I was going to drive through Death Valley in September 2023 on the way from California to Tucson. The park was still closed due to washed out roads caused by Hurricane Hillary. I'm glad it was closed and I could schedule a proper visit.
Death Valley takes 2 days to explore and drive around, 3 days if you decide to get out of your car and hike. Longstreet Inn and Casino is the closest and cheapest hotel ($100/night with 2 king size beds) along with the lowest priced gas in the area. The hotel is in Nevada which is why gas is cheaper. The bar and restaurant smelled vaguely of cigarette smoke (yes smoking is allowed in the casino part) but the hotel rooms are no smoking, beds are excellent and water pressure is iffy (they probably have a well). I brought all the food I needed and there are restaurants in the park. The hotel rooms don't have coffee makers or microwaves so arrive prepared. The lobby's 24-hour mini-mart has free morning coffee and the most amazing selection of junk food I have ever seen in my life, don't let your kids go in unsupervised, they'll be wired for a week.
Ubehebe Crater was 1-3/4 hours from the Longstreet Inn. The I skipped the Eureka Sand Dunes because they are another 2 hours at least from Ubehebe Crater on very rough 20 mph gravel roads, it would have been a very long day.
Father Crowley Overlook is 100 miles and 2 hours in another direction. The overlook and Panamint Valley is a Top Gun jet training site, jets do low level training at 200' off the deck and scream through Rainbow Canyon nicknamed "Star Wars Canyon." I saw two jets when I was there. The schedule isn't published so you have to get lucky. Plenty of videos and info on Google and YouTube. It's super cool.
Death Valley can be hot even in March. There is no breeze in the canyons and if you are not acclimated to the desert dryness and heat it won't be a fun hike. After living and hiking in Tucson for 46 years I knew what to expect but I saw some hikers slowly overheating and it was only 70 degrees outside the canyon.
The gravel roads off the main paved highway are rough with fist sized rocks, washboard areas and dips. Passenger cars can do it but is is slow going. My 2023 Subaru Outback is the perfect off road vehicle, I barely felt the bumps and could zip along. Those monster pickup trucks with high clearance could go no faster than the passenger cars, 5 mph and it looked like the passengers were getting tossed around pretty good. But those pickups were good at throwing up massive clouds of dust, at least they looked like they were going fast.
