At 282 ft below sea level, Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the lowest place in the United States. This location happens to be only 84.6 miles from the highest point in the contiguous Unites States, Mt. Whitney at 14, 505 feet. Death Valley also has the hottest temperature ever recorded on earth, at 134°F. You can get to Death Valley National Park in about 5 hours from Orange County which makes it easily doable in a weekend. The best time to visit is Spring or Fall when temperatures are more moderate. Of course if you want to go to experience the scorching heat, then visit in the summer. While Death Valley may not sound very inviting, there are several sights to see here. Some of the top sights to see are Mesquite Sand Dunes, Badwater Basin, The Racetrack, Artists Palette, Devil's Golf Course, Rainbow Canyon, Ubehebe Crater, Zabriskie Point, Natural Bridge, Salt Creek. It might take you lots of searching on the internet to figure out what spots you will want to check out, one of the coolest but least visited spots is Salt Creek which water flows year-round. What makes this so cool is that death Valley is such a dry place at the surface yet there's always water flowing here and you can even find some pup fish which only live here in Death Valley.