Moving to the next installment of this extended chronicle of our trip to Death Valley in April 2023, this post shares some photos from our drive along Artists Drive and our stop at Artists Palette.

Artists drive is a beautiful, one-way road north of Badwater Basin and The Devil’s Golf Course. This nine-mile (14.5 km) drive takes you past some amazing and colorful rock formations. I think the most common way to get to the drive, which goes from south to north, is to put it at the return from your visit to Badwater Basin. We went to Badwater Basin, stopped at The Devil’s Golf Course, and then drove Artists Drive. It was on to the Mesquite Sand Dunes after that, but that is for next month.

As you drive up from the valley floor, the view behind you can be amazing. Here is Telescope Peak looking west from Artists Drive. (Click on any picture for a full-sized view.)

The view looking up the hill was very nice too.

The Sun was just barely highlighting the edges of the rocks on top of the craggy peaks.

About half-way through the drive, you come to Artists Palette. The rich colors of these volcanic deposits are the highlight of the drive. Here they are in the distance as you approach Artists Palette.

This panorama shows the wide spread of this remarkable formation.

You may also enjoy this closer view of the colors.

As we finished the drive, we noted that even the more subtle colors can be beautiful.