Year in review: Death Valley National Park
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – About 1.1 million people visited Death Valley National Park in 2023. Here’s a snapshot of the work behind the scenes that made those visits possible.
Death Valley National Park was closed for two months after the remnants of Hurricane Hilary damaged every road in the park on August 20. The park partially reopened on October 15. National Park Service (NPS), Caltrans, and Inyo County repaired 790 miles of flood-damaged roads.
NPS park rangers led 436 interpretive programs, which were attended by 13,351 people. Increasing numbers of people are coming because of the park’s starry nights.
1,504 people attended a telescope viewing event during last year’s Dark Sky Festival. NPS maintenance staff cleaned restrooms and stocked them with 700 miles of toilet paper (3,780 jumbo rolls).
People lost stuff. About one-quarter of the 116 items found were eventually returned to their owners, including cell phones, wallets, and camping equipment. Park rangers also took reports from 156 people who lost things. Sadly, the child’s toy stuffed turtle was never found.
Some visitors needed assistance while they were in the park. Park rangers responded to 13 fires, 88 emergency medical calls, 23 search-and-rescue requests, and 27 vehicle crashes.
Individual stories and experiences are behind every one of these numbers. Park rangers seek to help all people enjoy their time in the park, while being safe and minimizing their impacts.
Death Valley National Park is the homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone and preserves natural resources, cultural resources, exceptional wilderness, scenery, and learning experiences within the nation’s largest conserved desert landscape and some of the most extreme climate and topographic conditions on the planet. Learn more at www.nps.gov/deva.
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