Death valley National Park
Death Valley is the lowest point in North America. At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is a surreal landscape that tricks the senses. What many visitors mistake for snow covering the ground is actually a thick layer of salt on the valley floor. But how did the salt get there? Rain and minerals dissolved from rocks drain to lower elevations. Here, at Badwater Basin, the water forms temporary lakes after heavy storms. As the water evaporates, minerals concentrate until only the salts remain. After thousands of years, enough salts have settled here at the bottom of the continent to create this vast, surreal scene.
