Death Valley National Park
Death Valley · near Furnace Creek / Beatty (NV) · California Desert
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Late fall–spring (summer is deadly); pupfish visible spring; migrants spring
- Open year round
- Yes
What is here
- Wildlife
- birds · land-mammals
- Species
- Devils Hole & Salt Creek pupfish, desert bighorn, coyotes, roadrunners, migrant birds
- Amenities
- Endemic desert pupfish · Desert bighorn & coyotes · Oasis migrant birding · Otherworldly landscapes
- Best for
- Endemic & desert-adapted wildlife
- Features
- Ancient endemic pupfish · Bighorn in the canyons · Spring oasis migrants · Extreme desert setting
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Deadly summer heat · Vast distances, carry water & fuel · Fragile pupfish habitat — do not enter water · Remote, limited services
- Good for a first timer
- No
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- drive
- Effort
- involved
- Habitat
- plains
- Sighting
- 2
- Viewing notes
- Surprising life in the hottest, driest place in North America — endemic desert pupfish, desert bighorn, spring migrant birds at oases, and rare super-bloom wildlife pulses
- Intl tip
- The hottest, driest, lowest place in North America — an unlikely wildlife destination whose extremes bred remarkable desert-adapted creatures. Famous for pupfish: tiny fish marooned in isolated springs since ancient lakes dried, best seen on Salt Creek boardwalks in spring (plus the critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish). Desert bighorn in the canyons, coyotes, roadrunners, and spring oasis migrants; rare super blooms trigger wildlife pulses. Dangerous environment: lethal summer heat, huge distances — visit late fall–spring, carry water/fuel, never enter pupfish waters.
The guide
Death Valley — the hottest, driest, and lowest place in North America — seems the unlikeliest wildlife destination, yet its ext…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Death Valley National Park — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.5, -117