Visiting Death Valley National Park With Kids: Hikes, Tips, and Itinerary Ideas

Death Valley National Park is a lot more kid-friendly than its name suggests, as long as you come in the cool season. Kids can walk out onto a salt flat below sea level, run down sand dunes, watch tiny fish in a desert creek, and stand at the spot where the hottest air temperature on Earth was recorded. The catch is the size: the park is huge, and the best stops are spread along a few long roads. This guide covers what kids will like, how many days to plan, where to stay, and how to keep everyone safe in the desert. If you'd like the trip laid out hour by hour, that's what my Death Valley National Park guide is for (more on that below).

The art behind the cover of my Death Valley National Park guide: the golden badlands and Manly Beacon from Zabriskie Point, with the salt flats beyond. Bring the kids up the quarter-mile path and they'll see the real thing.

Is Death Valley good for kids?

Yes, from about November through March, and I think it's one of the more surprising National Parks for kids. Most of the famous sights are short walks or viewpoints near the road, so you're never far from the car, the water bottles, or the snacks. Badwater, Zabriskie Point, Salt Creek, and the Mesquite Flat dunes all take an hour or less.

The trade-offs are real, though. Distances are long, there's no cell service along most park roads, and food and gas are sold in only three places: Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, and Panamint Springs. Summer is a different story entirely (more on that below).

How many days do you need in Death Valley with kids?

For most families, I think two days is about right. Furnace Creek sits near the middle of the park, and the big sights fall into two groups. One is south and east of Furnace Creek: Badwater, Artists Drive, Zabriskie Point, and the Borax Works. The other is west, toward Stovepipe Wells: Salt Creek, the dunes, and Mosaic Canyon. Give each group its own day and nobody spends the whole trip buckled in. A third day lets you add Dantes View, Ubehebe Crater at the north end, or the beehive-shaped charcoal kilns up in the mountains.

How you string the stops together depends on your kids' ages and the season. My Death Valley guide has nine one- to three-day itineraries at easy, moderate, and strenuous effort, each with a backup plan for wind, rain, or a closed road. The easy ones are the place to start with young kids.

The best things to do in Death Valley with kids

• Walk out onto the salt at Badwater Basin. It's about 30 minutes south of Furnace Creek, and it's 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America. A ramp and boardwalk lead to a salty pool, and then the white salt flats just keep going. Have the kids look up at the cliff to the east for the sea-level sign, way above their heads. The hexagon-shaped salt patterns start about a mile out, so little legs can turn back whenever they like.
• Run down the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Near Stovepipe Wells, there's no trail and no rule about where to wander, which kids love. The tallest dune is about a mile from the parking area, but the fun starts right away. Go in the morning or late afternoon, when the light shows off the ripples and you can spot the tracks animals left overnight.
• Look for pupfish at Salt Creek. A half-mile wooden boardwalk loop follows a salty little creek where Salt Creek pupfish live, and nowhere else in the world. They're easiest to see from February to April. The boardwalk reopened in 2026 and is wheelchair accessible. Stay on it; the creek banks are fragile.
• Climb the path at Zabriskie Point. A quarter-mile paved path climbs to a view over golden, wrinkled badlands. Come for sunrise or sunset if you can get everyone out of bed.
• Drive Artists Drive. This 9-mile, one-way paved loop winds through hills streaked with red, orange, yellow, pink, and even green. It's about 30 minutes in the car, and the colors make a good "who can spot the green" game. Vehicles over 25 feet aren't allowed.
• Peek into Mosaic Canyon. A gravel road near Stovepipe Wells leads to the trailhead, and within a quarter mile the canyon narrows between walls of smooth, polished marble that kids want to touch. The polished rock is slippery, and plenty of families turn around after that first narrow stretch.
• See the twenty-mule-team wagons. At Harmony Borax Works, a mile from Furnace Creek, a short, partly paved loop passes the ruins of an 1880s borax plant and one of the original giant wagons.
• Older kids: walk to Natural Bridge or into Golden Canyon. Natural Bridge is a 1-mile round trip up a rocky canyon to a stone bridge about 35 feet high, at the end of a dirt road that's usually fine for cars. Golden Canyon has small ledges to scramble over, and many hikers turn around at the Red Cathedral junction, about a mile in.
• Stay up for the stars. Death Valley is a Gold Tier Dark Sky Park, the highest rating there is. On a moonless night, the Milky Way is obvious, even to kids who've never seen it. Harmony Borax Works, the dunes, and Dantes View all work well.

