I’ve always been a huge fan of our country’s best idea, the national parks, and have written dozens of features and packages on the parks. For many years I penned National Geographic Adventure’s annual national parks package, which caught the attention of the National Geographic book division. I’ve contributed to a number of books for Nat Geo, including their signature guide to the national parks, for which I wrote the Death Valley and Joshua Tree chapters.

Excerpt:

Death Valley is geology laid bare—a scarred, gashed, desiccated place where striated canyons gouge forbidden-seeming mountains, and where a vast salt-pan floor shimmers under a fierce sun. Ferocity reigns here. Nothing seems familiar. Yet for all that, Death Valley’s 300-plus miles of paved roads and a smattering of oasis-style facilities make it surprisingly easy to visit, while not diminishing at all the park’s overpowering impact.

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