Death Valley Books

Death Valley Road Trip, Camping Death Valley National Park, Mojave Desert California

Dante’s View, DVNP

Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is one of the hottest places on Earth.

Bad Water

The Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. It is located 85 miles east-southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet.

Tallest Peak

The highest point in Death Valley National Park is Telescope Peak, in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet. This is one of the few spots that you can see the lowest point and the highest peak in the lower 48 states.

Lying mostly in Inyo County, California, near the border of California and Nevada, in the Great Basin, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve. It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west; the Grapevine Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 sq miles.

Desert Climate

Death Valley has a subtropical, hot desert climate, with long, extremely hot summers; short, mild winters; and little rainfall.

The valley is extremely dry, because it lies in the rain shadow of four major mountain ranges (including the Sierra Nevada and Panamint Range). Moisture moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass eastward over the mountains to reach Death Valley; as air masses are forced upward by each range, they cool and moisture condenses, to fall as rain or snow on the western slopes. When the air masses reach Death Valley, most of the moisture has already been lost and there is little left to fall as precipitation.

Amargosa Opera House @ Death Valley Junction

Death Valley Books

Death Valley Maps

Death Valley National Park Maps
Hiking, Camping, 4×4 Routes

Artists Palette Drive (now paved)

Death Valley Trail Map

Topographical maps for DVNP can be found through Tom Harrison and National Geographic. Wilderness Press makes a couple of decent hiking books too.

Inyo National Forest Map from the USDA covers tall mountain peaks west of the National Park. Panamint Valley, Saline Valley, Darwin, Ballarat ghost town are all located on the west side and are also featured on these topographic maps.

Death Valley Recreation Map, Tom Harrison

Tom Harrison Recreation Map: Death Valley Maps; Death Valley National Park CA, Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells. Eureka Dunes, The Racetrack, Panamint Valley Off Roading, 4×4 Death Valley, Skidoo, Shoshone, Darwin Falls, Darwin Wilderness, Eureka Dunes, Furnace Creek, Zabriskie Point, Stovepipe Wells, Teakettle Junction, 20 Mule Team Canyon, Goler Wash; Barker Ranch, Ballarat Ghost Town California Mining Districts, Mojave Mining Camps, Saline Valley Hot Springs; Durable, waterproof plastic map; Folded. Map Scale: 250K; ISBN# 9781877689574

download digital version of this map –
Death Valley Park Recreation Map

Saline Hot Pools @ Saline Valley, DVNP

OLD VERSION

nearby towns –

REAL OLD MAP

TECOPA HOT SPRINGS
TRONA, CA

Death Valley Maps

Trails Illustrated Map, National Geographic Death Valley National Park Map #221

Trails Illustrated Map from National Geographic. Death Valley National Park map #221. Inyo Mountains, Inyo Desert Camping, Badwater, Telescope Peak, Panamint Valley, Panamint Range, Ballarat ghost town, Manson Cabin, Amargosa mountains, Death Valley Backcountry map. Hiking Map. Many, many dirt roads and old mining operations to explore. Very detailed & colorful. Waterproof Plastic Map; Tear Resistant. GPS data. ISBN#749717012219

California Desert Map

Death Valley Maps, Death Valley National Park, Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, Eureka Dunes, Panamint Valley, Scotty’s Castle, Barker Ranch, Manson Ranch, Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells. Eureka Dunes, The Racetrack, Panamint Valley Off Roading, 4×4 Death Valley, Skidoo, Shoshone, Darwin Falls, Darwin Wilderness, Eureka Dunes, Furnace Creek, Zabriskie Point, Stovepipe Wells, Teakettle Junction, 20 Mule Team Canyon, Goler Wash; Barker Ranch, Ballarat Ghost Town California Mining Districts, Mojave Mining Camps, Saline Valley Hot Springs

hikers map

Bodie Hills Map

Bodie Ghost Town California

Bodie Hills Map Bodie State Historic Park
Aurora Canyon

Eastern Sierra Nevada area near Bridgeport, California

HIGH DESERT –
8375′ elevation

This Bodie map is authentic. Created and produced by none other than Tom Harrison, a legend in the field California cartography. No other map creator makes a detailed topographic map of Bodie Ghost Town, State Park and desert region.

