California’s Death Valley National Park has partially reopened this weekend after devastating flooding forced it to close earlier this month. Many popular sites are open to visitors; however, some roads remain off-limits while repair work continues.
Two weeks after historic flooding caused millions of dollars in damage to the park’s infrastructure, Death Valley National Park reopened some of its most-visited attractions to the public on Saturday (August 20).
What attractions have reopened in Death Valley?
Locations now open include:
- Furnace Creek Visitor Center
- Twenty Mule Canyon
- Zabriskie Point
- Harmony Borax Works
- Mesquite Sand Dunes
Advice for visitors
Access to the park has reopened through State Route 190 and Panamint Valley Road. Nevertheless, park officials warn that visitors should expect delays over the coming weeks amid ongoing road closures. It is advised that visitors do not rely on GPS, as traffic has been rerouted in some areas.
“We’re eager to welcome summer visitors back to Death Valley’s most popular sites, but we want to caution folks that many roads in the park will remain closed for months during repair work,” said Mike Reynolds, the park superintendent.
Backcountry roads are still being assessed, and the public should be aware of hazardous conditions, including missing shoulders, steep drop-offs, and impassable areas on backcountry roads.
Popular sites like Badwater Basin, Dantes View, Golden Canyon, and Devils Golf Course were set to open on Saturday; however, officials caution that the first 17 miles of Badwater Road are closed after two storms wreaked havoc on the road last week. The route is expected to reopen in the coming days.
The park’s historic Inn at Death Valley is closed until further notice while staff continues to repair flood damage.
“This August has really shown Death Valley as a land of extremes as we’ve experienced record-setting rain and monsoons,” Reynolds noted.
Why did Death Valley National Park close?
The park was forced to close on August 5 after record-setting rainfall and historic flash-flooding left a wave of wreckage, burying cars under mud and debris and temporarily stranding hundreds of visitors and staff after roads were shut down. Death Valley, which holds the record for the hottest temperature on the planet, recorded 1.7 inches (4.3cm) of rainfall on August 5 in the blistering Furnace Creek area. This amount represents nearly an entire year’s worth of rain in one morning.
Remarkably, no injuries were reported, and everyone could travel safely out of the park on the damaged roads that same weekend after emergency crews cleared a pathway through the debris. A vast cleanup operation followed.
Are more floods expected?
According to park officials, flash floods and monsoonal rains are a natural part of Death Valley’s weather system that occur almost yearly. However, the floods which forced the park to close on August 5 were an extremely rare weather event with unprecedented levels of rainfall.
“The heavy rain that caused the devastating flooding at Death Valley was an extremely rare, 1000-year event,” said National Weather Service Las Vegas meteorologist Daniel Berc, explaining that there’s only a 0.1% chance of it occurring in any given year. While further rainfall is expected, no monsoonal rain is anticipated. As a result, visitors are advised to check the conditions ahead of their travel.
“Death Valley is an incredible place of extremes,” stated park superintendent Mike Reynolds. “It is the hottest place in the world and the driest place in North America. This recent flooding is another example of this extreme environment, and with climate change models predicting more frequent and intense storms, this is a location where climate change can be observed in action.”
