Dante's View is a viewpoint terrace at 5,475 feet (1,669 meters) height, on the north side of Coffin Peak, along the crest of the Black Mountains, overlooking Death Valley. Dante's View is about 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park.
Contents |
From the Dante's View parking lot, visitors can take several paths, one of which leads to the very brink of the edge, offering a dramatic panoramic view. Another path leads north 350 yards (320 m) to a rest area with picnic tables. The best time to visit Dante's View is in the cooler morning hours, when the sun is in the east. Dante's View is an excellent venue for night time star viewing with telescopes.
Dante's View provides a panoramic view of the southern Death Valley basin. To the south, the Owlshead Mountains, 19 miles (30 kilometers) away can be seen, and to the north, the Funeral Mountains 31 miles (50 kilometers) distant, are visible beyond Furnace Creek. To the West, across Badwater Basin, the Panamint Range rises dramatically to Telescope Peak. To the east is found the Greenwater Range. On very clear days, the highest and lowest points in the contiguous 48 states of the United States: Mount Whitney 14,505 feet (4,421 m) high and Badwater - 282 ft. (-86 m) can be seen.
Dante's View is named from Dante Alighieri, who wrote the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), in which there are described the nine circles of Hell, the seven terrace of Purgatory and the nine spheres of Paradise.
In April 1926, some businessmen of the Pacific Coast Borax Company informed of the touristic attractive of the Death Valley, were trying with the best seen position of the Death Valley. They had nearly chosen Chloride Cliff in the Funeral Mountains when the Deputy Sheriff of Greenwater, Charlie Brown carried them on this peak to little distance, on the Black Mountains. The group was immediately converted and promptly called this point Dante's View.
Dante's View is part of the Black Mountains, a part of Amargosa Range, that was geological Mesozoic volcanos. These mountains are created when the surface of the earth was under extensional, forming horst or a pulling force, forming graben. The crust responds to this force by rupture and consequent eruption of lava that deposit up the precedent sedimentary rock.
Dante's View is a filming location in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It shows the city of Mos Eisley located in the center of Death Valley. The scene is the one where Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2 and C-3PO approach Mos Eisley and stop to watch the city from a view point. That view point is Dante's View.
|
||||||||||||||