Death Valley marks two key anniversaries with free entry, activities

Death Valley National Park will waive the $20 entrance fee Friday and Saturday to mark anniversaries of two key land-protection laws.

Those laws, the 1964 Wilderness Act and the 1994 California Desert Protection Act, shifted Death Valley’s status from a national monument to a national park.

The park has planned free activities through Sunday in the dual celebration called Wilderness Week, according to a statement. “Death Valley is now 91% designated wilderness and the largest national park in the lower 48 states,” it says.

Half-day hikes are offered daily to different parts of the park through Saturday (sign up at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to participate), and evening programs include a dark-sky exploration called “The Vanishing Milky Way” at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Weekend activities include talks about the history of the park. A Friday evening program about the Desert Protection Act will be presented by former park superintendent Ed Rothfuss, who served before and after passage of the landmark legislation.

The celebration continues Saturday with an activities table for kids (9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), short videos about wilderness (11 a.m.) and two trip-planning sessions starting at noon about exploring the back country safely using “leave no trace” principals.

On Sunday visitors can catch the story of the “singing ranger” Stan Jones, who wrote the cowboy song “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”

Also, popular Zabriskie Point will be open until Dec. 1. The park service had planned repairs to start Oct. 1, which would have closed the view point off Highway 190. Repairs have been postponed until December, a spokeswoman said.

Info: Death Valley National Monument, Furnace Creek Visitor Center, (760) 786-3200