Showing your children the night sky is something of a miracle. There’s the wonder of the sky itself, the vastness of the universe that you yourself may sometimes take for granted. There’s the eye-opening, round-mouthed joy of children taking it all in. There’s the pleasure of being family together there in the darkness. Unless your children have been raised in a rural environment, the lights of suburbs or city may well have dimmed the full glory of the night sky. It’s almost a parental right of passage to show your offspring what stars really look like for the first time.

That stargazing brings happiness, togetherness, and a sense of awe is undisputed; the real question is where you should go to do your stargazing. Naturally, you’ll want a dark sky, with as little light pollution as possible, but you won’t want a spot so remote you’ll have difficulty heading back to wherever you’re spending the night afterwards.

PLANETARIUMS

Before you set out on a journey to explore the real night sky, it’s a great idea to take children to a made-made variation. Planetariums are an excellent resource because they can impart, in an usually short and succinct fashion, information about what you’re going to be seeing in the sky. In Los Angeles, we have Griffith Observatory’s varied shows, supplemented by looks at the planets and space in exhibits throughout the observatory as well as by the ability to look through a large telescope at a planet or two. Even if you don’t live in a large city, many colleges, including community colleges, have astronomy programs. Small teaching planetariums are often open to the public periodically throughout the year. If you can’t visit an actual planetarium, there are star charts, star projections, and on-line star presentations that are all great for giving kids a short course – and refreshing your own knowledge – on what you’ll be seeing in the night sky.

OBSERVER’S INN

The wonderful Observer’s Inn, which I’ve mentioned in a full article on this site, is another place to teach the wonders of the night sky. Located in Julian, Calif., where the skies are themselves stellar for viewing, this bed and breakfast’s private observatory conducts “star tours” four nights a week. Owners Mike and Caroline Leigh include non-guests in these tours, which last a bit over an hour and include the ability to look through four research-grade telescopes.

LOWELL OBSERVATORY

The area around Flagstaff – where Lowell Observatory, one of the oldest in the nation, is based, offers great star gazing once you get away from town. Drive west on U.S. 40 and pull off at any farm road exit, douse the headlights, and get out of the car. There’s the Milky Way.

DEATH VALLEY

Death Valley also offers excellent star gazing. The parking lot at the sand dunes area near Stovepipe Wells is a comfortable spot to look up and take everything in. If you’re staying at Stovepipe you’ll be less than fifteen minutes from your motel; stay at Furnace Creek and its twenty-five. Closer to Furnace Creek but not so close that the ranch and motel lights obscure your view, the parking lot at Zabriskie Point is also a good spot.

RED ROCK CANYON

Los Angeles residents will often drive to Red Rock Canyon just past Lancaster on Highway 14 to star gaze; if the weather is clear – no beach fog – fairly dark family campgrounds like those at San Diego county’s San Onofre State Beach offer excellent sky viewing.

MOAB’S ARCHES NATIONAL PARK & SAND DUNE ARCH

In Utah, Moab’s Arches National Park is open twenty-four hours, and Sand Dune Arch is less than 0.3 miles from the parking lot. Yes, star gaze from the lot if you’d like, or at the lot near the Park Avenue rock formations. But for more intimate, stunning gazing with soft sand under foot, bring a flashlight and take the short flat trail to the arch.

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK

Big Bend National Park in Texas is also big on stargazing. With over a hundred miles of open, paved road, there doesn’t need to be a particular spot to pull over and gaze up, but the Chisos Basin area is very accessible and has paved parking lots.

EAST COAST STARGAZING SPOTS

Heading east, upstate New York’s Lake George area often boasts clear skies and sharp stars. In Maine, The Penobscot Narrows Bridge offers vast views of the region, and when the weather is dry, equally grand views of the night sky. To the south, Kiawah Island, South Carolina has warm, dark beaches and relatively zero light pollution.

