Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [143]
The restaurant at Stovepipe Wells (☎ 760/786-2604) is kind of a cross between a camp dining room and a casual cafe. It's open daily 7am to 2pm and 6:30 to 10pm (with shorter hours in the hot season), and accepts major credit cards (AE, DC, DISC, MC, V). Other choices are a snack bar at Scotty's Castle and a rustic (and affordable) burgers-and-beer cafe at Panamint Springs.
Helpful hint: Meals and groceries are costly inside the park because of its remote location. If possible, consider bringing a cooler with some snacks, sandwiches, and beverages. Ice is easy to find, and you'll also be able to keep water chilled.
NEAR THE PARK
Too far away for a round-trip excursion once you're in Death Valley, The Mad Greek (☎ 760/733-4354) in Baker is a restaurant you must stop at on the way in or out. At the junction of I-15 and Calif. 127, this roadside treasure is an ethnic surprise beloved by many. White tiles and Aegean-blue accents complement a menu of traditional Greek specialties such as souvlaki, spinach-and-feta spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, green salad with tangy feta, exquisite pastries, and even Greek beer. The mile-long menu also includes traditional road fare, such as hamburgers and hot sandwiches.
Picnic & Camping Supplies
Within park boundaries, Furnace Creek Ranch has a market carrying a fairly wide selection of groceries and ice; propane is available at the adjacent service station. Stovepipe Wells offers ice, limited groceries, propane, and white gas.
Outside the park, if you want to stock up before entering, groceries and supplies are available in the towns of Baker, Beatty, Shoshone, Pahrump, and Ridgecrest. For visitors approaching on U.S. 395 from the south, Ridgecrest is the best choice—it's a sizable city with chain grocery stores, fast-food restaurants, and a selection of gas stations. If you're coming from Las Vegas, booming Pahrump is the place to stop; it has a pair of good-sized grocery stores to fill most travelers' needs.
A Nearby Desert Wonderland: Mojave National Preserve
To most Americans, the eastern Mojave is a bleak, interminable stretch of desert to be crossed as quickly as possible. But many consider the national preserve, just southeast of Death Valley National Park along California's I-15 and I-40, the crown jewel of the California desert.
This is a hard land to get to know—it has no accommodations or restaurants, few campgrounds, and only a handful of roads suitable for the average passenger vehicle. But hidden within this natural fortress are some true gems—its 1.6 million acres include the world's largest Joshua tree forest; abundant wildlife; spectacular canyons, caverns, sand dunes, and volcanic formations; tabletop mesas; and a dozen mountain ranges.
Paradoxically, the eastern Mojave owes much of its appearance to water— canyons carved by streams, mineral-encrusted dry lake beds, and mountains whose colorful layers represent sandstone deposited in ancient oceans. Today, the landscape is distinguished primarily by its extreme dryness. The climate changed dramatically following the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago; around this time the first humans are believed to have migrated into the area. Lakes fed by glacial runoff supported fish, mammoths, camels, and diverse vegetation. When traditional food such as bison and antelope diminished, the inhabitants adapted a lifestyle better suited to the arid climate, ultimately relying on small game and plants.
The European invasion started in the 18th century, when Spanish missionaries and explorers ventured north from Mexico. In the 19th century, American pioneers arrived, crossing the Mojave