Yes, I agree 100% with taking your time; Death Valley is huge! It seems like you’ve been very unlucky all five times then. Death Valley National Park is a certified International Dark Sky Park for good reasons (https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/deathvalley/). Even the National Park Service has an entire page about seeing stars at Death Valley (https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/lightscape.htm). For me personally, my March visit to Death Valley was the first time in my life I’d ever seen the Milky Way so brightly and clearly, so I don’t think this is misleading information at all. I agree, though, that it might occasionally be a bit dusty on the valley floor, but when you go up into the mountains at night, that shouldn’t affect your stargazing opportunities. Better luck next time!

Hi Danielle! No, you can definitely still drive through Death Valley in June. Just don’t plan on doing much hiking or other active things outside, it’ll be way too hot for that. You could still visit the main attractions (Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point, the sand dunes,…) but I would recommend doing that as early in the morning as possible. Since you have an RV, you’ll have an air-conditioned retreat at any time, so that would still work! Have fun 😀

So glad you like the post, Dhara! Have fun!