Overview

This pleasant 0.8-mile loop trail runs on a nearly level wooden boardwalk along the lower reaches of Salt Creek and into the Death Valley Wilderness Area. Water from springs at the head of Salt Creek supports a lush saltmarsh meadow with pickleweed, saltgrass, pools, and running water, but no trees. The salty water provides habitat for an endemic fish, the Salt Creek Pupfish, which is found nowhere else. The vegetation provides food and cover for a variety of birds and other animals, and the birding can be quite good during migration because birds from miles around are attracted to the water.

From the north end of the bridge, a trail runs up Salt Creek that can be followed all the way to Hwy 190 near the east side of the Stovepipe Sand Dunes.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...This is an entirely safe and fully accessible trail, but don't trip and fall off the boardwalk.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. This hike is short, so if you stay on the trail, you don't really need to bring the 10 Essentials.

Trail Guide

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located in Death Valley National Park, about 3.5 hours northwest of Las Vegas.

From town, drive out to Death Valley. From the Furnace Creek Visitor Center (Table 1, Site 712), drive north on Highway 190 for about 13 miles to Salt Creek Road (Site 768). Watch for signs on the highway directing you to a dirt road that runs out into the bottom of the valley. Turn left (west) onto the graded Salt Creek Road and drive for about 1 mile to the parking lot at the end of the road (Site 713). Park here; this is the trailhead.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 1), walk west onto the boardwalk, which starts at the edge of the parking lot. The boardwalk begins by running through small sand dunes along the east side of Salt Creek. On hot days, this is a good place to watch for zebra-tailed lizards running along the boardwalk and waving their banded tails in the air. This is also a good place to look in the soft sand for the burrows and tracks of desert kangaroo rats. These nocturnal rodents dig burrows (about 3 inches in diameter) in the soft sand. Watch for coyote tracks too.

A few minutes out, the trail runs close to Salt Creek. Just before a fork in the trail, there is a reach of stream that usually is good for viewing pupfish. The salty water provides habitat for the endemic Salt Creek Pupfish, a species found nowhere else. Springtime is best for viewing the pupfish; the lower stream is dry during summer, and the fish are dormant during winter.

The fork in the trail begins a loop (Wpt. 2), so you can continue up either side. Heading up the right (east) fork, the trail wanders away from the creek through the saltmarsh to a viewing platform on the edge of a pool. I've don't recall ever seeing fish in the pool, but I'm hopeful and I always check.

Continuing on, the trail crosses Salt Creek on a bridge (Wpt. 3). A use-trail runs farther up the northeast side of the creek and across white salt flats heading for the upper springs. I haven't gone all the way, but it is pleasant hike along the creek and wetlands.

From the bridge, the trail loops back down along the west side of Salt Creek, approaching closely to the mud cliffs that border this part of the creek. Beyond these are sand hills, and there are a few places along here where you can walk back into the sandy side-canyons.

The upper part of the saltmarsh is a good place to watch for wrens and secretive little sparrows. The sparrows are hard to identify because they pop up, flutter low over the pickleweed, and then drop back into the vegetation, never to be seen again. Similarly, the wrens chatter from under the bushes where you can't see them. Say's Phoebes, a kind of flycatcher, are common and more cooperative, and they flutter about in the open catching flies. Watch for these robin-sized birds with salmon-pink belly feathers.

Continuing along the boardwalk, you will shortly return to the fork in the trail, and then the parking lot.