Death Valley National Park

​Racetrack Playa Educational Signs

National Monument
1933
 
National Park
1994
 
Park Size
3.4 million acres, 91% wilderness
 
Annual Visitors
1.1 million
 
Park Fee
$30
 
Superintendent
Mike Reynolds
 
Park Partner
Death Valley Natural History Association
 
Location
Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, CA, Nye County, NV

Death Valley National Park’s remote Racetrack Playa is the site of one of the most intriguing features of Death Valley National Park. Large, heavy stones leave tracks in the playa surface, with no indication of the method of their movement. Recently, scientists from Scripps Institute documented how a rare sequence of events takes place and the rocks are propelled by windblown ice.
 
The Fund for People in Parks provided a grant to the Death Valley Natural History Association to support the revision and replacement of the heavily weathered and outdated existing Racetrack educational signs.
 
Two new panels now give current information about the delicate playa ecosystem and describe the solution to the long-standing mystery of the Racetrack moving stones.
 
Project Cost: $14,191                                                                    Project Completed: 2017