Mark had never been to Death Valley, and it was on our route to Texas. He especially wanted to see Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in the United States and a must-see for its geological significance. Luckily for us, the government shutdown ended two days before we were outside of Death Valley. Death Valley sits on the California-Nevada border, and we stayed in Beatty, Nevada, just a short drive away.
Beatty is precisely what you imagine when you think of a classic cowboy town out west. It’s small, surrounded by desert and mesas, which adds to its rugged charm. We arrived on a Wednesday and ate at a local bar that was still open. It wasn’t busy, so we got to talk to the cook who had stopped in years ago to eat pizza and ended up with a job when he told the bar owner he could do better. The bartender shared stories about wild burros wandering the streets and mentioned a ghost town called Rhyolite between Beatty and Death Valley, which we decided to explore.
Rhyolite is a silica-rich volcanic rock, and most of the town’s buildings are made of it. The town was built during a minor gold rush in the early twentieth century. It is incredible to think of these prospectors building a water plant, a bank, and a train station, believing they would become millionaires. When the gold dried up, the town died and was abandoned. Many of the buildings’ ruins and the train station are still there, and it is worth a look.
It’s hard to describe the vastness of Death Valley. It is 3.4 million acres or 5270 square miles. It just goes on and on with Badwater Basin in the distance. It is hard to imagine anyone trying to cross this or live here; still, they did. I wasn’t aware of the businesses that people had created in the valley. One of the businesses was mining Borax. When they didn’t have luck with silver or gold, they did have luck with mining Borax. It is used as a laundry booster and household cleaner, among other things. It was mined and processed by Chinese workers who lived in nearby Furnace Creek.
We visited on November 13th, and in the valley at noon, it was already 85°. The rock formations contain rhyolite, which was used to make bricks and gave them a yellowish tan color. You can see the pitting from the snow melt as you’re driving through. The snowmelt from the surrounding mountains runs into the Badland Basin as well, and you can still see some water around the edges of the salt flats. Badwater Basin is the lowest elevation in North America, at almost 300 feet below sea level. We were only in the valley for a day. But there are several visitor centers, lodging, stores, a golf course, and even a spa available if you want to stay for a while.
It was a great day visiting one of Mark’s many bucket list areas:)
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