26 Fun Things to do in Death Valley With Kids (+ a Map!)
Death Valley is definitely one of the best family friendly US National Parks. From easy hikes, to epic viewpoints, and even a fun place to swim and get ice cream – we have you covered with all the best things to do in Death Valley with kids! Some of our favorite things? Traveling around in our campervan, watching the sunset, sledding down the sand dunes, and more!
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1. Take a Hike
The number one thing to do in Death Valley with kids is to get out on the hiking trails. Death Valley is amazing for family friendly hikes. It also has some of the most otherworldly landscapes and unique hikes we’ve ever done. A couple of our favorites are Natural Bridge and Badwater Basin.
Check out our 10 Favorite Easy Hikes in Death Valley National Park!
2. Eat Ice Cream at the Ranch
The Ranch at Death Valley is a great place to cool off with a cold ice cream treat after a day in the sun. The Ice Cream Parlor has an old school soda fountain vibes and has options for milkshakes and cones or even a banana split. If you’re hungry, they do have some food options as well – like chicken strips, but the ice cream is much better than the food.
3. Look for Wildlife
If you are a stranger to the desert, you might not realize all of the EPIC wildlife in Death Valley that you can find. Some of the mammals you can see (or hear) are coyotes, a variety of mouse and rat species, jackrabbits, burros and more. Death Valley is also home to roadrunners, desert tortoises, snakes, and pupfish. Read about the fish here!
4. Rent a Campervan
The best way to explore Death Valley is renting a campervan! The park is massive, and having a campervan makes exploring Death Valley with kids SO EASY. You’ll have all your food, a place to nap, and your belongings with you so you won’t forget anything for your hikes.
Native Campervans has a location in Las Vegas. It was so convenient and affordable for us to fly to Las Vegas, pick up our campervan and drive 2 hours to Death Valley. We had an amazing experience with them and would highly recommend taking a campervan on your trip.
5. Buy Your National Parks Souvenir at the Visitor Center
Whether you are a Christmas ornament collector, sticker person, or if magnets are your souvenir of choice (like us) – you will want to make a stop at the Visitor Center for your souvenirs. Furnace Creek has a visitor center which is right near the campground if you choose to stay in Furnace Creek.
We also love to buy a book from each National Park we visit – check out our National Park Book page for reading fun!
6. Take a Scenic Drive
Death Valley has several scenic drives that you can’t miss when visiting as a family. Our three favorite scenic drives of the trip are below. We really loved all the driving we did around the park, but these are three scenic drives in Death Valley you won’t want to skip.
- Artist’s Drive
- Twenty Mule Team Canyon
- The Drive to Dante’s View
7. Watch a Beautiful Sunset
Death Valley was EPIC at sunset. We visited in November so the sunsets were early enough that we could see them easily with the kids before bedtime. Lots of places in the park are great for sunset, but our favorites were Artist’s Drive, Zabriskie Point, and Dante’s View.
If you only have one day in Death Valley, make sure to check out our 1 Day Itinerary so you can stop at all the MUST SEE spots!
8. Stamp Your Passport
While you’re visiting the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, make sure to get your National Park’s Passport stamped. It’s such a fun family tradition for us to get our passport stamped on all of our National Park adventures!
Check out some of the other National Parks we’ve visited!
9. Visit the Star Wars Filming Locations
Did you know that some of Star Wars was filmed inside the National Park? That kind of filming would never be allowed today with filming restrictions. However, if you’re a Star Wars fan, you can feel like you’re inside the movie by visiting these famous filming locations.
- Artist’s Palette
- Dante’s View
- Desolation Canyon
- Golden Canyon
- Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
- Twenty-mule Team Canyon
If you want more information, check out our post on how to visit all 6 Star Wars Filming Locations in Death Valley!
10. See the Devil’s Golf Course
The Devil’s Golf Course is a very underrated Death Valley stop in our opinion. We had this entire place to ourselves when we visited near sunrise. The salt formations were so unique! It’s a short drive (0.5 miles) on a dirt road, but the road isn’t very rough and can be accessed by any vehicle (at least when we went!)
TIP: They say you can hear the salt crystals popping if you visit in the heat of the day! We visited early morning so we didn’t get the chance to hear.
SAFETY TIP: It is NOT recommended to walk out on the salt formations. They are very jagged and sharp and you could get hurt and/or damage the salt crystals.
11. Swim in the Pool at the Ranch
In addition to being a good place for ice cream, the Ranch at Death Valley has a swimming pool that you can buy a day pass for. We also used this to be able to shower since we were staying in our campervan and the campgrounds have no showers. Be warned, the showers here were pretty gross – but you gotta do what you gotta do! AND the pool was really fun for the kids.
12. Explore the Lowest Point in North America
Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America at 262 feet below sea level. The Badwater Basin Salt Flats are located about 20 minutes from Furnace Creek. This hike is completely flat and a great one to take with kids because you can go as far out as you want and head back when the kids are over it.
It’s a great spot to take some fun family pictures because it’s so flat! Make sure not to dig in the salt or take any home because it can ruin them forever.
