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Place Name
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Death Valley National Monument
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Place Status (Type)
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national monument
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Location
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California, United States, North America
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Latitude
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unknown
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Longitude
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unknown
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Death Valley National Monument
, 3,231 sq mi/8,368 sq km; (Calif. 3,057 sq mi/7,918 sq km, Nev. 173 sq mi/448 sq km), Inyo and San Bernardino
cos., SE Calif., Nye and Esmeralda cos., SW Nev.,
c.170 mi/274 km NNE of Los Angeles and
c.100 mi/161 km W of Las Vegas. A deep, arid
basin, 140 mi/225 km long, bordered on the W
by the Panamint Range, NW by the Cottonwood Mts., and on the E by the
Amargosa Range (latter 2 within monument boundary). Small separate unit
at Devils Hole, 10 mi/16 km NE of Death Valley
Junction, in Nev. In summer the valley has radiated some of the highest
air and ground temperatures in the world. Hottest temperature recorded
in U.S. was at Greenland Ranch near monument,
134°F/56.6° C on, July 10, 1913. Less
than 2 in/5.1 cm of rain falls annually; the small
Amargosa R. and Furnace Creek disappear into the sands. Salt and alkali
flats, unique rock formations, and briny pools are found here.
Badwater, in the south central part of Death Valley, is
282 ft/86 m below sea level at Badwater Basin,
the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere; Telescope Peak, in the
Panamint Range, is 11,049 ft/3,368 m high.
Death Valley was named by gold seekers who undertook to cross this
desolate region in 1849 on their way to the California gold fields. The
valley yielded gold and silver in the 1850s, and in the 1880s borax was
discovered and taken out by mule-drawn wagons. In spite of the harsh
environment, a large variety of small animals and exotic desert plants
are found in Death Valley; they have attracted much scientific
attention. Native Americans of Panamint descent, an offshoot
of the Shoshone, are the only group ever to be self-subsisting in the
region. The valley was much publicized by the Amer. adventurer Walter
Scott (“Death Valley Scotty”), whose palatial home, Scotty's
Castle, is a major attraction, in far NW of monument. Stovepipe Wells
in N center; Funeral Peak (6,384 ft/1,946 m)
in SE; Ubehebe Crater in NW. Estab. 1933.
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