Six Things to Know About Visiting Death Valley

Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America; 282 feet below sea level. It's a really surreal place, where you feel like you can see for miles along the salt flats. Although it's still really, really hot, in winter you can actually hike across the flats.

However, when I went in summer, we left the bus to take some pictures, but then had to quickly get back on the bus as we were covered in sweat.

From the lows to the highs, just 15 miles away from the lowest point in the whole of North America, is the highest point in the National Park. Telescope Peak stands tall at 11,049 feet.

Despite the astonishingly harsh conditions in Death Valley, the landscape continues to thrive. Desert bighorn sheep, lizards and tiny pupfish, which live in pools saltier than sea water, all call the National Park ‘home’ and prove that life can thrive even in the harshest conditions.

In 2005, the desert sprang to life in what was called the "bloom of the century", and in times of rain and floods the National Park is covered with incredible shows of spring wildflowers. 

91 percent of the 3.1-million acre park is designated as wilderness, which shows how extensive the vegetation is.

If you can stay overnight - please do. The sky is a perfect spot for stargazing, as there's virtually no light pollution. In fact, International Dark Sky Association says Death Valley is the largest International Dark Sky Park in the US. 

People often think of Death Valley as otherworldly, due to its harsh landscape and climate. There is also a supernatural phenomena here of sliding boulders. The Racetrack is a dry lake bed, where boulders seemingly slide across the landscape, leaving a trail in the desert dust. Tracks suggest some rocks have moved up to 1,500 feet, but no one has actually seen it happen. Spooky.