Mysteries of Death Valley: Extreme Wonders!

Death Valley, structural depression primarily in southeastern California, U.S. It is the lowest, hottest, and driest portion of the North American continent. Death Valley is about 140 miles (225 km) long, trends roughly north-south, and is from 5 to 15 miles (8 to 24 km) wide. At the height of the California Goldrush a group of pioneers decided, against the warning of their wagon master, to take a "shortcut" across the unknown deserts of the West. This fatal misjudgment would give us one of our greatest stories of trial and heroism, and it would give us the name Death Valley.