What is the lowest national park?

Death Valley National Park, California The lowest point in North America – 282 feet below sea level – is also the hottest spot in the world.



Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada holds the record for being the lowest, hottest, and driest national park in the United States. Within the park, Badwater Basin sits at 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level, which is the lowest elevation in all of North America. This surreal landscape is characterized by vast, geometric salt flats that were formed by the evaporation of ancient Lake Manly thousands of years ago. On a global scale, while Death Valley is the lowest "National Park" in North America, the Dead Sea (bordered by Jordan and Israel) is the absolute lowest point on the Earth's land surface at approximately 1,412 feet (430 meters) below sea level; however, its status is as a protected nature reserve rather than a "National Park" in the traditional U.S. sense. In 2026, Death Valley remains a top destination for those wanting to stand at the "bottom of the continent," though visitors are warned to explore Badwater Basin only in the early morning or winter months, as surface temperatures in the basin can exceed 130°F during the scorching summer afternoons.

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Why is it called Death Valley? Death Valley was given its forbidding name by a group of pioneers lost here in the winter of 1849-1850. Even though, as far as we know, only one of the group died here, they all assumed that this valley would be their grave.

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