Zabriskie Point & Badlands Loop
CA-190, Death Valley NP · near Furnace Creek · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 2.7 miles
- Elevation gain
- 600 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Nov–Mar
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
- Iconic sunrise viewpoint · Rippled golden badlands · Manly Beacon · Links to Gower Gulch
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Come for sunrise, not sunset — the badlands glow and face the morning light. It overlaps Golden Canyon, so pick one big loop rather than both in full.
The guide
The most famous view in the park — an overlook onto a sea of wrinkled golden badlands with Manly Beacon rising like a sail. Bey…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Zabriskie Point & Badlands Loop — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.42, -116.8113