Death Valley itself can be described as a magical but unsettling place, but within its boundaries lies an area that is even more remote and stood out to me the moment I read about it years ago, the Racetrack Playa.
Something about its isolation, the otherworldly scenery and lore about moving rocks on this dried-out lakebed always had an almost gravitational pull onto me. When planning trips and scouting for spots to shoot, I could never fully shake the allure the Racetrack had on me.
As the name implies, Death Valley is an unforgiving place. This holds true both in winter, when nighttime temperatures drop below freezing, and summer, when the valley floor becomes the famously hottest place on earth. In addition, DVNP is the biggest national park in the lower 48’s, with 3.4 million acres of size - and the Racetrack Playa is one of the most remote places inside the park.
This means careful planning is a must when venturing to the Playa - redundancies for potential emergencies and excess supplies are key. If things go wrong, travelers could very well need to hold out for several days without help, so if this spikes your inspiration, please be careful and think ahead when going on similar adventures out in the desert.
We left Los Angeles on a Friday afternoon in Summer. For the first night, we stayed in southern Death Valley. We arrived shortly before dark, which gave us just enough time to set up camp and enjoy watching the sunset over the sand dunes in the distance.
Once the temperatures had dropped slightly, I got all my gear together and we hiked into the dunes to start with the first astrophotography shots of the trip.
This remote area boasts a night sky that ranks as a class 1 on the Bortel scale, which is the second darkest sky category. It needs to be said that the Bortel scale is a great starting point to assess how dark the sky will be – for observation and photography - but it is not everything.
It’s also important to understand which direction you are going to be facing, to fully estimate potential light pollution, as well as the phase of the moon and the overall length of the particular night that you are planning to shoot in. I had scheduled this trip for a time with a new moon and just long enough periods of darkness between the moon setting and the sun rising.
For the main astro shot that night, taken on top of the dunes, I took several foreground shots with my friend and I in the frame. I think that this motive greatly benefits from people in the photo to provide a sense of scale, portraying the vastness of the landscape. Here is the result:
My shot from the dunes with Ghikhan and me looking into space
The next day, we got up very early, trying to be on the road before the heat would get completely unbearable. This turned out to be fairly easy, since the first rays of sunlight heated up the desert immediately, with sleep as no option. During the day it was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not too bad for the summer in Death Valley. At the same time, it is definitely advisable to not be caught outside of your vehicle for too long, let alone run into any major issues when traversing the backcountry.
We arrived at the crossing onto Racetrack Valley Rd., the dirt trail that runs to the Playa - which is not coincidentally is also infamous for wrecking tires. I aired down my 10-ply Open Country AT III tires as much as possible, approximately to 21psi. Luckily, no tire issues while traveling over the sharp, volcanic rocks – I did make sure to set the truck to 4-Lo though, to deter me from driving too fast.
After several hours of slow but steady travel into the wilderness, we reached our first point of interest, the Teakettle Junction. This was another place which I had heard many stories about – it is basically a whimsical shrine for teakettles, why not. I don’t know if the kettles are being removed by the Park Service in regular intervals but when we arrived a single teakettle hung guard to somewhat justify the junction’s name. We took a few quick pictures and were on our way.
Shortly after, the Playa finally appeared in sight. The final stretch of the road bends and leads downwards from a slightly elevated position, which allowed us so to take in the full magnitude of this curious piece of land - a dried-out lakebed and a rock formation that thrones in the northern part of the flat, called the Grandstand.
A very otherworldly area, with the Playa being so different a landscape, compared to anything we had been traveling along for the last two days.
The Grandstand
One of the most fascinating parts about the Racetrack - despite its remote location and almost perfect flatness - is the just recently solved mystery of the moving rocks, which lends this place its name: The Racetrack Playa.
In a nutshell, rocks fall occasionally from the southern cliffs overarching the Playa. In winter, a very thin layer of ice forms on top of the dried-out lakebed. Then, high winds and simultaneous thawing put the rocks into a sliding motion. When temperatures rise and the ice completely melts, the trails, left behind in the sand, appear. Due to the very slow pace of this process and the remoteness of the area, this was only fully pieced together in 2014.
If you’re interested to learn more about this phenomenon, check out this link here that explains it in detail:
https://earthsky.org/earth/death-valley-sliding-slithering-sailing-stone-mystery-solved
After our arrival and setting up camp in high winds, we roamed around the Playa, admired the Grandstand on one end and the vast nothingness on the other. Sadly, even a location as remote as this one is not protected from vandalism. Clearly rocks had been picked up by hand and we even spotted tire tracks in some areas of the Playa, spoiling the delicate surface in these spots for many decades to come.
Regardless, I managed to find a very distinct rock with a quite visible trail. Before sunset I planned my shot to ensure the milky way would mirror the angle of the trail on the ground. The sailing rock on earth should extend towards the trail of rocks sailing in space.
This was also one of the first images I had taken using a star tracker, which enabled me to expose the sky for up to one minute per shot. The whole photo consists of about 20 minutes of total sky integration time and focused-stacked foreground shots of another 20 minutes. All in all, the ‘Sailing Rock’ shot, including initial setup of camera, star tracker and adjustments needed in-between the individual shots took about 2.5h to complete.
Not pictured: Getting lost on the Playa at night while trying to find the rock I had identified during the day. I’d suggest precisely jotting down coordinates before nightfall, as it turned out to be very difficult to navigate once it got dark.
The shot I was looking for, The Sailing Stone
After successfully wrapping up shooting for the night and bagging one of my most anticipated astro-shots to date, we spent a few more hours stargazing and reminiscing about the trip, the location and as usual our insignificance among the vastness of the universe.
The next day, after just a few hours of sleep, we were again abruptly awakened by the sun’s unforgiving heat. After packing up, we slowly journeyed back until we reached paved ground, aired up the truck’s tires and were back on our way to LA.
To sum it up, an absolutely unique, breathtaking and bizarre location.
Ubehebe Crater, at the entrance of Racetrack Valley Rd
Lastly, I want to underline again how essential it is to be fully prepared for any unforeseen events if you are thinking about doing a similar trip. But if all precautions are being taken, this can be the road trip location of a lifetime for all adventurers and astrophotographers.
Here are some tips and tricks for a safe and successful Playa shooting or stargazing experience:
As mentioned, redundancy is necessary. Bring more water, food, etc. than you might think and then some
You have to have sturdy tires and a spare, look up how to change a tire if you don’t know how. High clearance vehicle not required in my opinion
Check the weather forecast and road conditions. Death Valley has been hit with massive flash floods in the last years and backcountry travel is sometimes impacted by flood damage
Tell other about your plans, where you’re going and when you’ll be back
Prepare for extreme weather, also some that might not be obvious like very strong winds on the flat Playa or even snow and ice if you’re going in winter
Due to high winds especially, I recommend a sturdy tripod, especially when you are trying to do long exposures
As all night sky activities, also look for cloud coverage, moon cycle and milky way season, depending on what you’re trying to see
Arrive at the Playa well before darkness, it is a great place to explore but overwhelming when arriving after dark
There are some pull outs further past the Playa where you can disperse camp - of course, there are no amenities
As always: Leave no trace !
Feel free to reach via email or comment below in case there are any questions, happy to help out with your plans. Wishing you strong tires and clear skies - Phil