Zabriskie Point

Zabriskie Point is perhaps one of the best known and popular overlooks in the entire Death Valley National Park, California. The landmark is named for Christian Brevoort Zabriskie who was the Vice President of the Pacific Coast Borax Company.

Zabriskie Point bathed in warm afternoon light in Death Valley National Park - Photo by James L Rathbun
Zabriskie Point bathed in warm afternoon light in Death Valley National Park – Photo by James L Rathbun

The elevated overlook of a huge area of yellow-brown-black ancient mud lands composed of sediments from the ancient Furnace Creek Lake. A short hike from the parking lot allows is a visitor to see the expanse of the badlands. A longer hike will take the explorer down through Golden Canyon to the floor of Death National National Park. The site is best visited during the “golden hours” of warm light in the evening and mornings. The best viewing occurs at sunrise.

Zabriskie Point - Photo by James L Rathbun
Zabriskie Point – Photo by James L Rathbun

The site was made famous in popular culture by a movie from 1970 of the same name. For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, the cover of the U2 Album, The Joshua Tree features a photograph by Anton Corbijn at Zabriskie Point.

The cover of The Joshua Tree by U2 was taken in Death Valley - photograph by Anton Corbijn
The cover of The Joshua Tree by U2 was taken in Death Valley – photograph by Anton Corbijn

The only draw back with visiting this location is that it is almost always crowded during the prime months.

Zabriskie Point Map

References

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  1. Pingback: Christian Brevoort Zabriskie - Destination4x4

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