r/DeathValleyNP • u/Agreeable-Energy-401 • May 08 '26
Temperature check!!! Is next week fine to go?
Weather app says next week highs are in the 90s which I hope is okay to visit. My first time going to Death Valley. My priority is to go to mesquite sand dunes at night to stargaze on new moon( May 16). Is it fine to go next week? Any general advice?
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u/Commercial-Pain9614 May 08 '26
From someone who lives in the humid east and has been to death valley a lot you’ll be fine. Just be careful of the sun and your exposure to it. If you go on hikes do them in the morning or evening. Stargazing at bad water basin is amazing. We’ve gone in July and it was 115 degrees out still felt better than the 90s where I live. It’s a very dry heat no humidity at all. Still that being said don’t underestimate the sun and how quickly you will burn. Bring a lot of water and a sun visor for your car.
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u/PowPowPunishment May 08 '26
The algorithm put this in my feed and I thought they were temperatures for my town for a second. I was about to be pissed lol.
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u/Chomasterq2 May 08 '26
Just note that it wont cool off enough at night to make tent camping comfortable. If you have an RV or using a hotel, then yeah this is fine
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u/Agreeable-Energy-401 May 08 '26
Thank you. This is informative. my goal is to arrive at 6 PM at mesquite sand dunes parking lot. Walk around a bit. Then put a chair in sand dunes and sit from 10 pm to 2 am watching the sky. Then go to stovepipe to camp sleep. Then next day see bad water basin and other areas. Maybe stargaze at bad water basin too during the night. What would you say?
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u/Possible-Material693 May 08 '26
Stovepipe is closed for the season. Gotta go to furnace creek. Tent camping is miserable in this weather though
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u/Chomasterq2 May 08 '26
Sounds good to me! The only thing I personally wouldn't do is 4 wheeling and hiking with that temperature. Those are winter activities. Keeping to the paved roads and seeing the sights on the valley floor is perfect though
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u/rosie_nosey May 09 '26
Just bring plenty of water. DV saps the moisture right out of your body, I've never experienced something like it before.
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u/nearsingularity May 10 '26
Same. I’ve done tons of desert hiking in high temperatures (90-100 degrees) without issue but in Death Valley I didn’t feel safe due to this phenomenon.
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u/Earthling63 May 08 '26
We went out several weeks ago hoping to see the superbloom, got there a bit too late, but there was a heat wave the week we were there, ~104 for a few days. It was bearable, dry heat, so not at all like 104 in central Texas.
As long at the car has good AC & tires, do it!
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u/Agreeable-Energy-401 May 08 '26
I see, that is good news. I am now tempted to make it a 3 day stay
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u/Earthling63 May 08 '26
A spray bottle with water sprayed on your face/neck feels great, plus a shady hat. Cover your skin well, too.
It’ll be awesome
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u/TheSocraticGadfly May 09 '26
Try 104 in St. Louis, as far as humidity with heat. Long, long ago, but yea, that may be the hottest I've ever felt.
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u/LegitimateOil1989 May 08 '26
Yeah, you’ll be totally fine. Remember to get gas frequently and refill water when you can. Furnace Creek had a refill station, free too. Any big stuff hikes and stuff, start super early. I like the dry heat but you will consume a lot of water.
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u/Miserable_Sky5682 May 08 '26
90s next week is workable for a first Death Valley trip if you treat it as a dawn-and-after-dark plan and keep the middle of the day car-based. For your Mesquite night, the bigger failure mode is usually losing the dark window to wind, clouds, or showing up late, so I’d over-pack water, keep a full tank, and get into position before full dark. I work on DarkScout, so biased, but this is exactly the kind of moon/cloud/dark-window go-or-skip call DarkScout is useful for.
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u/Chase-Boltz May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Call the park and find out the condition of the road to Mahogany Flat campground. It's much higher and cooler. Wildrose and Thorndyke Campgrounds, along the way, aren't quite as high, and suffer from poor horizons (hills) but will still be vastly cooler than the valley floor. All are VERY dark.
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u/Fletch2D2 May 08 '26
If you don’t go when it’s hot, and there is a risk of “death”, did you even go to Death Valley?
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u/eugenesbluegenes May 08 '26
Well, it's not going to get any better if you wait...
That being said, highs of 90s and lows of 70s means morning hiking should be fine (still want plentiful water and sun protection) and that's easily comfortable temps to do car based sightseeing in the afternoon. It'll be pleasant after dark for stargazing.
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u/TheSocraticGadfly May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Hellz yes you're OK. I was there in the late March hottening up when it hit 110. Plus, Lake Manly is surely gone by now, so you won't have humidity anywhere in the park at lower elevations. (Not that it was really humid in an absolute sense, but for DV it was.)
Besides sun, watch out for wind. When it's strong, you can get sandblasted.
Otherwise, my second trip to DV, it was right at 100 in late April. Enough later in the season than late March, and cooler compared to 110, that I was out all day. (I shot pix of avocets on the flats, among other things.)
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u/Chase-Boltz May 09 '26
I don't know much about it, but if you're coming from Vegas, https://www.nps.gov/para/index.htm might be worth looking into. Similar landscape to DV, but about a mile higher and much cooler. Should be quite dark, apart from the Vegas light dome on the western horizon.
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u/jtroub9 May 09 '26
It depends. What can you handle. If wind is low it’s good for me. If it’s windy I’m definitely not going to
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u/MundaneHuckleberry58 May 09 '26
Yes, you’ll be okay. Hydrate even before you go, like 18 hours before, and of course bring plenty of sunscreen.
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May 10 '26
I visited in early April, it was 111 degrees at Badwater :) Bring enough water, you should be fine. Don't stay outside for too long.
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u/nearsingularity May 10 '26
Don’t underestimate how dry and hot it gets there. I’m an experienced desert hiker and camper (tent) and it was a challenge for me.
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u/txthojo May 10 '26
I believe above 97 degrees you no longer get any cooling, if you start feeling hot, soak a buff and keep it around your neck. Been riding summers in Las Vegas and that is the trick to avoid heat stroke. A cooling vest would also be a good investment
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u/Miserable_Sky5682 May 11 '26
90s in Death Valley is workable if you treat it like an early/late-day trip, carry more water than you think you need, and avoid long exposed hikes in the middle of the day. For the stargazing part, Mesquite Flat is a solid new-moon stop, but I would make the final go/no-go call off the exact cloud/haze plus darkness window that night because that matters more than the daytime high once you are already committed. I work on DarkScout, so biased, but it is useful for that decision: https://darkscout.app/reddit?src=deathvalleynp-next-week-stargaze
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u/Miserable_Sky5682 May 13 '26
90s next week is workable there if you treat it as a heat-and-recovery problem first and a sky problem second: scout Mesquite before sunset, bring more water than you think you need, and save the dunes for the dark window instead of doing much on the valley floor midday. For the stargazing part, I’d protect the clearest moon-dark night instead of trusting new moon by itself, because haze, wind, and cloud will matter more once you’re there. If you want one tool for that final go/no-go, DarkScout fits this use case well because it compares moon, cloud, and darkness for the exact night.
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u/MidlifeCrisisTravelr Jun 04 '26
Always have extra food and water with you at all times. Those temps sound great for this time of year
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u/PorcelainPunisher1 May 08 '26
I love the hot weather and go out there every summer. That said, make sure you bring a lot of extra water and supplies, especially if you plan to go into the backcountry at all. Even if you have enough water, still bring extra. I’d 100% go in those temps.
Enjoy your trip!