Death Valley Bike Trip | Day 3

How to get the most of your trip to Death Valley

Choose anchor location for the day

I know the urge of seeing everything you can in one day. Don’t try that. You will end up driving a car between locations, looking for parking spots, rushing through hiking trails and fight the crowds. Instead, plan your day around one main location you want to visit, and then build your itinerary around it.

Our itinerary for day 3

Day three started with a full tank of gas at a gas station in Ridgecrest, CA. It’s cheaper to get fuel outside the park—duh. Also, we stayed at a wonderful Airbnb in Ridgecrest, which was convenient, affordable and 90 minutes drive from the park. The road 178 took us through Searles Valley and Trona –– these towns have seen better days. There are one or two gas stations there and one café by the road. We never stopped at either, so I can’t comment on their services.

First stop: Artist Drive

Alex and I parked my car on the shoulder right by the turn to Artist Drive Entrance. We unloaded our bikes and started pedalling hard uphill. The ride uphill was brutal: 9-mile one-way, paved road with 1,000-foot climb through volcanic hills. The route, which runs north-to-south, is steep, narrow, and offers winding terrain with grades reaching up to 8.8%–14%. Torture on the uphill—fun and fast downhill. Artist’s Palette is a beautiful spot, although not as colorful as you might have seen online. I suspect many photographers crunch saturation in their images. I left the saturation untouched in my images (see pics 3 and 4 below). This is the real color you will see on a sunny day. I think colors become more pronounced with humidity and rain, but that’s a rare sight in the dryest place in the US.

Main location of the day: Badwater Basin

The lowest point in North America

Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. The salt flats here cover nearly 200 square miles (518 square km), and are composed mostly of sodium chloride (table salt), along with calcite, gypsum, and borax. https://www.nps.gov/places/badwater-basin.htm

It’s indeed salty (I licked it to confirm). One of the coolest places on the West Coast, in my humble opinion. Best time to visit—either sunrise or sunset. Sunsets are BUSY. Finding a parking spot can be tricky, even on a weekday in January. Riding a bike here was the best decision because we didn’t have to worry about parking. I took these photos about 30 minutes before sunset and the lighting was sooo perfect. I couldn’t stop thinking about coming back here for some epic elopement or love story photo shoot.

Wrap-up

Death Valley National Park is a must-see place. I spent two days biking around some of the most-visited and less-known spots, and still haven’t covered sand dunes, canyons, and vistas. Another multi-day trip to Death Valley is in my bucket list. Take your time exploring and find beauty in a solitude.

For Day 2 of my bike trip, see the: Riding the movie road in Alabama Hills

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  Riding the movie road in Alabama Hills

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  Day 2: Exploring the Cinematic Allure of Alabama Hills Discovering Movie Road: A Ride Through Hollywood History Nestled in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Alabama Hills is a unique blend of surreal rock formations and cinematic history. Movie Road, a winding path through this incredible landscape, is named that way for a reason…

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  resources | travel

  Death Valley Bike Trip | Day 1

  ByVital Wilsh January 3, 2025February 20, 2026

  A four-night trip to one of the most fascinating National Parks in the US. This trip was planned by me for Alex Mikula who lives in New York. We wanted to leisurely cycle around the most beautiful places within the Death Valley National Park. It was a five-day trip with three light cycling days, lots…