Badwater Basin: Lowest Point in the U.S. (Death Valley, California)

Lowest Point in North America

Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, California, sits at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level—the lowest elevation in the United States and all of North America.

Key Details

• Desert: Death Valley Desert (part of Mojave Desert)
• State: California (Inyo County)
• Coordinates: 36°15′N 116°49′W
• Feature: Endorheic salt flat; ephemeral pool after rare rains
• Name origin: Surveyor's mule refused to drink the saline water → "bad water"

Context

Death Valley also holds the world record for highest reliably recorded air temperature (56.7°C / 134°F at Furnace Creek, 1913). The basin's extreme aridity, heat, and salinity create a unique extremophile ecosystem.