left and then right onto Daylight
Pass Rd for 16 miles, exiting
the park and following Hwy 374
into Nevada for 9 miles to the
signposted turn-off for Rhyolite
on your left.8 Rhyolite
Just 4 miles west of
Beatty (p339), Nevada,
Rhyolite (www.rhyolitesite.
com; Hwy 374; hsunrise-
sunset) was the queen
of Death Valley’s mines
during its heyday. It
epitomizes the hurly-
burly, boom-and-bust
story of Western gold-
rush mining towns. Don’t
miss the 1906 ‘bottle
house’ or the skeletal
remains of a three-
story bank. Also here
is the bizarre Goldwell
Open Air Museum (www.
goldwellmuseum.org; h24hr),
a trippy art installation
started by Belgian artist
Albert Szukalski in 1984.
One favorite piece: the
giant-sized miner with a
pet penguin.The Drive » Backtrack
down Daylight Pass Rd, turning
right onto Scotty’s Castle Rd,
which winds for over 33 miles
through the valley, shadowed
by the Grapevine Mountains.
Turn left near the ranger station
at Grapevine Junction onto
the side road leading 6 miles
northwest toward Ubehebe
Crater.9 Ubehebe Crater
West of Grapevine
Junction, a rough dirt
road rumbles out to an
overlook of 600ft-deepTRIP HIGHLIGHTWITOLD SKRYPCZAK / GETTY IMAGES ©ED NORTON / GETTY IMAGES ©
SOUTHERN.CALIFORNIA..32
.LIFE IN DEATH VALLEY