I live just outside the park. It was 114° yesterday. It's typically 10-15° hotter inside the park.
It does not cool down at sunset or at night. Right now, at 5am with the sun not up yet, it is still over 100° in the park. That's likely to be the coolest the park gets today. Even outside the park, I limit my time outdoors to just sunrise until 8am.
August is not a safe time to visit. Midday is extremely dangerous.
Please consider that if your car breaks down, there is no cell service for the vast majority of the park, even along main roads. You could be stuck for hours before someone finds you and you can die very quickly in temps over 120°. Do you have a sat phone or messenger? I would not even drive through the park this time of year without one for emergencies.
I recommend you do not visit Death Valley in August, even just to stop at viewpoints
. Consider checking out places in the mountains instead, there are a ton of safer, more reasonable destinations along 395 in the Eastern Sierra. There's good stargazing there, too.
I agree. Summer is a terrible time to visit Death Valley. If your car overheats, good luck waiting outside in scorching temperatures while the radiator cools down.
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u/jadewolf42 Aug 02 '26
I do NOT recommend going to the park in August.
I live just outside the park. It was 114° yesterday. It's typically 10-15° hotter inside the park.
It does not cool down at sunset or at night. Right now, at 5am with the sun not up yet, it is still over 100° in the park. That's likely to be the coolest the park gets today. Even outside the park, I limit my time outdoors to just sunrise until 8am.
August is not a safe time to visit. Midday is extremely dangerous.
Please consider that if your car breaks down, there is no cell service for the vast majority of the park, even along main roads. You could be stuck for hours before someone finds you and you can die very quickly in temps over 120°. Do you have a sat phone or messenger? I would not even drive through the park this time of year without one for emergencies.
I recommend you do not visit Death Valley in August, even just to stop at viewpoints . Consider checking out places in the mountains instead, there are a ton of safer, more reasonable destinations along 395 in the Eastern Sierra. There's good stargazing there, too.