Racetrack Playa may be the eighth world wonder. Dolomite stones glide across the dry lake, leaving mysterious trails. These "moving rocks" only budge once every few years.

 
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Expert Review of The Racetrack

Parks and Outdoors Review of The Racetrack

Away Travel Expert: Ann Marie Brown
ParksExpert Rating 5.0 out of 5
Parks and OutdoorsExpert Tips & Helpful Hints
  • The Racetrack's sliding rocks are one of the great mysteries of the West. On a huge expanse of mudflats in northern Death Valley, small boulders as well as large and small rocks travel like race cars across the wind-blown surface, then roll to a stop at the command of some unseen force.
  • Countless studies have been performed at the Racetrack to try to determine what makes the rocks move. It is generally agreed that high winds combined with melting ice and/or light rainfall on the mudflats are the driving forces, but no one has been able to figure out why the rocks sometimes move in straight lines, and other times move in curves or even complete circles.
  • The drive to the Racetrack is about 80 miles from Furnace Creek, much of it on dirt roads. A high-clearance vehicle is recommended; check on road conditions before you set out. When you reach the interpretive signpost for the Racetrack, walk due east across the playa until you see the tracks of the moving rocks.

Address:
Death Valley National Park
P.O. Box 579
Death Valley, California 92328

Visitor Information


Telephone Number: 760-786-3200
Fax: 760-786-3283
Website: http://www.nps.gov/deva
Transportation: Two- or four-wheel-drive vehicle recommended
The details, dates, and prices mentioned here were accurate at the time of publication.

Review by Away Copyright © 2010 Away.com all rights reserved.
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