Besides a handful of shops, a few restaurants and two accommodation options, Furnace Creek also has the Death Valley Visitors’ Centre, which provides a wealth of geological, ecological and historical information on the region, plus the free maps which are an essential aid to exploring it. There is also a small airport here.

Detour – Zabriskie Point

Antonioni’s 1969 film and its Pink Floyd soundtrack have not lessened the mys­tique of Zabriskie Point, an expanse of mustard-coloured mudflats which stretch dreamily out from a 700-ft-high viewing point. Mudflats are seldom noted for their visual appeal, but these – lake-bottom sediments formed up to 12 million years ago – make up one of Death Valley’s most memorable vistas.