13. Find Bugs
You might be scared of bugs, but they can be so fun for the kids to see! While in Death Valley with our kids we saw a few tarantulas (near Dante’s View), a tarantula hawk wasp, and some circus beetles on the sand dunes. Death Valley is home to a lot of inspect species so keep your eyes open while you’re hiking.
TIP: Check out these tracks that were made by beetles in the sand dunes!
14. Enjoy the Sunrise
Like sunset, Death Valley sunrises are pretty incredible. There is something really special about a sunrise in the desert. Good sunrise spots in Death Valley are the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Dante’s View, Artist’s Drive and Zabriskie Point. Also, listen for coyotes early in the morning.
15. Shop at the Ranch Store
If you didn’t find what you were looking for at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, you can head over to the Ranch at Death Valley and shop at the Ranch’s General Store. They have a variety of fun souvenirs as well as some snacks. But be warned, the snacks here can be pretty spendy!
16. Sleep in a Rooftop Tent
If you’re lucky enough to explore Death Valley with a campervan, you might just have one of the most magical experiences of your life sleeping in a rooftop tent. The Squad Campervan from Native Campervans has a bed inside and a rooftop tent for two.
Sleeping in a rooftop tent with the stars as our backdrop, was one of the most memorable experiences of our trip. Temperatures were as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit overnight when we visited, but the tent and high quality sleeping bags kept us SO COZY!
17. Stargaze
Death Valley is one of the best US National Parks for stargazing. The nights get so dark in Death Valley that the park is classified as the best level by the International Dark Sky Association. If you want more tips for seeing Death Valley at night, check out the National Park’s website for night exploration!
We experienced some pretty incredible views of stars (but we still working on our astrophotography skills!) We also visited during a full moon so it wasn’t as dark as normal.
18. Take a Picture with the Park Sign
Collecting photo souvenirs is another way to capture memories of your trip. The National Park sign has a pretty big parking sign (unlike some of the National Park signs we’ve encountered). Admittedly, we usually miss these photos for the whole family because we don’t want to wake up the kids. But I had to get a picture myself!
19. Walk Through the Borax Museum
We didn’t actually walk through the museum, but we did walk by the outdoor area on our way to the pool at the Ranch at Death Valley. If you’re wanting to learn a bit more about the history of the park, and borax specifically. The museum is free, and has a lot of outdoor area to walk around! If you’re already in the area at the Ranch and have some time to kill it might be worth walking through.
20. Hike Through a Slot Canyon
If you can’t get a permit for Antelope Canyon, but want to experience hiking through slot canyons, you can find them in Death Valley National Park. A popular option that is (relatively) kid friendly is Mosaic Canyon. Sidewinder Canyon is another option but that is much farther and in a much more remote area of the park.
If you want more information about hikes – check out our guide to Easy Hikes in Death Valley!
21. See Dante’s View
Dante’s View is touted as the “Best View in the Park” and the hype is real. We almost skipped this stop because we were getting tired towards the end of our trip and it was a little bit of a drive. However, DO NOT skip seeing Dante’s View. And if you can watch the sunset here, even better.
TIP: The elevation here is ~5500 feet, so it’s much chillier than the rest of the park. There are also some steep drop offs around here, so keep a close eye on the kids!
22. Become a Junior Ranger
A super fun thing to do in Death Valley with kids is to become a Junior Ranger! Pick up your packet at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and set the kids to work exploring Death Valley. When you’re done with the booklet, you can bring it back to the Visitor Center, take the Junior Ranger Pledge, and get a badge!
23. Sit by a Campfire
If you visit Death Valley in the Winter or Fall – it will probably be a little chilly in the evenings. Get some firewood and make a campfire while you gaze up at the stars! We had a couple fires and it was such a cozy way to end the night. The sunset was really early when we visited in November, so we had a lot of extra time in the evenings to relax at the campsite.
24. Look at the Different Rock Types
One of the most unexpected parts of Death Valley for me was seeing all the incredible geology. Our kids LOVE rocks so we spent a lot of time on our hikes looking towards our feet at all the different types of rock. Don’t forget to look down while you’re hiking – the rocks here were the coolest I’ve seen anywhere.
And if you have any questions, snap a picture and ask a Ranger at the visitor center!
25. Stop at the Hottest Place on Earth
The hottest temperature ever recorded ON EARTH was in Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. The temperature was a staggering 134.1 degrees Fahrenheit! Because Death Valley is the hottest place on earth, it is not recommended to visit in the Summer. It is a fun flex to be able to tell people you’ve visited the hottest place on earth!
26. Drive to Red Rock Canyon
Okay this isn’t in Death Valley, but if you’re flying in and out of Las Vegas to get to Death Valley – you should absolutely check out Red Rock Canyon. Its a one way scenic 13 mile drive with a ton of cool stops along the way. If you want to squeeze in some extra hikes, you can talk to the staff at the visitor center. Or just enjoy the beautiful drive before you head back to the airport.
We hope you enjoy your trip to one of our favorite National Parks we’ve visited! There are so many fun things to do in Death Valley with kids – let us know in the comments which thing you loved the most. And if you’re exploring more, check out our other California trip planning resources!
