Reasons to Go: If you really don't yet have any idea why you might want to see Death Valley, my few words are not likely going to be the ones that will put you into action, but here we go:

Death Valley is hot and that in itself is a great reason to go. Have you ever experienced an air temp over 110°? How about 125°? Sounds bad but it's actually pretty interesting ... for a day.

In a normal rain year there are few flowers after March. Even this year in early April there were precious few flowers to enjoy, but after traveling around to higher spots we did find enough to enjoy. There are always plants to see; interesting plants. Salt-surviving plants. And the rocks are as colorful as a garden might be. For a sampling of desert flowers, check the flower page.

I once spent the night of the summer solstice at Badwater. The temp never dropped below 100°. I love the spring flowers but I recommend a summer trip too. You will never forget it.

April '08: Another trip to try for flowers. Watching the Morning Reports for news of any rain, it was finally just time to go. The weather was comfortable, the landscape dry, and it was more a geology trip than a floral trip. Ag gas at Furnace Creek was $4.47/gallon!

Just for perspective, I am leaving the floowing report from a few years ago. See how things change:

March '05: It was officially Spring. The desert was in bloom, but it wasn't just sour grapes when I say I'm glad I wasn't heading to the desert just then. It was more because I didn't like the idea of joining a crowd (by Death Valley standards) of people who were shown trooping around in the flowers to have their picture taken. And as interesting as it was, I don't really want to see Badwater while people were wading, or even kayaking in the usually bone-dry Lake Manly. I wanted to go for the flowers, but the good stuff blooms higher up (2000 feet, not sea level) and later in April or even May. [18 April 05: I made it. Read this.]

A trip to Death Valley to see the flowers needs a little preparing if you really want to get to most out of your time. Let's assume that you are more interested than just saying, "Oh what pretty flowers," and that you might like to see stuff that most people don't even notice. Like orchids. Or maybe the hard-to-find Mimulus rupicola (see below). Personally, I always enjoy having a particular flower or two that I will attempt to find, accepting all the other flowers I will see as the bonus. Here are the results of a few such targeted flower trips:

Titus Canyon for Orchids and Amazing Rock Walls

A conversation with a park ranger in December of 1999 encouraged me to take my first trip down Titus Canyon. Even though it was winter, I found plenty to like. I returned for the first day of summer in June of 2000 to experience the heat. Again, despite the fact that it was well over 100° F, I found plenty to like. (Later in the day it hit 125° at Furnace Creek.)

As of 1 May 05 the Titus Canyon area was still CLOSED by road damage from winter rains! The same heavy rains (6+ inches, more than three times the annual DV average!) that brought the big bloom ended up closing most side roads, and repairs are still to be made.

One of the major attractions of Titus Canyon is the chance to spend time at Klare Springs, an oasis that offers a chance to see some unexpected Stream Orchid (Epipactis gigantea). While hardly uncommon in California, I was still surprised to see them here. It was about 110° F the day I took this picture.

It's nice to park away from the springs and wait quietly. On my few visits, I have not yet seen the desert big-horn sheep that frequent the springs, but I have enjoyed spending time to watch the birds, check out the nearby petroglyphs, and of course photograph the other plants.

Two of the many excellent finds include the white Desert Rock-nettle (Eucnide urens), an attractive plant covered with stinging hairs (thus the species name "urens", stinging, burning), and the pretty Desert five-spot, (Eremalche rotundifolia), a plant in the Malvaceae family with Hawaii's hibiscus. Desert five-spots are pretty common but hard to photograph since they are seemingly always in motion from a breeze, and also the petals remain cupped into a nearly-closed sphere. They are fun to see.

Hanging Rock Canyon for Rock Midget

The desert is big and this plant is small. Having tried for three years to find this Mimulus in Titus Canyon, I came across a report of the plant in Hanging Rock Canyon. After a few casual stops to investigate a couple of limestone-walled road cuts, we found it. This road is one of only a few places to go look for Rock Midget (Calflora: Mimulus rupicola) which blooms from April into May. Having a clue about where to look is certainly a plus: take a look at this map (be sure to click the GO button next to the coordinates), set your GPS (NAD27) and go look around.

Death Valley: South

Sunrise Canyon for Panamint Daisy

This area is a really great place because you can see it without having to have 4WD “just in case”. (note: Titus Canyon can be nothing but soft sand in just a few places, and wow, you don't want to get mired down!) Take the paved road to Stovepipe Wells from Lone Pine, then just past Panamint Springs watch for the road to Trona/Ridgecrest. A ways down that road pick up the Wildrose Canyon Road. Drive along the generally good, graded road and watch for the big, eye-catching clumps of Panamint Daisy (Calfora: Enceliopsis covillei) which blooms from April on into early Summer. Found in the many washes that line the main canyon, the flowers are big and impressive. There are only a few side canyons in Death Valley where these grow, and they grow nowhere else.

Another terrific plant to look for is Bear Poppy (Arctomecon merriamii), which blooms from April on into June. I found one in Titus Canyon during my “First Day of Summer Torture Trip” in 2000, and honestly wasn't sure of what I'd found: I just knew it was pretty and certainly unusual . It is like an Icelandic poppy grown in many coastal gardens, but this poppy has very hairy stems as a protection against sun. I went to the Visitor Center later and to find a flower guide; it told me Bear Poppies are ”rarely seen”. Maybe because fewer people venture out when they're in bloom?

While marching around in the desert looking at big stuff, don't dismiss the small stuff. There are many flowers that won't get your attention if you just look out the window. You obviously will need to stop and look around, and do so often. Look for the pretty little Langloisia (Langloisia setosissima ssp. punctata). It’s a really fun flower to find. Even walking around searching the ground, you won't see them until you suddenly see one, then you'll see plenty once tuned-in.

So while the early bloom in the valley floor is no doubt worth seeing, there are plenty of other flowers that bloom later at higher elevations. These are not just everywhere and so are well worth your extra effort. I remember how much pleasure I took from simply being out there in Wildrose Canyon in the early morning. It was just after the sunrise when I found the Panamint Daisy. I had to spend a few minutes just standing there, looking around at the wonderful golden landscape, trying to imagine what a feeling it must have been to be traveling across such seemingly empty place and stumbling across these magnificent, big yellow daisies, seeming so very much out of place!

I encourage you to try for a visit when you can also have that wonderful sense of aloneness while surrounded by such a beautiful desert.

Check Death Valley North 

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