The name Death Valley stirs up an image of a parched prospector, near death, crawling on his hands and knees through the hot desert sand. Death Valley does have some extreme and inhospitable areas, but the majority of the national park supports life. Thousands of plants and animals have adapted in various ways to cope with one of the hottest, driest areas of this Great Basin Desert. Nearly 550 square miles lie below sea level and a large portion is covered in a salt pan were visible life does not exist.
This park, a converted national monument, boasts to be the largest in the lower forty-eight states, encompassing over three million acres.