K’AU DISTRICT – HAWAII

Perhaps our family favorite night sky viewing took place on Hawaii’s Big Island in the K’au district at the tip of the island. Staying at one of our favorite bed and breakfast’s there, Kalaekilohana, we simply opened the french doors to our room, stood out on the balcony, and watched the sky unfold a few feet from our beds.

Wherever you go to look up into millions of light years, millions of stars – savor the view.

Driving Death Valley – photo – Genie Davis

It’s been awhile since my family and I visited Death Valley, and an equally long time since I’ve written about it here. Viewed in the fall, with still-warm days and star-filled nights, or the spring, when a riot of wildflowers burst out along the valley floor; viewed in winter when snow crusts the Panamints and a wicked wind is liable to spring up at night, or in the summer, when the heat keeps visitors in their cars until dusk or dawn, and the Furnace Creek Ranch resort pool beckons – it’s all good.

5,219 miles of national park serves up views and visits that are ever changing. For the kids, the uniqueness of the geology makes just about everything about a visit interesting.

HIGHLIGHTS

Why not start at the top? Dante’s View emerges from a narrow paved road about 5000-feet over the valley. The view is expansive, and the kids will enjoy seeing the salt flats of Badwater, the craggy peaks of the Panamint Range, the golden, undulating dune system. Coming back down, it’s time to take the unpaved but perfectly-okay-in-a-passenger car Twenty Mule Team Canyon road. A great look at the canyon up close is a fun contrast with the vast view at the top.

Zabriskie Point is just about finished with the rehabilitation of its trail and parking, and with a spring-time reopening, it’s a must-see. A closer view of the park’s scenery than observable from Dante’s View, the trail is easy enough for even small children to walk, and there are several benches along the way to sit and drink in the scenery.

The next stop for any family must surely be the way-below sea level Badwater. Let the kids loose on the salt flat, take the obligatory photo that indicates this part of the park is a whopping 282 feet below sea level. The salt flats crackle, the mineral-rich, foul-tasting water looks like a mirror, and the kids will be awed. Continue the experience with a drive through Artist’s Drive. The pastel palette is astonishing, and there are a number of easy stops for photos or to take a short stroll with a view.

ACCOMMODATIONS 

Staying at Furnace Creek Ranch, Xantera resorts’ family-friendly enclave in the park, has a number of advantages over staying outside the park. The wonderful, spring-fed, warm, and open-late swimming pool for one. With only minimal chlorine, the pool is constantly refreshed and heated to a delightful soaking temperature of around 82 degrees. Antique rail road cars, wagons, and mining equipment for the kids to explore for another. The large green oases that is the resort itself, with date palms, a well-equipped children’s playground, and tennis courts, and basketball court let the kids burn off steam in a comfortable environment. And of course, the resort is right in the park, so getting up for an early morning stroll on the Mesquite Flat sand dunes or heading out to hunt for pup fish at Salt Creek takes a minimal amount of time. An onsite gift shop and store is the perfect spot to claim a souvenir, a cold drink, or a candy bar.

DINING

Dining options include the Wrangler, a comfortable steak-house type experience that’s child-friendly and includes options other than steak, from fish to salad bar to risotto. At lunch, the dining room serves buffet-style. The 49er is more casual, and has great sandwiches and breakfast fare. In spring and fall, the ranch offers wagon rides around the property; live music often graces the porch outside the ranch’s mining museum.

MORE EXPERIENCES

Another gorgeous view – photo- Genie Davis

There are many options for experiencing the park, and you’ll know what suits your family best. Some will enjoy the guided tours of Scotty’s Castle, the mansion built on tall tales and a city-dwellers improved health in the desert air. Smaller children – and the whole family – will enjoy a trip to the sand dunes, to tumble down some soft sand, look for lizards, and write their names in the soft whiteness. Older kids will enjoy the scramble and vibrant rock colors and patterns along the Mosaic Canyon trail. The unearthly shapes at Devil’s Golf Course will enthrall, the deep pit of Ubehebe and Little Ubehebe Crater create the impression of being on the moon. If your car is equipped for rough roads – a four wheel drive vehicle with good clearance – driving out to see the rocks and flats of the descriptively apt Racetrack is a fun way to spend a morning or afternoon. In the cooler, evergreen Panamints, the beehive shaped Charcoal Kilns, once smelting ore for the Modock Mine, are a unique sight with a great echo.

