After our not-so-inexpensive lunch in Furnace Creek, we had to choose whether or not to continue northward to hike Mosaic Canyon near Stovepipe Wells as originally planned, or to visit Dante’s View, which meant another 17-mile drive southeast of Furnace Creek and additional distance we’d have to make up for the drive back west to Ridgecrest – at this point, we were unsure if we’d be returning to Death Valley the next day, so we decided to do Dante’s View, that having been recommended as a must-do. Boy, was that ever good advice. Serviced by a good paved road, Dante’s View is an overlook in the Black Mountains east of Badwater and offers unparalleled views over the valley. The drive there itself was very nice, gently climbing through long valleys that were remarkably green before steepening and becoming more twisty the last few miles. The last four or five turns on the road reminded us of Haleakala on Maui, where the hairpin corners keep one’s eyes riveted on the roadway instead of the surrounding scenery. The long and winding road ends abruptly at a sizable parking area on a barren, rocky ridgeline, and we were immediately stunned by the expansive views in all directions. Directly below to the west is Badwater and its salt flats, with Telescope Peak and the Panamint Range anchoring the view behind. To the north are the upper reaches of Death Valley, flanked on the east by the Funeral Mountains, while south is the lower valley through which flow dozens of rivulets that comprise the terminus of the Amargosa River – a truly remarkable vista probably well over sixty miles wide. We spotted an exposed point north of the parking area and a use trail leading to it, so we gathered up some gear and started walking – it was breezy and cool here, so we both donned our jackets (reminiscent of San Jacinto Peak in early May last year, where Palm Springs was in the 100s while the peak was in the 40s). Another couple was taking in the views at the point, so we continued walking north up the trail – a bald hilltop further north seemed to be the highest point in the area, so that became our objective, turning out to indeed be the local high point, Dante Benchmark. There, we found two reference markers that both pointed to a cluster of rocks at the obvious summit where we found the benchmark – not sure why we didn’t just look there first. We enjoyed the immense views here for while before retracing our steps south down the ridge, stopping at the now-vacant point for a few more photos. Reaching the parking area, we decided to explore a second use trail running southward down the ridge, following it for several hundred yards to a prominent bump where we turned around – in all, our wandering here totaled about 1-1/2 miles. The light was fading and we considered staying for the sunset still an hour away, but, realizing that many of the people who had been waiting with their tripods when we arrived had since left, we concluded that the deepening cloud cover over the western mountains would block the sunset views and it wasn’t going to be worth the wait. We drove back to Furnace Creek, fueled up, and hit the road, on the way out confirming our decision to not return the next day. This was a full day, and we vowed to come back when we can stay either at the resort or at a campground, which will offer us more opportunities to explore the park more fully.