Visiting Death Valley, CA

Death Valley has the auspicious honor of being not only a national park but the lowest point in North America. The extreme heat of the desert is enough to evaporate the water in the deep basin, creating a salt flat located nearly 300 ft below sea level. For some more great sites along the way, set your route so that you enter Death Valley from Beatty, NV. This will let you pass through historic Rhyolite and its unique sites along the way.

The busiest season for Death Valley is the winter, from October through May. This is when the weather in the area is comfortable to tolerable. The extreme heat in the summer can exceed 130 degrees. It's home to the lowest point below sea level in North America, called Badwater Basin. The salt flats there are 282 feet below sea level. A plaque can be seen by eye on a nearby rock cliff to show you how far over your head sea level is as you stand on the basin floor.

All photos on this hub were taken in May 2008 and are copyright Relache/Rae Schwarz. All rights reserved.

Located in Death Valley Junction, located just off the south side of the actual Death Vallely park is the Amargosa Opera House. This roadside hotel and opera house was put on the map due to the efforts of dancer Marta Becket. She single-handedly painted the entire inside surface of the opera house, installing a full-time trompe l'oeil audience.

The European-styled opera fans span different time periods and modes of dress, and includes attendant royalty, nuns, monks, acrobats, lovers, masked patrons and former pet cats. The ceiling depicts a heavenly orchestra and the four winds with banner-bearing classic putti swooping between them.  There are exotic performers, distracted watchers and even a few portraits of beloved pet cats if you look closely enough. 

All of the illustrations created and painted inside the Amargosa Opera House are by Marta Becket. A choreographer and dancer, she moved with her husband to Death Valley Junction, and wound up renting the Opera House as a practice space. Her vision of bringing an audience to Amargosa turned into a seven year labor, eventually covering every inch of the inside surface of the opera house. Dozens of opera patrons adorn the walls, reflecting a variety of European times and styles. Acrobats perform along the side aisles and real-life patrons who donated to the restoration efforts are thanked on a scroll carried by a life-size herald.

Original stage shows are produced annually, in a performance season that runs from October thru May. Inquire at the hotel desk for opera house tours and see their gift shop. All proceeds support the Opera House restoration and maintenance.