mom with baby in the hiking backpack and holding toddlers hand with the natural bridge in the background. The family is in a beautiful canyon in Death Valley hiking.
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The 10 Best Hikes in Death Valley for Families!

Death Valley National Park has some of the most epic hiking of any National Park we’ve visited. There are so many family friendly hikes in the park and even a few stroller friendly hikes. I absolutely loved the hike to Natural Bridge, and the kids loved the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes! Here are all of the best hikes in Death Valley for kids and what you need to know before you go.

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1. Zabriskie Point Trail

Distance: 0.3 miles
Elevation gain: 49 feet
Stroller friendly? Yes, paved

the paved path going up to the top of the zabriskie point trail. It's a short paved path that works well for strollers and wheelchairs.

Zabriskie Point is one of the most incredible and accessible viewpoints in Death Valley. It’s near the entrance of the park, so it’s a good hike to do on day one of your Death Valley trip. There are several trails that you can take from the trailhead there, but they are a little less kid friendly because of the steep drop offs.

Best time to hike to Zabriskie Point? This viewpoint is very wide open with no shade. So if it’s a hot day, you’ll want to hike in the morning or towards sunset. If you’re hoping to get some stunning pictures, sunrise and sunset would be best. You’ll have less harsh lighting in the morning and evening compared to mid day.

TIP: This is the best hike in Death Valley for strollers and getting an epic view with a very short trail.

mom and toddler standing on the trail with the zabriskie point mountains in the background. the family was visiting death valley on a campervan trip and enjoyed this short 0.2 mile family friendly trail

2. Harmony Borax Works

Distance: 0.4 miles
Elevation gain: 29 feet
Stroller friendly? Yes (gravel)

dad holding baby with toddler walking behind on the harmony borax works trail in death Valley National Park. Our family did this short loop trail to the wagon and remnants of the borax mines on our campervan trip to Death Valley

Harmony Borax Works is a fun and easy hike in Death Valley that explores an important part of Death Valley’s history. Borax is a mineral that was discovered in Death Valley and is used in many cleaning products still today. The mine is no longer open but you can see the remnants of the wagon and some of the buildings.

The hike is short along a gravel path, with some fun offshoot trails you can take for different viewpoints if you’re feeling adventurous!

beautiful view of the historic wagon used in the Borax salt mines in Death Valley. The view has colorful mountains behind it. This wagon is on the harmony borax works trail in Death Valley which is a short family friendly trail

3. Badwater Basin

Distance: 1.9 miles
Elevation gain: flat
Stroller friendly? I’m not sure. Read why below!

badwater basin salt flats trail sign with the white salt flats and the blue mountains in the background. this death valley stop is the lowest point in North America

Badwater Basin Salt Flats is a must do easy hike in Death Valley. The salt flats are 282 feet below sea level, which makes this stop the lowest point in North America! Walk along a short boardwalk trail until you start to walk on top of the salt. You can walk really far out onto the completely flat salt. And it’s perfect for taking funny perspective pictures!

Make sure to not let your kids dig in the salt and create holes. This damages the salt flats. Let’s make sure the Badwater Basin stays a beautiful place for everyone to visit for centuries to come!

people walking along the badwater basin salt flats trail from a distance. The dots of people contrast with the white color of the salt flats and view of the blue mountains in the background. The slat flats are completely flat and an easy trail for families to walk on in Death Valley. It's the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level.

Strollers? At the beginning of the trail, the salt is pretty hard and packed down, so a stroller may work here. As you get further out on the trail, the salt gets softer so a stroller could damage the salt flats. I’m not totally sure if strollers are allowed here or not. The best bet would be to double check with a ranger before taking off on the trail. If you’re looking for a flat hike, this is one of the best hikes in Death Valley for you!

TIP: Look for the sign on the rock wall across the road, you’ll be able to see the mark of where sea level is!

family with two young kids walking along the badwater basin salt flats in Death Valley National Park. Each parent is holding a child as they walk away from the camera.

4. Natural Bridge Canyon

Distance: 1.4 miles
Elevation gain: 449 feet
Stroller friendly? No

mom with baby in the hiking backpack and holding toddlers hand with the natural bridge in the background. The family is in a beautiful canyon in Death Valley hiking.

Natural Bridge Canyon is definitely an underrated stop, but one of the best hikes in Death Valley. It’s a great short hike that will take you up through a canyon and to a beautiful natural bridge at the end. Another benefit of this hike is that a good chunk of it is shaded, so it can be great for a hot day.

dad helping toddler along the natural bridge trail

TIP: Keep walking just slightly past the bridge for a more beautiful picture spot!

5. Artist Drive Hill

Distance: 0.4 miles
Elevation gain: 118 feet
Stroller friendly? No

Artist’s Drive Hill is an under the radar hike in Death Valley! You can find the trailhead shortly after starting your scenic drive along the Artist’s Drive road on your right. It’s a steep hike but short. Keep your little ones close because at the top there are some steep drop offs. It’s a really beautiful view from the top where you can see for miles and miles.

campervan parked at dusk along the artists drive in Death Valley national Park. The van is parked at the Artists View trail with pink and purple mountains in the distance.

6. Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Distance: 2.4 miles
Elevation gain: 153 feet
Stroller friendly? No

man hiking with baby in the hiking backpack along the sand dunes in death valley national park. This is the mesquite flat sand dunes and has beautiful mountains in the distance.

The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes is a very unique hike with kids. The great part about this hike is that you can explore wherever you want. There isn’t one official trail, but instead, you’ll find sand dunes that you can climb and play on. If your kids like the sandbox, this is the most EPIC natural version.

We found a boogie board at the sand dunes and had SO MUCH FUN sliding down. This was definitely a highlight of our Death Valley trip!

TIP: Look for these tracks in the sand. We didn’t realize until we saw a beetle running across the sand, but the tracks in the sand are from beetles!

Looking for more Things to do in Death Valley with Kids? We cover 26 of our favorite MUST DO activities for families!

7. Mosaic Canyon

Distance: 3.5 miles
Elevation gain: 984 feet
Stroller friendly? No

dad with toddler on his back hiking along the top of the hill through mosaic canyon in death valley national park

Mosaic Canyon is a fun opportunity to hike in a slot canyon with your kids in Death Valley. The main trail starts through a canyon, which is fun in itself! After you get out of the canyon, it opens up a bit and you will eventually run into a rock pile in which you will have to scramble up. We did make it up here with a 3 and 1 year old, and hiked a little further back into the slot canyon.

dad holding hands with his son as they walk through mosaic canyon.

We didn’t make it through the whole slot canyon because it did get a bit challenging with the kids. However, I would still recommend this hike for families. If you want to just do the beginning of the trail and turn around it’s still a great hike. And if you choose to challenge yourself, you’ll get to experience a fun, technical hike with the kids as a new experience.

rock wall at the end of the main part of the hike through mosaic canyon. This is the part of the trail where you have to start scrambling through the rocks and it becomes more difficult for families.
Initial boulders you’ll have to climb over to get to the slot canyon part of the Marble Canyon hike

8. Artist Palette

Distance: 0.3 miles
Elevation gain: 104 feet
Stroller friendly? No

view of artist's palette in death valley national park with beautiful pink, brown, and blue colors. You can also see people hiking up the trail in the distance.

Artist Palette is a very unique area of Death Valley. It’s located along Artist’s Drive (towards the end), and you can view from the parking lot or take the short hike up to the top. Our kids were napping in the car, so we took turns doing the hike up to the top.

This hike is pretty steep at parts and has some drop offs, so if you are hiking with little ones, hang on to them tightly or put them in a backpack.

TIP: We talked to a park ranger who told us that visiting in low light is going to give you the best visibility of the colors. If you visit mid day, the colors may appear somewhat washed out.

Did you know that Star Wars was filmed inside of Death Valley? Check out our post on how to visit all 6 Star Wars Filming Locations in Death Valley!

9. Golden Canyon

Distance: 1.9 miles Roundtrip if you turn around at the Red Cathedral trail, 3 miles (577 ft) Roundtrip to Red Cathedral, 4.3 miles (850 ft) if you do the Gower Gulch Loop

Stroller friendly? No

Golden Canyon is the most popular and one of the best hikes in Death Valley. There are several variations you can do of this hike depending on how far you go. We only did the hike to the branching off point (where you can go to Red Cathedral or on the Gower Gulch Loop). We took wrong turns TWICE on this hike so it ended up adding a bunch of mileage that we didn’t anticipate.

dad holding toddler and walking through desolation canyon. This hike was done early morning in november

Regardless, it’s a beautiful hike that is a must do Death Valley hike. There are so many different types of rocks on this trail, so don’t forget to look down. And if you want to see a map of the different routes, check this map out.

TIP: To avoid getting lost, don’t make any turns until you see a sign. Sometimes you will see arrows formed out of rocks on the path leading you in the right direction. Better yet, download the trail on the AllTrails app so you don’t end up like us!

up close view of the striped mountains on the golden canyon hike in death valley

10. Desolation Canyon

Distance: 3.6 miles
Elevation gain: 787 feet
Stroller friendly? No

Desolation Canyon was the last hike we did in Death Valley with our kids and it was another beautiful hike (they were all amazing!) Unfortunately, we got lost AGAIN on this trail, but it did lead to hiking through some pretty amazing spots.

dad walking through colorful mountains with toddler on his back in a hiking backpack. This hike is desolation canyon in death valley national park

The path has some stones shaped into an arrow that you can follow. If you are hiking through hills that seem like the wrong direction, you’re probably going the wrong direction. They do lead to the same spot, but it was a bit difficult to hike the wrong way with kids.

We reached a point on the trail that required some rock scrambling, so we did turn around early. Dane had knee surgery shortly before our trip, so we didn’t want to push our luck. The hike was fun and beautiful even though we didn’t make it to the very end.

dad walking with baby in his hiking backpack walking along the hills in desolation canyon in death valley

Map of Easy Hikes in Death Valley

I hope you enjoy this list of all the BEST hikes in Death Valley. The hiking in this park is absolutely epic and we loved it so much. As far as kid friendly hiking goes, Death Valley is one of the top National Parks. For this reason, Death Valley has become one of our favorite National Parks!

Looking for other National Parks fun? Here are all of our resources to help you plan a magical trip to the National Parks! And don’t worry, we don’t only visit National Parks, here are our trip resources for USA Travel with Kids

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