Death Valley dunes late afternoon – photo – Genie Davis

If you head out to the west, make a stop at the Pannamint Resort for a hearty lunch and a view of the Panamint Valley; from the east, you’ll want to make a stop in Shoshone for a milk shake and grilled cheese at the tiny, quaint, Crowbar. A bit further afield, off Highway 395 heading to Los Angeles, there’s the refurbished ghost town of Randsburg, whose general store offers lunch, drinks, and souvenirs, and the old mining facades includes a one room jail house that kids always enjoy. Heading for I-15, the must-stop is the kitsch and baklava at the Mad Greek.

Rhyolite Ruins Death Valley

Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, Rhyolite is a wonderful stop. Our kids were wide eyed, exploring the abandoned train station and the still standing walls of buildings once three stories tall. Signs placed around the buildings explain the history and remains and many include photos of the original buildings. Founded in 1904, this town once had over ten thousand residents, and it was booming until area mines played out. Its prosperity was short lived, and now it’s just picturesque ruins, but ruins conveniently located on a paved road and often used as a movie location. Park and enjoy exploring the stark remains of banks and brothels. Still standing is a fascinating house built from beer bottles. There were originally three such houses; the one still standing was rehabilitated in 2005, stabilizing its foundation and replacing missing bottles.

On the southern end of Rhyolite, there’s a modern installation:  the statues built by Albert Szukalski and other artists from Belgium. Serving as The Goldwell Open Air Museum, this site was created after the death of Albert Szukalski. Visitors are welcome to explore the massive sculptures which include ghostly white figures on bicycles and representing The Last Supper, a gigantic pink lady, and a tribute to the namesake of Scotty’s castle, Scotty Harris, created from heavy steel. The kids will love the visual contrast to the desert landscape and the Rhyolite ruins, and there’s plenty of room to walk around and explore the art works at close range.

Heading back into the park again, if you’re fortunate enough to cross through Stovepipe Wells at sunset, take another look at the dunes. The colors are beautiful, and in the cooler evening air you can enjoy another walk on the sand. Watching the moon and stars from the dunes is wonderful, too, but be careful – after dark snakes will come out, so stay clear of the creosote and mesquite bushes that dot the sand. Snake warning aside, there are many wonderful desert creatures to see at night, if you step quietly across the sand. Our kids have seen foxes, rabbits and kangaroo rats. Bring a flash light!

Charcoal Kilns Death Valley California

To begin another day’s adventures, go west on Highway 190, toward Wildrose Canyon, and head up hill to the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns. While the last three miles of road are unpaved, the road is graded gravel and we’ve taken it many times in a passenger car. The bumpy drive is worth it for the strange site at the end of the drive: ten impressive rock kilns rising up in a clearing in the pine forest. These bee hive shaped kilns were used to produce charcoal as fuel for the silver lead smelters built in the 1877′s. Each kiln is twenty five feet tall and about thirty feet wide. They once held forty two cords of pinyon pine, and when burning for a week, they produced two thousand bushels of charcoal – that’s a lot. Today, these kilns are great fun for kids. They’re echo chambers great for singing a round of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and a terrific spot for a game of hide and seek. Temperatures are cooler here on the mountain side, and the kids will enjoy some play time in the area. You can take a short hike into the cool woods on an easy dirt trail to admire the view down into Death Valley below.

After spending some time at the kilns, we were ready for lunch. Rejoining Highway 190, it isn’t far to the small “resort” of Panamint Springs. A rustic motel court is supplemented by a restaurant with some surprisingly good food. We enjoyed house made soups and salad and rich chocolate cake. Sit out on the porch and admire the view of mountains and dunes in the distance. If you’re heading out of the park from here, Highway 190 will take you past many broad scenic views high above the desert floor. If you’re turning back toward Furnace Creek, make a stop at Mosaic Canyon.

