The Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California

Photo: B. Perry

N 36 40.00  W 117 33.50

Death Valley National Park has many strange sights.  There is Devil’s Golf Course, a wide plain of salt clusters where even the devil wouldn't want to lose his golf ball.  There is Ubehebe Crater, a volcanic crater of vivid reds and golds.  There is Scott’s Castle, an eccentric recluse’s desert home of surprising warmth and style.  There is Titus Canyon with its sheer cliffs of 500 million year old limestone.  There is Badwater, the lowest point on the continent at 275 feet below sea level.    Any yet, drive on, past Scotty’s Castle and Ubehebe Crater, over a rough dirt road with blind turns and no turn-offs for the strangest sight of all: the Racetrack Playa.

Photo by Bunthorne

The Racetrack Playa is a dry lake bed with an exceptionally flat bottom.  The north end is only 1.5 inches higher than the south end.  The Racetrack is 2.8 miles long by 1.3 miles across nestled between the Cottonwood Mountains on the east and Nelson Range on the west.  As scenic as the Racetrack is, its beauty is not why people make the arduous drive out.  They come for the moving rocks.  Thousands of rocks lay on the virtually flat lake bed with long trails behind them solidified in the mud.  Some trails are only a few feet long.  Others go hundreds of feet, making sharp turns, and at times even crossing over themselves.  On average, the rocks are about football size although some are much larger.    In some cases, a group of rocks appear to have raced side by side in the same direction. 

Photo by Bunthorne

Even stranger, it is not known just how they do it.  No one has ever seen them move nor are there any films or videos.  The best theory for their movement is that after a good rain dampens the mud, winds of up to 90 MPH blow the rocks across the slick surface.  This theory is bolstered by the fact that most of the tracks align with the prevailing winds.  But no one knows for sure.  Censuses of the rocks have proven that they can move great distances in just a few years.  It seems like a small GPS tracking device and a web-enabled camera could be used to catch the rocks in the act.  But National Park status prevents such intrusive instrumentation.   So the mystery goes on.

If you go, a high clearance vehicle is recommended.  Carry plenty of water.  Don’t disturb the rocks.  Don’t forget your camera.

Question of the Day: What is the name of the outcropping near the center of the lakebed?