With a total area of 3.4 million acres and length of 130 miles long, Death Valley, California, is the biggest national park in the U.S. continent (not including Alaska. If including those in Alaska, this one is #6). I flew from coast to coast to join a tour that only passed through a very small part of this park, yet it was worth the trip. I wouldn't call it one of the 10 most scenic places I've been to, but the view from Zabriskie Point (photos 1 - 6) is apparently one of the most unique.

Death Valley is the lowest point in North America and one of the hottest places in the world. It was interesting to see the signs outside the bus at which spot you were above sea level, at which spot you were at sea level, and at which spot you were 282 feet below sea level.... Another interesting find was that the lowest point (Badwater Basin salt pan, photos 7 - 10) and Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the US continent (again, not including Alaska) are not far from each other, both inside Death Valley.

At Furnace Creek (photos 13 - 16), the oasis as well as the visitors centre, they show the records of their local highest and lowest temperatures, both took place in 1913. The record high was 134 °F (57 °C). This was the highest temperature on earth after the previous record in Libya, 1922 was recently determined a mistake.

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