Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert, with a subtropical, hot desert climate. Death Valley experiences a rain shadow from the Pacific Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada, and is one of the hottest, driest places on Earth.

In this below-sea-level basin, steady drought and record summer heat make Death Valley a land of extremes. Towering peaks are frosted with winter snow. Rare rainstorms bring vast fields of wildflowers. Lush oases harbor tiny fish and refuge for wildlife and humans. Despite its name, a great diversity of life thrives in Death Valley.