Death Valley National Park is a peculiar land of geologic wonders. With snow-capped peaks, valleys below sea level, expansive salt flats, and abandoned ghost towns, Death Valley has a little something for everyone.

Plopped on the edge of the Mojave Desert in eastern California, Death Valley is a huge chunk of protected land — the largest national park in the USA’s ‘lower-48’ states.

What makes this park particularly unique are the bare naked mountains that showcase the contorted, tortured layers of sediment that have been thrust towards the sky by tectonic forces. These sun-scorched rocks hint at the vast transitions that the land has been through over millions of years.

I visited the park for my first time as an adult in 2018, completing a mad race from the valleys to the peaks to cram as much into my 4-day trip as possible. This time, I returned for some more mellow camping with family, leisurely taking in the scenery as well as checking out some new points of interest.

From hiking canyons to cooking over a fire, here is a whirlwind of a video that sums up what our pleasant weekend of family camping was like.