Zabriskie Point is the most famous view in Death Valley, and for once the crowds have a point. From a short paved path above Highway 190, you look out over a maze of eroded badlands, golden and brown and cream, folded and gullied like crumpled paper, with the sharp peak of Manly Beacon rising in the middle. Beyond it the valley floor stretches away to the Panamint Range. The rocks are the sediments of an ancient lake that dried up millions of years ago, tilted and uplifted by the same forces that are still pulling the valley apart.
The point is named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, a manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early twentieth century, whose company mined the borax deposits that made the valley briefly profitable. The twenty-mule teams that hauled borax out of Death Valley in the 1880s became one of the most famous images of the American West, and the old Harmony Borax Works near Furnace Creek is just a few minutes away. In 1970 the Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni filmed his counterculture movie Zabriskie Point here, and the view has been on album covers and in advertisements ever since.
The road down from Death Valley Junction passes right by, descending through a wide canyon with long, fast curves. It is a pleasant ride, with smooth asphalt and big views, but traffic can be heavy in winter and spring, the peak season. Just below Zabriskie Point, Twenty Mule Team Canyon is a short, one-way dirt loop through the badlands, suitable for most bikes in dry weather but not on a heavy tourer with road tyres.
Light is everything here. At sunrise the badlands glow orange and gold, and the shadows in the gullies are deep and blue. That is when most photographers come, and the car park can be full before dawn. Late afternoon is also beautiful, with the colours softening and the shadows lengthening.
Zabriskie Point itself is just a car park, toilets and the path. Furnace Creek, about eight kilometres away, has fuel, food, lodging and a visitor centre. In summer the temperatures are extreme, even early in the day, so carry water and plan your stops carefully.