Death Valley National Park encompasses mountain-sized sand dunes, below-sea-level salt flats, and colourful wildflowers and sandstone canyons. The park is the hottest and driest place in America, with summer temperatures peaking above 49°C, and an average rainfall of 5 cm per year. Also extreme are the park’s elevations: Badwater Basin, the park’s lowest spot, rests at 282 feet/86 metres below sea level while Telescope Peak soars to 11,049 feet/3,368 metres.

You don’t want to miss Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, when early morning light accents the dunes’ many contours and ripples. Another must-see is Zabriskie Point and Golden Canyon, where every imaginable shade of gold is visible in the wrinkled cliffs, whose layers glow at sunrise and sunset. Pick your favourite perspective: drive to Zabriskie Point and survey the scene from on high, or see the vibrant beauty up close by hiking in Golden Canyon.

Insider tip: spring is the best time to spot rare wildflowers in the park.

Though hardly a metropolis, tiny Baker on Interstate 15 is a busy hub for Mojave Desert travellers looking for a bite to eat or a chance to stretch their legs. Baker’s most famous landmark is its giant thermometer at 134 feet/40.8 metres, it's the tallest in the world. Plenty of people also stop in Baker for the otherworldly dried meats at UFO-themed Alien Fresh Jerky, the place to stock up on tasty, ET-inspired flavours such as Abducted Cow Pineapple Teriyaki—the perfect souvenir for those at home.

Protecting an astounding 1.6 million acres/647,497 hectares of pristine desert wilderness, the Mojave National Preserve lets you hear singing sand dunes, explore weirdly contorted Joshua trees and hike up volcanic cinder cones. Take time to explore, and let the desert’s magic unfold.

Don’t miss nearby Kelso Dunes, the second largest dune system in California, covering 45 square miles/72 square kilometres and soaring to more than 600 feet/183 metres. In spring, desert wildflowers dapple the sands with colour.

Elsewhere, a popular walk is the 3-mile/5-km roundtrip trek to the summit of 5,775-foot/1,754-metre Teutonia Peak, the highest point on Cima Dome and an almost perfectly symmetrical formation.

This is no lifeless wasteland: wait and watch (especially at dusk and dawn) to see surprising wildlife, including the rare desert tortoise. Spring rains can carpet the desert with wild flowers. And there are people here too: call in at Kelso Depot, a restored train station housing the reserve’s visitor centre, for exhibits and information (open 9 to 5, Friday to Tuesday).

Rising 250 feet/76 metres above a barren expanse of desert, Amboy Crater is a volcanic cinder cone that once sent lava pouring across a 62-square-kilometre area of desert. With its distinctive, conical profile, you could never mistake this unique natural feature for anything other than a volcano. Follow the path that climbs to the rim, from where you can look deep into the maw and across the 1,500-foot/460-metre-wide crater. Just off Route 66, Amboy Crater is also less than five kilometres west of Roy’s Motel & Café, a retro landmark with a sign that just cries out for a few selfies.

Joshua Tree National Park is small enough to drive through in half a day, but you’ll want much more time than that to enjoy this land of cactus gardens, spiky yuccas and photogenic boulder piles. Not-to-be-missed highlights include the Cholla Cactus Garden, where hundreds of teddybear cholla fade into a backdrop of purple hills. At the park’s northern end, where the ground is higher, you’ll marvel at the spindly, cartoon-like Joshua trees (they’re actually a type of yucca, not a tree). At White Tank Campground, walk to Arch Rock, a graceful span of ivory-hued granite. Wander the path around Skull Rock to see its alcoves and miniature caves, carved out over aeons of time, or hike to the summit of 5,457-foot/1,663-metre Ryan Mountain for panoramic views of the Wonderland of Rocks and Southern California’s highest peaks. No matter how you spend your day, make sure it stretches long into the evening—you don’t want to miss this desert’s astounding star show. When evening falls, pick a spot to lay out a blanket near Cap Rock’s quirky rock formations.