Bodie Hills Map

Tom Harrison Trail Map: Bodie Ghost Town CA, Bodie State Historic Park, State Park Bodie, BLM Bodie Hills, Back Roads Bridgeport California, Mining Desert High Country Map, 4×4 roads, Aurora Canyon, Aurora Nevada, Bodie Hiking Map, Backpacking Maps. Travertine Hot Springs, Geiger Grade, Bodie State Park, NV Desert Mountains, Bridgeport Hiking Maps. Durable, waterproof plastic map; Folded. Map Scale: 63K; ISBN#9780981834412

OLD VERSION

download digital version of this map –
Bodie Hills Topo Map

Bodie Hills Map

Bodie Ghost Town is the most popular & best preserved historic mining camp in California. Winter months are cold, windy, and often snowy. Late summers can get hot. Plan accordingly.

No services, no pavement, no big trees. Very remote location. Abundant free, boondocking camps in this high desert region, so make sure to get a camp fire permit from the local ranger station in Lee Vining or Bridgeport, CA

Photo by Morris Neer

nearby destinations:

Photo by Morris Neer

Big Sur Maps

Big Sur Coast, California

Several hiking maps exist for this epic Central Coast region of California
Los Padres NF, Ventana, Gorda, Lucia, Limekiln State Park, Big Sur, CA

Big Sur Map NatGeo (listed below)
Big Sur Recreation Map by Wilderness Press (below)
Los Padres National Forest (North Monterey) USDA Map
Ventana Wilderness Map USDA Map; includes the neighboring Silver Peak Wilderness

Patio @ Lucia, South Big Sur Coast (burned down recently)

NatGeo Big Sur Map #814

National Geographic Trails Illustrated Topo Map for Big Sur NatGeo
Central Coast Maps, Big Sur Coast, California Big Sur

Big Sur, California Central Coast Map w/ Ventana Wilderness and Los Padres National Forest. Trails Illustrated Map #814 by NatGeo. Silver Peak Wilderness, California Coastal State Parks, Monterey County Parks, PInnacles National Monument. All trails, trailheads, campgrounds, rivers, creeks, forests and parks between Monterey and San Simeon.

OLD EDITION

Andrew Molera State Park, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Big Sur National Wild River, Mill Creek Redwood Preserve, Palo Corona Regional Park, Glendeven Ranch, Joshua Creek Canyon Ecological Preserve, Garrata State Park, Point Lobos Ranch, Point Lobos State Reserve, Carmel River State Beach, Asilomar State Beach, Fort Ord Dunes State Park, Toro Regional Park, Garland Ranch Regional Park, Cachagua Community Park, Miller Canyon, Bottchers Gap Campground, Tassajara, Arroyo Seco, Gabilan Range, Salinas River, Sierra de Salinas, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Limekiln State Park, Alder Creek Campground, John Little State Reserve, Slate Hot Springs, Santa Lucia Range, Cone Peak Gradient, Sand Dollar Beach, Jade Cove Big Sur Coast, Fort Hunter Liggett Military Base, San Antonio Pedira, Nacimiento Road, Nacimiento-Fergusson, Salmon Creek Road, Silver Peak Wilderness, Los Burros Road, Willow Creek, Plaskett Creek Campground, Coastal Highway 1 and US Route 101 on Central Coast California.

Printed on waterproof plastic in 2012. ISBN# 9781566955782

get a digital version of this map
NatGeo Map 814 – Big Sur Map

Redwoods Inland

This Central California Coastal region covers the north end of Los Padres National Forest, Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness, Pinnacles National Monument, much of Fort Hunter Liggett, plus nearby State Parks – Andrew Molera State Park, Garrapata State Park, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Point Sur State Historic Park, Limekiln State Park, Point Lobos State Reserve & California Sea Otter Game Refuge.