The wonders of an open road - leading to a ghost town or another desert exploration near Death Valley National Park.

Mosaic Canyon is simply gorgeous, a nature made sculpture garden of beautiful colors and varied shapes. This is not stroller territory, but you can make your stay as brief or as long as your children are capable of walking or you are comfortable carrying them. In many ways this canyon is made for kids – it’s narrow passage ways seem tailor made for small scramblers; you’ll walk in a single file line to get through the more restricted sections. Carved and shining from flash floods, this is virtually an outdoor museum of geologic wonders. It begins with a totally easy quarter mile walk to the canyon narrows. Here the rock walls are smooth marble, polished by those years of flash flood waters. Our kids loved touching the silky stone, which feels like no other rock you’ve ever touched. The walk through this lower section takes no more than fifteen or twenty minutes, but the mosaic shapes are marvelous. Again, depending on your abilities and your children’s interest, you can turn back to the car here or slip through the narrow section and walk on across open stony areas and through more narrow passages if you wish -  up to two miles through a canyon chiseled and sculpted into curves and whorls of marble and limestone.

As you drive back to Furnace Creek, point out the mysterious ‘hay stack’ formations of Devil’s Cornfield, and salt flats you’ll see along the way. Maybe a coyote or two will wander by along the road. Death Valley is full of color, creatures, and – life. Children of all ages will enjoy exploring the wonders of this vast desert playground.

Death Valley Articles in this Series:

Death Valley, CA – Desert Explorations
More Desert Explorations – Death Valley National Park
Death Valley – Rhyolite Ruins, Charcoal Kilns and Mosaic Canyon

Early morning is a great time to explore the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley.

The desert quiet is intense, and no matter where you spend the night, you’ll get a sound night’s sleep. And it’s a good thing, too, because one of the best times to explore Death Valley’s magnificent sand dunes is early morning. Grab a quick breakfast to go from the convenience store at Furnace Creek ranch – you’ll find fresh fruit and muffins – and head out. This time of day there’s usually no wind to cause any blowing sand; the light isn’t glaring, and you’ll still be able to point out the footprints of passing desert creatures left on the sand. We saw evidence of pack rats, jack rabbits, snakes and lizards. The drive from Furnace Creek to the dunes near Stovepipe Wells at Mesquite Flats is less than twenty minutes, and from the roadside parking lot, it’s only a few steps onto the sand.

Whether you walk to just the next dune or traverse the sandy hills dotted with mesquite and creosote as far as you can see them, you’ll spend many great hours with the kids admiring the still, soft beauty. Some dunes rise over one hundred feet, others are gentle rolling waves less than five feet tall. It’s a photographers haven, and small children love to take off their shoes and just play in the sand. More active pursuits are available too, of course, like  sliding, rolling, drawing pictures in the sand, jumping off dunes, leaping into one. From babes in arms to adults, everyone enjoys this enormous, and beautiful sandbox.  Where did these dunes come from?  Most likely erosion of quartz and feldspar minerals from the Cottonwood Mountains nearby. The high quartz content of these dunes explains the sparkle in the white sand.

Although the sand dunes are only a very small part of the desert landscape, these dunes are a huge attraction, and you’ll see plenty of families here. The spacious expanse is never too crowded though. Be sure to bring water with you – the dry desert heat will make you thirsty any time of year. And, don’t forget the sun screen, either; the sun reflects off the dunes with great intensity any time of day.

Race ya to the top - enjoying the sand dunes at Death Valley National Park.

After some vigorous dune play, make a stop in the general store at Stovepipe Wells. You’ll find toys and books in the gift shop and a freezer full of individual ice cream and popsicle selections, as well as an opportunity to replenish your water supply.

