The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley National Park

In the fall of 1994, Death Valley National Park became the fifty-third park to be added to the U.S. park system. Spanning more than three million acres, Death Valley is the largest park in the contiguous United States and features a stunningly diverse array of natural attractions.

The Explorer’s Guide to Death Valley National Park is the first complete guidebook available for this spectacular area. It covers the park’s geologic history and also reviews the human history of the valley, form the Indians and first western explorers to the prospectors, miners, and present-day visitors.

Shrubs, trees, and wildflowers are described along with where and when they can be found. The habitats and lifestyles of the wildlife, from the rangy coyote to the tiny springsnail, are shared with the reader.

The Explorer’s Guide contains short walks, day hikes, backpacking trips, and numerous descriptive road logs that lead explorers into the wilderness backcountry of mines, ghost towns, cactus gardens, incredible scenic vistas, and desert mysteries.

Written by two acknowledged desert naturalists, explorers, and conservationists, The Explorer’s Guide is the only book you’ll need for an all-encompassing experience in Death Valley National Park.

T. Scott Bryan is a retired professor of geology and astronomy and author of The Geysers of Yellowstone, Fourth Edition (UPC), and Betty Tucker-Bryan is an artist. Since the book’s original publication, they have made dozens of trips back to and explorations within Death Valley National Park.