quite slow, perhaps as little as one inch every 35 years. Wind friction and seasonal flooding of the area during winter storms erodes or reshapes the salt crystal forms, and the process continues.

Devils Golf Course, California. Evaporated salt has formed into gnarled, complex crystalline shapes in on the salt pan of Death Valley National Park, one of the largest salt pans in the world. The shapes are constantly evolving as occasional floods submerge the salt concretions before receding and depositing more salt. Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15582   Location: Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Devils Golf Course. Evaporated salt has formed into gnarled, complex crystalline shapes on the salt pan of Death Valley National Park, one of the largest salt pans in the world. The shapes are constantly evolving as occasional floods submerge the salt concretions before receding and depositing more salt. Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 20552   Location: Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

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Badwater is the lowest point in Death Valley National Park, at 282 feet below sea level. Indeed, it is the lowest point in the entire western hemisphere. The Badwater Basin is the catch point for 9000 square miles of drainage, however, there is typically little water here except following winter rains, since the water evaporates quickly. When it does, it leaves behind a saline, crusty, flat white playa made up of almost pure table salt and stretching for miles — a bizarre place. Evaporation is most extreme in Death Valley: a 1.9 inch annual rainfall is exceeded by evaporation potential of 150 inches per year, enough to scorch a 12 foot deep lake to dust in just 12 months. The water that does manage to persist here is the motivation for the place’s name, for it is a salty, warm, nasty swill which you are advised not to drink. A small, specialized species of snail, the Badwater snail, somehow manages to eke out an existence in these waters. Rising above the parking area are some of the oldest rocks in Death Valley, 1.7 billion (with a b) year old Precambrian volcanic and sedimentary rock layers that have metamorphosed into gneiss. Perched 282 feet up the cliff face is a sign marking sea level. If you visit, be sure to walk out onto the playa, not just a hundred yards or so but far enough that the other visitors and their cars become specks. Admire the sheer white horizon stretching in all directions, the Panamint Mountain and Black Mountain ranges that form the walls of the valley, and the blue sky. Hear the silence as your feet crackle and crunch the salt upon which you walk. Feel the parched air wick the sweat off your skin. Feel your throat become dry. Squint. So nice. Now back to the car and air conditioning, to sip your Diet Coke.

Badwater, Death Valley. A spring feeds this small pool year round. The water is four times more saline than ocean water. The small Badwater snail (Assiminea infima) is found only in Death Valley, in spring-fed pools such as these, and is threatened by habitat destruction. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater is the lowest point in North America. Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 20554   Location: Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Badwater, California. Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America. 9000 square miles of watershed drain into the Badwater basin, to dry and form huge white salt flats. Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15579	Badwater, California. Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America. 9000 square miles of watershed drain into the Badwater basin, to dry and form huge white salt flats. Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15580

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I’ve been on a few deep scuba dives in my life but relative to sea level this is as deep as I have ever been, and I didn’t even need to strap on a scuba tank to get there. Seen here is delicate pre-dawn pink light on a snow covered Telescope Peak, viewed from Badwater. Telescope Peak, at 11,049 feet, is the highest point in Death Valley National Park as well as the Panamint Range. Badwater is the lowest point in Death Valley National Park, at 282 feet below sea level.

Sunrise lights Telescope Peak as it rises over the salt flats of Badwater, Death Valley. At 11,049 feet, Telescope Peak is the highest peak in the Panamint Range as well as the highest point in Death Valley National Park. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater is the lowest point in North America. Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 20549   Location: Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

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The Devil’s Golf Course is a curious assemblage of crystalline salt shapes spread over a large swath of the Death Valley salt pan. This saltpan, which is the lowest point in Death Valley National Park, and indeed the western hemisphere, holds a small amount of subsurface moisture. This water is extremely salty and briny, a result of the accumulation of minerals that were left behind when the 30-foot-deep Holocene-era lake disappeared (the accumulation continues with each year’s winter rains). Capillary action draws the subsurface moisture upward. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind salt crystals that form myriad fantastic shapes. The growth is quite slow, perhaps as little as one inch every 35 years. Wind friction and seasonal flooding of the area during winter storms erodes or reshapes the salt crystal forms, and the process continues.

Devils Golf Course, California. Evaporated salt has formed into gnarled, complex crystalline shapes in on the salt pan of Death Valley National Park, one of the largest salt pans in the world. The shapes are constantly evolving as occasional floods submerge the salt concretions before receding and depositing more salt. Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15582	Devils Golf Course, California. Evaporated salt has formed into gnarled, complex crystalline shapes in on the salt pan of Death Valley National Park, one of the largest salt pans in the world. The shapes are constantly evolving as occasional floods submerge the salt concretions before receding and depositing more salt. Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15596	Devils Golf Course, California. Evaporated salt has formed into gnarled, complex crystalline shapes in on the salt pan of Death Valley National Park, one of the largest salt pans in the world. The shapes are constantly evolving as occasional floods submerge the salt concretions before receding and depositing more salt. Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15613

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Zabriskie Point in Death Valley offers a great view from the Funeral Mountains, across curious gullies of sedimentary rock and packed mud that comprise the badlands below Zabriskie Point, to the floor of salt-pan floor of Death Valley and the Panamint Range in the distance. It is especially striking at sunrise, so much so that photographers have made it a must-take photo during their first visit to Death Valley. Manly Beacon rises in the midst of the panorama, its striped contours testament to the tilted layers of sediment of which it is formed.