The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes below the mountains. Photo: Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Junior Ranger and ranger programs

Pick up the Death Valley Junior Ranger book at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, or print it at home before you go. The park says it's for "families and park explorers of all ages," so older siblings don't have to sit it out. Kids choose their activities: figuring out how desert animals survive, making up a constellation, or writing a tall tale.

The one thing to plan around: kids share their work with a ranger and take the Junior Ranger pledge at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, which is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Badges are only given out in person, and they can't be mailed, so plan your last stop accordingly.

Ranger programs (walks, talks, and night-sky programs) typically run from mid-November to mid-April. Check the schedule posted at the visitor center or the park's calendar when you arrive.

Fun facts to tell the kids

• It's the hottest place on record. On July 10, 1913, the thermometer at Furnace Creek hit 134°F, the hottest air temperature ever recorded on Earth. In July 1972, the ground there reached 201°F.
• It almost never rains. Death Valley averages about 2 inches of rain a year, and in 1929 and 1953 it didn't rain at all.
• You're standing below the ocean. At Badwater, you're 282 feet below sea level, and the salt flats cover nearly 200 square miles.
• Some of the fish are found nowhere else. Salt Creek pupfish live only in Salt Creek, in water saltier than you'd ever want to drink. The pool at Badwater has its own snail found nowhere else, too.
• A volcano made a giant hole. About 2,100 years ago, hot magma hit underground water, and the steam blasted out Ubehebe Crater, about half a mile across and up to 777 feet deep.
• Some rocks slide. Out at a dry lakebed called the Racetrack, rocks move across the ground, pushed by the wind on thin sheets of ice and leaving trails behind them. It's a long, rough drive, so this one's a story for the car.

The boardwalk along Salt Creek, where the pupfish live. Photo: Jerrye and Roy Klotz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Where to stay near Death Valley with kids

Death Valley is big enough that where you sleep really matters, and I'd stay inside the park. Gateway towns like Beatty (about 45 minutes from Furnace Creek), Pahrump (about an hour and a half), and Las Vegas (about two and a half hours) add that drive to both ends of every day. That's a lot of car time with kids.

The Ranch at Death Valley, in Furnace Creek, is the easiest family base. It has motel rooms, restaurants, a general store, gas, and a pool, it's open all year, and it's in the middle of everything. The free Borax Museum is right there too (more on that below). The Inn at Death Valley, up the hill, is the fancier, historic option, with a pool and casitas; its dining room asks for reservations and resort attire at dinner.

Camping with kids? Furnace Creek Campground is the only park campground that takes reservations, on Recreation.gov from October 15 to April 15, and it books up most days, so reserve early. The others are first-come, first-served. Coyotes and ravens patrol the campgrounds, so keep food in your car or hard-sided containers.

Should you split the nights? Usually not. Stovepipe Wells is only about 30 minutes west of Furnace Creek, so one base works. The one split I'd consider is a night at Stovepipe Wells Village if you want the dunes at sunrise. It has motel rooms, a general store, a pool, and gas, and it's just down the road from the sand.

Family stops in and near Death Valley

• The Borax Museum, at The Ranch in Furnace Creek. It's free and open seven days a week. Kids can see antique stagecoaches, old mining tools, and a steam locomotive in the courtyard. It's a good stop for the hottest part of the afternoon.
• Rhyolite ghost town and the Goldwell Open Air Museum, near Beatty, Nevada. About 5 miles west of Beatty on the road into the park, there's a ghost town of crumbling stone buildings and, next door, an outdoor sculpture park that's open 24 hours, seven days a week. There's no admission fee; the nonprofit asks for donations. It's an easy stop if you're coming from or heading to Las Vegas by way of Beatty.
• Scotty's Castle tours. The mansion in the north end is closed to regular visits for flood repairs, but the park is running guided tours of the grounds and exterior most Saturdays and Sundays through April 17, 2027, with tickets from the Death Valley Natural History Association. Don't drive up without one.
• The Death Valley Dark Sky Festival, February 5 to 7, 2027. Past festivals have had telescope viewing, ranger and scientist talks, family programs, and an exploration fair with hands-on booths. The park hasn't posted the 2027 schedule yet; check the festival page for updates.