Suitably refreshed, you can push on to the nearby Salt Creek Nature Trail. This pleasant and stroller friendly trail traverses a boardwalk just above the salty creek. Winter or spring you’ll spy tiny silver pup fish, living fossils, the hardy survivors of an ice age lake. Summer months will find the creek dry.

Driving north toward Beatty – clearly marked off Death Valley’s main road, highway 190, you’ll head toward Scotty’s Castle, one of the few man-made points of interest in the vast park. Scotty’s Castle looks like a mirage when you first approach it, located in a small oasis near the grape vine mountains in the northern part of the park. It’s not a real castle; rather it’s a two-story Mission and Spanish Colonial Revival mansion built in 1922. When an itinerant prospector and raconteur known as “Death Valley Scotty” convinced a Chicago millionaire named Albert Johnson to invest in his gold mine in the Death Valley area, Johnson built this elaborate home. Today, rangers dress in the clothing of the era and take visitors on a stroller accessible, very enjoyable tour of the house, with its rich furnishings and architecture. In the Music Room, tour goers enjoy the sounds of an impressive Welte organ with eleven hundred pipes and learn about both the construction of the property and the life style of the Johnson’s and their close friend, Scotty. The tour is anecdotal enough to keep older children occupied, and brief enough that small children won’t be bored.

A well designed museum on the property provides plenty of information about the property if you’d prefer to eschew the tour, which does require tickets. Children under three are free. On your own, feel free to wander the grounds. Next to the main house, the Chimes Tower originally constructed to store hot water tanks, instead contains twenty five carillon chimes that play enchantingly every fifteen minutes. The kids will enjoy a short trail behind the house that leads to Scotty’s grave site.

There's beauty everywhere from the dunes to the mountains in Death Valley National Park.

A short drive from Scotty’s Castle is the natural wonder of Ubehebe Crater. This impressive crater was formed over six thousand years ago from a volcanic explosion, and it is more than five hundred feet deep. It’s easy to get into it and considerably more difficult to get back out, so if you’re carrying small children, make sure you’re up to the rigorous climb out. There’s an easy trail from the rim of Ubehebe to a smaller crater five minutes away, named Little Ubehebe as an enjoyable alternative. Our kids were awed by the enormous “hole in the ground,” and the colors and striations of the volcanic rock formations here are fascinating.

If you have a four wheel drive vehicle, you can take the rough dirt road out to Racetrack, where a natural formation mimics that of a speedway, but the only moving ‘vehicles’ are rocks, inching slowly across the sand due to wind and erosion. This is a wonderful spot, but don’t attempt it without a high clearance vehicle.

Just outside the park, near Beatty, is an easy to see attraction in any vehicle, the fascinating ghost town of Rhyolite and the intricate, well preserved bottle house located there. I’ll describe this leg of our Death Valley journey in my next article on this fabulous and varied desert landscape.

Death Valley Articles in this Series:

Death Valley, CA – Desert Explorations
More Desert Explorations – Death Valley National Park
Death Valley – Rhyolite Ruins, Charcoal Kilns and Mosaic Canyon

Death Valley National Park is about five hours drive from Los Angeles, three from Las Vegas, and eight from San Francisco. If you’re planning a trip to LA or Vegas and it’s not on your itinerary, it should be, especially with children in tow. Don’t be afraid of the park’s high temperature reputation, which is really only relevant in the summer. We’ve even been there on the 4th of July, and that’s quite doable too, but I’ll save that experience for another article.

For now, let’s start with the basics. Because Death Valley is in such an isolated desert portion of the state, your accommodation choices are somewhat limited. Just outside the park on the south eastern side, just over the Nevada line, you’ll find the reasonably priced Longstreet Inn and Casino. With a swimming pool, a diner-style restaurant, and an RV park along with it’s clean, large, basic rooms, it’s a fine choice for park exploration. Many rooms have beautiful views of the Funeral Mountains of Amargosa Valley which border the park. Outside the northern end of the park, you’ll find the small town of Beatty, Nevada. A variety of basic motels are located here, the Exchange Club has the largest rooms; the Stagecoach has a restaurant. Best of all though, is staying in the park itself, at the Furnace Creek Resort. You have a choice of the ranch, with cabins or nicely appointed motel-style rooms; or the elegant, historic vibe of the Furnace Creek Inn.

