The Racetrack

The most famous of Death Valley's "playas" -- dry lake beds -- the Racetrack is known for its "moving rocks," which slide unseen along the surface of the playa, possibly due to wind pushing the rocks across the slippery surface when rain turns the playa to mud. Long tracks in the sand attest to this mysterious motion, although nobody has actually seen the rocks move. The three-mile-long, two-mile-wide Racetrack is located between the Cottonwood and Last Chance Ranges and can be reached via Racetrack Road if you have a high-clearance vehicle and the willpower to withstand 20-plus miles of rough road to get there. Once you arrive, please adhere to two important rules: don't touch or move the rocks, and don't go out onto the playa if it is wet. Though the mud of the lake bed is more than 1,000 feet deep, it's also quite fragile; if you walk on it when it's wet, you'll leave muddy footprints that will mar the landscape for years to come.