Desert safety and gear for kids

The desert is the one place in this series where I'd put safety ahead of fun, so a few rules worth going over on the drive in:

• Drink before you're thirsty. The park says to drink at least a gallon of water a day, more if you're active, and to eat salty snacks. Refill at Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, or Panamint Springs, and keep extra water in the car.
• Stay out of old mines. Don't go into mine tunnels or climb on mining structures, however tempting.
• Stay on the boardwalk at Salt Creek and Badwater, and leave everything where you found it.
• Don't feed the coyotes or ravens. It's illegal, and coyotes that learn to beg along the road get hit by cars.
• Watch the sky. Rain is rare, but when it comes, stay out of canyons and washes and head for high ground.

And what to bring: two days of snacks and lunches, more water than you think, sun hats and sunscreen, layers for cold mornings and evenings in winter, sturdy shoes, a flashlight for the stars, and a card, since the park is cashless. Download the park in the NPS app for offline use, because your phone won't have signal on most park roads.

When to go with kids

November through March is the time. The park calls it the best season for hiking, and ranger programs run from mid-November to mid-April. Winter highs at Furnace Creek run from the mid-60s to the low 70s, but nights can drop close to freezing in December and January. Thanksgiving week and the holidays are busy, and the park calls the stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas its least crowded time of year. In a good wildflower year, spring color shows up on the low slopes from mid-February to mid-April.

Summer is a hard no for hiking with kids. Highs average 116°F in July, and the park says not to hike at low elevations at all in summer.

Death Valley with kids: quick answers

What are the best Death Valley hikes for kids? Badwater Basin, the Salt Creek boardwalk, the Mesquite Flat dunes, the Zabriskie Point path, and the first narrows of Mosaic Canyon. Older kids can add Natural Bridge or the first mile of Golden Canyon.

Is there an entrance fee? Yes: $30 per private vehicle, good for seven days, and the park is cashless. Annual passes are accepted.

Can I bring a stroller? The Badwater boardwalk and the Salt Creek boardwalk are your best bets, along with the paved Zabriskie Point path and the partly paved Harmony Borax Works loop. The dunes and canyons are sand and rock, so bring a carrier.

Can our dog come? Only on roads, in parking lots, and in campgrounds, on a 6-foot leash. Dogs aren't allowed on trails, the Badwater boardwalk, the Zabriskie Point path, or the dunes beyond the parking lot, and the park doesn't recommend bringing pets from late spring to early fall.

How far is it from Las Vegas? About two hours to Furnace Creek, by way of Pahrump.

Get the itineraries

This guide covers what to do. If you'd like the trip itself worked out, my Death Valley National Park guide has nine one- to three-day itineraries at easy, moderate, and strenuous effort, each with a backup plan for bad weather or a closure. It also has orientation maps, the park's history, and 14 animals to look for, each with a photo and notes on where and when to see it. You get an EPUB and a printable PDF, so you can put the day's plan on paper for the car.

If Death Valley is part of a bigger California road trip, the California National Parks Collection covers Death Valley along with Channel Islands, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, Sequoia, and Yosemite in one download. And if you only have an afternoon, Just an Afternoon is my free four-hour plan for every U.S. National Park, Death Valley included.

Still choosing a park? See the best National Parks for kids, my top 10 for families and a family page for every U.S. National Park.

More about Death Valley on the blog

• Where to See Salt Creek Pupfish in Death Valley National Park, and When
• Visiting Death Valley National Park in November: Weather, Crowds, and What's Open
• Death Valley Itinerary: Two Strenuous Days, Plus Plans for 1 to 3 Days (for when the kids are grown and you want the big hikes)
• California National Parks Itinerary: How Many Days, Plus Two Easy Days in Yosemite

Before you go: see Death Valley National Park alerts and current conditions, checked daily, for current closures and what they mean for your trip.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Conditions change; check the park's current alerts before you go.