Zabriskie Point, sunrise. Manly Beacon rises in the center of an eroded, curiously banded area of sedimentary rock, with the Panamint Mountains visible in the distance. Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15575	Zabriskie Point, sunrise. Manly Beacon rises in the center of an eroded, curiously banded area of sedimentary rock, with the Panamint Mountains visible in the distance. Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15585	Zabriskie Point, sunrise. Curiously banded area of sedimentary rock lies in the foreground with the Panamint Mountains visible in the distance. Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15601

Zabriskie Point phot

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Death Valley National Park’s most accessible sand dunes are just a few miles down the road from Stovepipe Wells, in the center of Death Valley. 14 acres of sand dunes, rising several hundred feet high in places, lie about a quarter mile from the road. While there is no official trail from the roadside parking area to the dunes, you cannot miss them. Just set out on foot from your car in the direction of the dunes that look most interesting and walk for a while. Gradually the brush and vegetation gives way to pure sand and you are there. It is easy to find your own space out here, away from others, among the valleys that lie between the dunes. Sunrise and sunset are the times to walk among the dunes, it gets too hot during midday. Night finds noctural animals roaming the dunes, such as the kangaroo rat and sidewinder. The morning visitor will see cool animal tracks on the dunes, tracks that gradually disappear as the sands shift in the days breezes. If I took my kids to these dunes I would bring a boogie board or big cardboard boxes to let them slides down the steep sides of the biggest dunes.

Sand Dunes, California. Near Stovepipe Wells lies a region of sand dunes, some of them hundreds of feet tall. Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15577	Sand Dunes, California. Near Stovepipe Wells lies a region of sand dunes, some of them hundreds of feet tall. Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15576	Ripples in sand dunes at sunset, California. Winds reshape the dunes each day. Early morning walks among the dunes can yield a look at sidewinder and kangaroo rats tracks the nocturnal desert animals leave behind. Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15607

Caveats: Don’t win any Darwin Awards in the dunes. Know how to get back to your car, carry water and protection from the sun, and use a flashlight in the dark to scope out sidewinders. Death Valley does have considerably larger sand dunes than those near Stovepipe Wells, such as the Eureka dunes, but they are accessible only via a remote, gnarly dirt road requires hours of gnarly driving and a gnarly 4wd ve

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Badwater is the lowest point in Death Valley National Park, at 282 feet below sea level. Indeed, it is the lowest point in the entire western hemisphere. The Badwater Basin is the catch point for 9000 square miles of drainage, however, there is typically little water here except following winter rains, since the water evaporates quickly. When it does, it leaves behind a saline, crusty, flat white playa made up of almost pure table salt and stretching for miles — a bizarre place. Evaporation is most extreme in Death Valley: a 1.9 inch annual rainfall is exceeded by evaporation potential of 150 inches per year, enough to scorch a 12 foot deep lake to dust in just 12 months. The water that does manage to persist here is the motivation for the place’s name, for it is a salty, warm, nasty swill which you are advised not to drink. A small, specialized species of fish, the Death Valley pupfish, somehow manages to eke out an existence in these waters. Rising above the parking area are some of the oldest rocks in Death Valley, 1.7 billion (with a b) year old Precambrian volcanic and sedimentary rock layers that have metamorphosed into gneiss. Perched 282 feet up the cliff face is a sign marking sea level. If you visit, be sure to walk out onto the playa, not just a hundred yards or so but far enough that the other visitors and their cars become specks. Admire the sheer white horizon stretching in all directions, the Panamint Mountain and Black Mountain ranges the form the walls of the valley, and the blue sky. Hear the silence as your feet crackle and crunch the salt upon which you walk. Feel the air wick the sweat off your skin. Feel your throat become dry. Squint. Nice. Now back to the car and air conditioning.

Badwater, California. Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America. 9000 square miles of watershed drain into the Badwater basin, to dry and form huge white salt flats. Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15595

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Updated: May 21, 2013

Badwater, California. Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America. 9000 square miles of watershed drain into the Badwater basin, to dry and form huge white salt flats. Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15579	Badwater, California. Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in North America. 9000 square miles of watershed drain into the Badwater basin, to dry and form huge white salt flats. Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15580	Self portrait on salt pan. Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15621