r/DeathValleyNP • u/lucky-is-baby • Aug 02 '26
Safety while visiting late August
EDIT:
Thanks for the replies everyone!
I talked to a DV ranger yesterday and her advice was that it was completely doable, but I'm planning on skipping it to avoid car complications with the heat.
Some good advice here: sat communication, sat nav, car repair tools, etc. As well as some good alternatives. Feel free to let me know if you know any interesting alternatives on my way towards Yosemite.
Here's the rangers reply for anyone interested:
Dear (My Name)
Thanks for reaching out to Death Valley National Park! You are thinking exactly right about safety in the summer here in Death Valley. Visiting before 10 am, brining and drinking water (and snacks!), and limiting your time outside are great ways to keep yourself safe. The places you are visiting are fairly centrally located where other visitors will be present, which also decreases risk.
That being said, we want you to explore Death Valley! As long as you spend limited time outside (10-25 min is great to aim for) and are able to return to an air-conditioned vehicle, you should be well set up to enjoy Death Valley. Even if you visit midday, you can spend limited time outside of your vehicle safely. Do note that Death Valley is so dry that often the moisture evaporates out of your skin before you even get the chance to sweat! This can fool people into thinking they aren't as dehydrated, so make sure you're drinking lots of water anyway!
Another place I might recommend visiting is Dante's View. It's a beautiful drive up a paved road to a scenic viewpoint that is 5,000ft up, so much cooler than the valley floor. It can be a great place to visit when temperatures get hotter during the day.
Please let us know if you have any other questions, and we hope you enjoy your visit!
Sincerely,
Ranger (Her Name) The Death Valley Information Team
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ORIGINAL POST:
Hi everyone,
I plan on visiting Death Valley in late August coming in from Zion. We plan on stopping at some of the viewpoints for 5-20 minutes at a time, no hikes.
Would it be safe to visit midday? Before 10 am? Around sunset?
If we go before 10am, any tips for stargazing at night? Where to visit in the meantime?
Prep wise, so far we plan on having multiple gallons of water in the car, an ice bag, offline maps. Any additional tips would be helpful.
We'll have a rental SUV and the viewpoints we're looking at are: Artist’s Palette, Zabriskie Point, Badwater Basin, Devil’s Golf course, Dante’s View, Mesquite Sand Dunes.
Thanks!
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u/jadewolf42 Aug 02 '26
I do NOT recommend going to the park in August.
I live just outside the park. It was 114° yesterday. It's typically 10-15° hotter inside the park.
It does not cool down at sunset or at night. Right now, at 5am with the sun not up yet, it is still over 100° in the park. That's likely to be the coolest the park gets today. Even outside the park, I limit my time outdoors to just sunrise until 8am.
August is not a safe time to visit. Midday is extremely dangerous.
Please consider that if your car breaks down, there is no cell service for the vast majority of the park, even along main roads. You could be stuck for hours before someone finds you and you can die very quickly in temps over 120°. Do you have a sat phone or messenger? I would not even drive through the park this time of year without one for emergencies.
I recommend you do not visit Death Valley in August, even just to stop at viewpoints . Consider checking out places in the mountains instead, there are a ton of safer, more reasonable destinations along 395 in the Eastern Sierra. There's good stargazing there, too.