Dante's view is about a 45 minute (28 mile) drive from Furnace Creek Inn or Ranch with paved roads all the way. Your car will get a work out, as in those 28 miles the road climbs to 5,476 and at Furnace creek your pretty close to sea level to start with. Only the last couple of miles is curvy and narrow but other than the last 1/4 mile you don't have those big drop off's on the side of the road that make some people nervous. DO NOT BRING RV'S OR TRAILERS. Along Dante's view road there are a couple of places where you can leave your trailer. This is highly recommended so your poor little car doesn't have to drag it up 5,000 feet only to turn around and have to keep it from pushing you back down too fast on the return trip. If you have an RV, there is a parking lot about a 1/4 mile before the view point where you can park and then hike up the last bit to the viewpoint. If you have an RV that is longer than, say, a pickup truck DO NOT ATTEMPT THAT LAST 1/4 MILE with it. It is very steep, narrow and very curvy.

Once you get to the top there is a very large parking lot with death valley spread out below you. You can see a grand and spectacular view from the parking lot, or you can take a walk. From Dante’s view you can see pretty much the entire expanse of Death Valley from just north of Badwater all the way up to the Ubehebe crater area. At the viewpoint you are directly above Badwater, more than 1 mile straight down. You can’t see Badwater from the parking lot though. Most folks take a walk down the hill at the South end of the parking lot (left end as you look at the valley) for a slightly to somewhat better view. In addition to taking a walk down the hill at the South end of the parking lot, you can also take a trail along a ridge from the North end of the parking lot. This trail takes you to the top of Dante’s Peak where you can see much more of the valley and even shoot a wonderful 360 degree panorama that, on a clear day, can include Mt. Whitney (highest peak in the lower 48 states), Mt Charleston near Las Vegas, Nevada’s Great Basin, and Badwater, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.

Here are some tips. Well, one in particular. Depending on time of year, when you're in the valley you will be warm. When we left Furnace Creek before dawn one day it was 75f. On another day when we left for Dante's view in late afternoon it was 85f. On both days there was barely a slight breeze. The conditions at Dante's view were quite different. Not only was the temperature in mid to low 50's the wind was raging. I don't have a wind gauge but I'd be surprised if it was less than 45 mph. We're talking gale force. When walking into it I was leaning over at a 45 degree angle to keep from being blown over backwards. The wind was coming straight up from the valley floor and across the ridge we were on. Fortunately we had our winter jackets and gloves in the car, but even so, after about 10 minutes my wife was satisfied to see the view from inside the car while I braved the elements to photograph. I walked down the hill to a place where there was a jumble of rocks. I climbed to the top (about 12 feet up) and found a spot where I could set up my tripod behind the rocks where there was less wind with jut the camera peeking over the top of the rocks (and in the gale) for a view of the valley.

OK, so what about photographing from Dante's view. In the morning the sun rises behind you and in the afternoon the sun sets behind the Panamint range on the other side of the valley. In mid day you're pretty much out of luck photographically. The valley is very light colored with large snow white salt flats. The hillsides are also very light colored and the sky is usually cloudless and very bright. In mid day there just isn't any contrast you can use to show textures, patterns or the contours of land forms. .As the sun moves, deep shadows form on one side of the valley or the other making proper exposure impossible. If you get a good (clear sky) sunrise it is spectacular as the shadow of the ridge you’re standing on creeps down the mountain side on the far side of the valley. At sunset, shoot the sunny near side of the valley or if you’re blessed with some clouds the sunset of the mountains on the far side (which will be pure silhouette in your photos)

If you're faced with the problem of brilliant brights and coal black shadows, the only option is bracketing and HDR. Take 3 or more shots without moving the camera at different exposures that are at least 1.3 stops apart. 1.7 or 2.0 stops may actually work better. Then combine those shots using HDR software. Some cameras have such software built-in.

Even if you don’t photograph, come here in the early morning as well as the late afternoon. The experience is quite different at these two different times.

If you found this information useful in your decision making process, you gleaned information you may not otherwise have discovered, or you just enjoyed reading it and appreciate the time I put into writing it, please give me a "helpful" vote. You’re welcome to contact me through danhartfordphoto dot com (where you can see more photos) or through the “Ask Caifdan69 about .........” button at the bottom of this review