At the sixty-six room inn, you’ll find a beautiful pool with fantastic mountain views, an outdoor fireplace – yes, the nights do get chilly except in mid-summer – and a restaurant with excellent food. Regardless of where you stay inside or outside the park, try and make it to the restaurant’s Sunday brunch. This huge and elegant feast of breakfast and lunch items is reasonably priced for kids, and the dining room looks out at the beautiful desert scenery. You won’t find a better meal in the desert, and it fueled our family for an entire day of exploring. Children under three are free. The dining room and the inn itself are closed in the summer.

The water looks appealing but it's "Badwater," the lowest point in the contiguous US, in Death Valley National Park.

Open year round, the ranch has four restaurants, all more casual than the Inn’s dining option. It also has shops, a Borax Museum, a large swimming pool fed by an underground spring, tennis courts, horseback riding,  carriage and hay rides. There’s a well kept children’s playground with swings and slide. You can easily enjoy the views and stay centered right around the ranch and experience the beauty of the Valley. The pool is enormous and warm, and delightfully unchlorinated. We’ve always found it difficult to tear ourselves away from its soothing mineral water.

But when you do, a good place to start exploring is nearby,  indoors at the ranch’s  Borax Museum. The kids will love the authentic regional exhibits including mining equipment, a stage coach and  locomotive. You’ll learn about the mining history of Borax and its multiple uses in common household products, which is fun. Outside there’s a steam tractor and wagons perfect for climbing.

If your kids are over five, you can rent horses at the Furnace Creek Ranch Stables and take a gentle lope around the ranch grounds.

In the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center, also on site, you’ll find a small museum with models of Death Valley that explain its geology as well as providing information on the Native Americans who once lived in the region and the various plants and animals that reside in the desert. A child-friendly touch table allows you to touch date palm fronds, fossils, a coyote skull, sheep and coyote pelts.

When you’re ready to venture out of the oasis, head below sea level, two hundred and eighty two feet below to be exact. Here you’ll find Badwater – aptly named for the undrinkable water that shimmers on the vast salt flats. It was named by a prospector whose horse sensibly didn’t consume the salty water. You can walk across the salt flat very easily and seeing the vast flat white expanse of salt crystals is truly beautiful, and kids of all ages will be fascinated. Point out the big white dot on the cliffs just east of the visitor’s parking area that indicates sea level.

Hop back in the car and take a short drive back toward Furnace Creek and Artist’s Drive. The road is unpaved, but passenger cars can take the short dirt loop road easily, we’ve done it many times. Cutting through a canyon in the Black Mountains, Artist’s Palette is so named for the various and brightly colored rocks. The multi-colored palette is caused by the oxidation of different metals – red, pink and yellow from iron, the green mica and copper, and the purple is caused by manganese.

Another beautiful view in Death Valley National Park - near Zabriskie Point.

After completing in the loop, drive back toward Furnace Creek and east to Zabriskie Point. This stunning look out offers you a view of golden sandstone and chocolate brown hills – our kids said they looked like melting candy – all the way down to Badwater. While it’s a very brief walk from the parking lot to the view point, it’s uphill, be prepared to carry your little ones. It’s paved and stroller accessible. This is an especially beautiful spot late in the day, when the lowering sun colors the hills in even more vivid shades.

I’ll lead you west and north through the park in my next article, but for now, return to your accommodations for the night and be sure to step outside and look at the stars – there’s no light pollution in Death Valley, and this is a great spot to point out some night sky basics to your children.

Death Valley Articles in this Series:

Death Valley, CA – Desert Explorations

More Desert Explorations – Death Valley National Park

Death Valley – Rhyolite Ruins, Charcoal Kilns and Mosaic Canyon