Death Valley (Badwater Basin)

Badwater Basin is a salt flat in Death Valley National Park, California. At 86 metres below sea level, it is the lowest point in North America and in the United States.

The name comes from a small spring-fed pool beside the road whose water is too salty to drink. The pool does support some life, including pickleweed, water insects and the Badwater snail. Despite the harsh conditions, life still finds a way here. The pool is surrounded by white salt flats that look like snow but are made of salt left behind by water. The basin is in Inyo County, California.

Salt, sun and rare lakes

Rain is rare here, with an average of just 48 millimetres a year, while about 3,800 millimetres of water could evaporate in the same time. That is the greatest evaporation potential in the United States.

After big storms, a thin shallow lake called Lake Manly can briefly cover the salt pan, then it dries up and leaves clean salt crystals. This is very different from a rainy place: a lake twelve feet deep could dry up in a single year here.

Hexagon patterns

Near the pool, repeated freezing, thawing and evaporation slowly push the thin salt crust into hexagon shapes.

The pool is not quite the lowest spot of the basin. The true lowest point is a few miles west and shifts with rain and evaporation, but the sign stands at the pool because the salt flats beyond are dangerous to cross. The salt is pushed up and across the surface as water seeps up, evaporates and freezes again and again.

On the globe

Find it on the globe in Death Valley, California and zoom in to open its card.