Badwater Basin Salt Flats
Badwater Rd, Death Valley NP · near Furnace Creek · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- easy
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 1.9 miles
- Elevation gain
- 0 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Nov–Mar · Not summer — radiant heat off the salt, no shade
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- $30/vehicle 7-day Death Valley NP entrance fee (card only). Day hikes need no other permit; overnight backcountry needs a free Recreation.gov permit.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Lowest point in North America (−282 ft) · Hexagonal salt polygons · Sea-level sign on the cliff above · Surreal white expanse
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Walk at least 15–20 minutes out to reach the pristine, unbroken salt polygons; the ones near the boardwalk are trampled to mush. Sunglasses essential.
The guide
North America's lowest ground, a blinding sheet of crystallized salt stretching to the Panamints. There is no formal trail — yo…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Badwater Basin Salt Flats — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.2296, -116.7677