Entry Points:
About Salt Creek
At about 260 feet below sea level in the salty bottom of Death Valley, a small creek of salty water flows between low hills of light-colored earth. Being as salty as the ocean, the creek has been named Salt Creek. The soil around it is saltier than the water and only pickleweed and "salt grass" can grow in it. Only one kind of fish lives in the water, the Salt Creek Pup Fish. The creek flows out from between the hills and disappears in the salt flats beyond. Tucki Mountain stands prominently just to the west.
An interpretive trail provides a stroll through this alien kind of oasis. Plants grow thickly where water is abundant. Patches of salty soil cover drier areas. Barren clay is exposed on some of the surrounding hills, in whites, greens and grays, while other hills are gravelly. Occasionally a mound of clay stands alone among the gravelly hills.
Salt Creek is part of Death Valley National Park. It is accessed by a short drive on a dirt road from California Highway 190, not far from Furnace Creek.
Street Index
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Salt Creek Road Salt Creek Trail |