Badwater Basin (Death Valley National Park)
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 2 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 3 ft
- Max elevation
- -359 ft
- TrailRank
-
73
5
- Min elevation
- -405 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 39 minutes
- Time
- 50 minutes
- Coordinates
- 553
- Uploaded
- September 6, 2019
- Recorded
- September 2019
near Badwater, California (United States)
Viewed 877 times, downloaded 29 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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The Badwater Basin is an endorheic basin in the Valley of Death National Park in California (United States), famous for being the lowest point in North America, with an altitude of 86 m. below sea level. This lowest point is just 122 kilometers from the highest point of the 48 adjacent states of the United States, Mont Whitney.
The basin contains a pool of "non-potable water" due to the large amount of accumulated salts in the vicinity - this is where its name comes from in English - which houses diverse fauna and flora, including salicorns, water insects and Badwater snails.
Next to the pond, where water is not always present on the surface, the repetition of freezing and thawing cycles and evaporation is transforming the fine salt crust into hexagonal shapes like beehives.
In Badwater, periodically storms occur that flood the lower part of the valley, covering the bulk of salt with a thin layer of water. Each newly formed lake does not last long, as the average precipitation (48 mm) is exceeded by the average annual evaporation (3,800 mm). This is the greatest potential for evaporation in the United States, which means that even a lake of about 50 kilometers in length and 3 meters deep would dry in a year. While the basin is flooded, a portion of the salt is dissolved; When the water evaporates, this salt is deposited again on the surface in the form of crystals.
On a cliff there is a sign that marks the level of the sea, very popular among tourists.
The basin contains a pool of "non-potable water" due to the large amount of accumulated salts in the vicinity - this is where its name comes from in English - which houses diverse fauna and flora, including salicorns, water insects and Badwater snails.
Next to the pond, where water is not always present on the surface, the repetition of freezing and thawing cycles and evaporation is transforming the fine salt crust into hexagonal shapes like beehives.
In Badwater, periodically storms occur that flood the lower part of the valley, covering the bulk of salt with a thin layer of water. Each newly formed lake does not last long, as the average precipitation (48 mm) is exceeded by the average annual evaporation (3,800 mm). This is the greatest potential for evaporation in the United States, which means that even a lake of about 50 kilometers in length and 3 meters deep would dry in a year. While the basin is flooded, a portion of the salt is dissolved; When the water evaporates, this salt is deposited again on the surface in the form of crystals.
On a cliff there is a sign that marks the level of the sea, very popular among tourists.
Waypoints
Photo
-368 ft
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El lugar mas bajo de EE.UU en el Valle de la Muerte
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Easy to follow
Scenery
Easy
The lowest altitude walk I've ever done.