Death Valley National Park – USA

Death Valley is a National Park that can deliver a rewarding experience regardless of how long you are able to spend with it.

It's funny to reflect on a trip a decade later and still have it defined by two things: a delicious and then highly regrettable bout of food poisoning courtesy of New York City, and the strangest close encounter of my travelling life.

Our time in Death Valley was cut short to a single day, all we could risk on our tender, recovering bodies. But we headed out early in the morning from Las Vegas with a hire car (be warned that what Americans call a mid-sized SUV is basically the size under a military Humvee), and returned well after dark, having endured one of our more bizarre travel experiences.

Our plan was to drive to Death Valley, drive the Titus Canyon Track, and then end the day at Mesquite Flat Dunes. The 2.5-hour drive from Las Vegas allows a great appreciation of the landscape of this area, and passes Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, which is well worth a visit in itself.

Titus Canyon is the most popular back-country road in the area — a one-way, 43km/27mi drive through rugged terrain. It finishes with a drive through a narrow gorge, giant barren walls of rock looming on either side.

The colours in the terrain are rich and otherworldly, with strong reds, greens and even, sometimes, a touch of blue.

The ghost town of Leadfield is one of the highlights of the drive for those who like rustic remains — a few ramshackle buildings left over from a lead deposit boom that lasted less than a year in the late 1920s.

The narrow canyons eventually release you into the Mesquite Flats area and the sand dunes nearby. With the dunes being so publicly accessible, it can take some substantial hiking to move beyond the crowded footprints — or being lucky enough to visit after adverse weather, which cleans the dunes of these tracks. As we were there in March, we could take this hike in warm but pleasant weather, but during summer months it's advised not to hike after 10am, such is the strength of the sun, heat and exposure. This valley has its name for a reason!

Wandering the dunes while the sun hung low allowed the richness of the dunes' textures to come out. Before long, the night sky revealed an incredible luminosity that dominated even the strong glows of nearby cities and towns on the horizon. It's probably one of the brightest night skies I've ever seen. We took it in for a little while in a secluded spot, with not another soul around.

In this part of the world, it was so dark that any light source could be seen from a long way off. There was no sign of another soul in the valley — at least not with a light source. But car lights lit up the road in the distance and drew my attention. We were on a side road in an obscure spot, so we watched these headlights as they gradually made their way straight towards our location.

My mind swam through ideas of what might happen if this mysterious vehicle arrived. Might there be someone with a gun? What did they want with us, out there in the night?

The vehicle made its way up the side road, headlights directed at us, while I subtly positioned our car between us and whoever was about to confront us.

The headlights turned off abruptly, and with our night vision restored, we could see two people getting quite physically amorous in the front of the vehicle.

People are strange.

An AI Illustration of the encounter.

And with that, we made our leave and set out back towards Las Vegas — a place that certainly wouldn't subvert that prior statement in any way.

Other locations I recommend in Death Valley (that I didn't get to visit)

• Zabriskie Point — the classic badlands overlook, best at sunrise or sunset
• Badwater Basin — the lowest point in North America, with striking salt flat formations
• Artist's Palette — a colourful, mineral-streaked scenic drive
• Dante's View — sweeping panoramic views over the whole valley
• Devil's Golf Course — jagged, otherworldly salt crystal formations
• Ubehebe Crater — a large volcanic crater you can walk around
• Golden Canyon — a hiking trail through narrow, colourful canyon walls
• Racetrack Playa — home of the famous "sailing stones," though it requires a rough 4WD-only road to reach
• Eureka Dunes — remote and rarely crowded, but the access road is rough enough that spare tyres are strongly recommended
• Panamint Dunes — another quieter dune field, off the well-worn Mesquite Flat path