Looking for the best Death Valley photo spots? Then you’ve come to the right place! In this blog, we cover the 5 can’t-miss Instagram spots in Death Valley National Park, one of the most unique and picturesque places in California. Whether you’re visiting Death Valley for a day or a week, definitely check these out!
1. Bad Water Basin Salt Flats
The Bad Water Basin Salt Flats definitely became our favorite Death Valley photo spot! This place is actually the lowest point in North America and sits 282 feet below sea level. The texture of the landscape here is so unique, and with 360-degree mountain views, it can’t be beat.
While you can start seeing the salt flats from the parking lot, to get to the most picturesque part of them, you should walk about 20 minutes. (Don’t worry, it’s a flat and easy walk!) If there are crowds there just keep walking until you find a spot for yourselves – it’s a huge area, so you should be able to get shots alone, no problem!
The most magical time to head to this Death Valley photo spot is definitely sunset. While the salt flats are neat to see anytime, at sunset, this place is on a whole new level.
2. Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes look like they came straight out of the Sahara Desert and are easily one of the best photo spots in Death Valley. With rolling hills of sand that change color from beige to gold as the sun comes up, experiencing sunrise here is incredible!
From the parking lot, you can start walking along the trail and pretty immediately be in the sand dunes. However, our favorite dunes for photographs came about 30-40 minutes into our walk. This trek is a little bit more strenuous than the salt flats since you have to hike through sand and go up and over dunes, but it’s so worth it!
3. Artist’s Palette
Artist’s Palette is a super fun photo spot in Death Valley because of its colorful nature! With the naturally colored layers of rock, it really reminded us of Rainbow Mountain in Peru.
This spot is along Artist’s Drive, which is a 9-mile scenic drive in Death Valley. There are different turn-off points along the road, and it’s a one-way road, so keep an eye out for spots you want to photograph as you go along.
About 5 miles into the drive, you will find Artist’s Palette, which is the most famous spot to photograph. From the parking lot, follow the trail (to the left of the info sign) down and then hike up a bit. The trail is pretty ambiguous, but if you explore around, you’ll find plenty of colorful photo spots!
4. Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point is a crazy spot in Death Valley that made us feel like we were on Mars! From the parking lot, you just have a short 5-minute walk up to the lookout, so it’s definitely worth making a quick stop here to check out the views.
Tip: If you have a zoom lens, we’d definitely recommend it for this spot! We loved capturing the texture and detail of the landscape with our 70-200mm lens!
Check out all of our Travel Photography Gear, including our zoom lens!
5. The night sky
Death Valley National Park is considered the largest Dark Sky National Park in the US, so nighttime photography here is out of this world! If you want to try your hand at photographing the stars, this is definitely the place.
While the stars are beautiful everywhere, Harmony Borax Works is a famous spot in the park for stargazing. There is little obstruction from mountains, and it has historic carts and buildings that make a cool foreground in photos.
A couple of quick tips on nighttime photography:
- The darkest nights are the best for capturing the stars, so consider looking at a moon calendar to visit when the moon is small
- We used our 16-35 mm F2.8 lens to photograph the stars
- Our settings were ISO 32000, f 2.8, shutter 1 second (at first we thought the shutter should be longer to let more light in, but it actually made the stars blurrier since they are moving!)
While you’re exploring the California National Parks, also check out the Most Instagrammable Places in Joshua Tree!
Death Valley Photography Tips
- Both sunrise and sunset are magical times for photography anywhere, but especially in Death Valley. Try to time your trip to be able to have at least one of each.
- If you have a wide-angle lens and a zoom lens, bring them both! It will add variety to your shots and help you capture the vastly different places to see on this list.
- If you have saved Instagram or Pinterest inspiration albums for your trip, make sure you screenshot them before entering the park, since you’ll have no service to access them.
Check out the 11 BEST Editing Apps for your phone that will take your photos and videos to the next level (without breaking the bank $$)!
Are drones allowed in Death Valley?
No, drones are unfortunately not allowed in Death Valley National Park. If they were allowed, I don’t think we would’ve ever left because the footage would have been so cool! Oh well.
Where to stay near Death Valley
We stayed overnight at the El Portal Motel in Beatty, Nevada, and it was a solid “no-frills” lower-priced option to use as a base. It was in the perfect location, only 1 hour from the Salt Flats and 40 minutes from the Sand Dunes. If you want to stay inside the park, you can also check out The Inn at Death Valley.
Here are some other good areas to use as a base:
Death Valley Highlight Video
Check out our quick highlight video to get an even better feel for how gorgeous all these spots in Death Valley are!
