Teensy Thorndike is one of four free first-come, first-served campgrounds in the mountains. With only six sites at an elevation of 7400ft, you'll likely find tranquility galore but need a high-clearance and possible 4WD to get up here – check road conditions beforehand. There's no water but sites have fire pits and tables and there are vault toilets.
Thorndike Campground
Death Valley National Park
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
18.93 MILES
The very name evokes all that is harsh, hot and hellish – a punishing, barren and lifeless place of Old Testament severity. Yet closer inspection reveals…
18.84 MILES
Not many national park features can say they were celebrated in a 1969 film of the same name, but Zabriskie Point claims that honor thanks to director…
19.36 MILES
Dante's View is an overlook that sits perched at 5475ft atop the Black Mountains, affording stunning panoramic views of the entire southern Death Valley…
25.62 MILES
The most accessible dunes in Death Valley are an undulating sea of sand rising up to 100ft high next to the highway near Stovepipe Wells Village. They're…
7.94 MILES
Named for a lucky French miner who struck gold at the nearby Eureka Mine, Aguereberry Point sits at a lofty 6433ft above the desert floor and delivers…
16.93 MILES
The lowest point in North America (282ft below sea level) is an eerily beautiful landscape of crinkly salt flats. Here you can walk out on to a constantly…
0.23 MILES
Emigrant Canyon Rd climbs steeply over Emigrant Pass for the turnoff to Wildrose Canyon Rd and a lineup of 10 large beehive-shaped charcoal kilns made of…
14.75 MILES
Some 15 miles south of Furnace Creek, salt has piled up into saw-toothed miniature mountains in what was once a major lake that evaporated about 2000…
Nearby Death Valley National Park attractions
0.23 MILES
Emigrant Canyon Rd climbs steeply over Emigrant Pass for the turnoff to Wildrose Canyon Rd and a lineup of 10 large beehive-shaped charcoal kilns made of…
7.86 MILES
In the Panamint Mountains, this gold mine was discovered by French immigrant Pete Aguereberry in 1905 and worked by him until the early 1930s. The mine…
7.94 MILES
Named for a lucky French miner who struck gold at the nearby Eureka Mine, Aguereberry Point sits at a lofty 6433ft above the desert floor and delivers…
14.07 MILES
Some 6 miles southwest of Stovepipe Wells, Emigrant Canyon Rd veers off Hwy 190 and travels south to the park's higher elevations. En route you'll pass…
14.75 MILES
Some 15 miles south of Furnace Creek, salt has piled up into saw-toothed miniature mountains in what was once a major lake that evaporated about 2000…
16.93 MILES
The lowest point in North America (282ft below sea level) is an eerily beautiful landscape of crinkly salt flats. Here you can walk out on to a constantly…
18.65 MILES
On the grounds of the Ranch at Death Valley, this outdoor museum illustrates Death Valley's connection to borax mining, and presents pioneer-era mining…
18.84 MILES
Not many national park features can say they were celebrated in a 1969 film of the same name, but Zabriskie Point claims that honor thanks to director…