| California Highway 190 is the main route through the park, traveling some 50 miles from the southwest to northeast. In the middle of this route is the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. Open year-round from 8am to 5pm, the center contains a number of exhibits on the geology, hardy plant and animal life, and human history of the park. Several ranger talks a day cover a wide range of subjects. North of Furnace Creek is the Stovepipe Wells Village, offering lodging and dining. Striking sand dunes, said to be the most photographed in the world, stretch into the shimmering horizon to the north of here, and Mosaic Canyon to the south is a geologically interesting area of banded rock and jagged formations. On the south side of Furnace Creek you’ll find a number of scenic drives, including the colored rocks of Artists Drive, and a road to the impressive Dante’s View overlook. Visitors to this part of the park can continue south on a route through the Black and Owlshead Mountains, or stop by Badwater, which at 282 feet below sea level is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. |
