Death Valley - Artists Palette

Tucked off of the road to Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the aptly-named Artists Drive, which provides an up-close view to the tall mountains that line the valley.



We stopped at the main overlook, called Artists Palette. The rocks here look like they were painted, in so many colors that it would make Bob Ross happy.





The colors are from ancient volcanic deposits, where oxidation and other chemical reactions produced various colors in the rocks



The red, pink and yellow colors were caused by the oxidation of iron. The green was from the decomposition of tuff-derived mica. And the purple is from the oxidation of manganese.



For a place filled with almost nothing but rocks and sand, Death Valley has so many different and varied landscapes. It's a really neat place.





We were there right after sunrise, while the mountains were still covered in shadow.





We got back on the Artists Drive road, which then headed up to an overlook of the Black Mountains.



And then it passes through hills carved by erosion. Luckily there weren't many other people out that morning so we could make lots of stops on the one-way road.



And then the drive ends with one last view of the vast saltflats of the valley.