Overview

The short, easy Badwater Salt Flat Trail goes out onto the Badwater Salt Flats, where, at -282 ft, you can stand at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. The walk is entirely smooth and level (except for walking down from the parking lot). Merely walking for 10 minutes out onto the salt gets you past where most people stop and where there are some amazing pressure ridges and cracks in the salt, and some stunning views of the mountains around the valley. The summit of Telescope Peak, just across the valley, stands more than 11,300 ft above you, and the Black Mountains (behind the trailhead) rise some 6,000 ft directly out of the salt.

Link to map.

At Badwater, a 15-ft-wide use-trail has been trampled flat and smooth by countless feet over the years. Off the "beaten path," the surface is brown and irregular. Please note the difference between the trail and the natural surface, and stay on the trail to keep the other areas pristine. Also, a rare species of snail lives in the salt pond by the parking area, so please stay on the boardwalk so as not to trample these tiny creatures (life here must be hard enough already).

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this hike is pretty safe when the weather is cool. If the weather is hot, this place can be unbelievably hot. Also, the fact that the trail is almost entirely smooth and level creates a tripping hazard because you forget to watch where you are walking. People have been digging little holes along the trail, perhaps to collect salt, creating little potholes to trip in. Be sure to clean the salt off your feet before getting back in your car to prevent corrosion on the inside of your floorboards.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and please try to Leave No Trace of your passage. This walk is so short that you don't need to bring the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located in Death Valley National Park, about 3 hours northwest of Las Vegas.

From town, drive out to Death Valley. From the Furnace Creek Visitor Center (Table 1, Site 712), drive south on Highway 190 for about 1.25 miles to the Badwater (Highway 178) turnoff (Site 741). Turn south (right) towards Badwater, and drive for about 17 miles to a large, paved parking area with restrooms and signs (Site 714). Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 01), walk west off the boardwalk and out onto the salt and into the Death Valley Wilderness Area. Initially, the use-trail is about 15-ft wide and bright white, and it looks and sounds like snow under your feet. Just off the path, the surface is irregular from salt heaving (like frost heaving) and brown from dirt mixed with the salt. Farther out, the salt is entirely white.

About 5-6 minutes out, the trail forks (Wpt. 02), but the two forks just go out on the salt without any particular destination; they don't even make a loop. From the looks of it, it appears that most people mill around this point, then go back.

If you continue out on either of the forks, you will quickly get out to where there are interesting and untrammeled irregularities in the salt surface. Then, out past the end of the trail, you will get into areas with lots of pressure ridges where thick plates of salt are pushed up and the cracks look fresh (Wpt. 03).

Enjoy the scenery and the salt, then wander back to the trailhead (Wpt. 01), which can be seen from out on the salt.