If you’re running out of prominent local peaks or are just itching for a chance in scenery, Besthike.com’s Rick McCharles has you covered.

He just finished up an overnight hike at Death Valley’s Telescope Peak – an 11,331 monster that overlooks both the Continental U.S.’s highest and lowest points — Mount Whitney at 14,505 and Badwater Basin at -282 feet.

Rick posted a great photoset from his overnight hike from Charcoal Kilns, a 14 mile roundtrip route with an elevation gain of just over 3000 feet. And if that trail doesn’t sound challenging enough for you, he also notes a second route from the bottom of the Death Valley floor itself – a trek from Shorty’s Well that has an elevation gain of 11,300 feet.

That peak will definitely be on my list the next time I’m headed to Death Valley. The views of the valley floor from the heights of the peak look absolutely dizzying:

Tags: badwater basin, best hike in death valley, Death Valley, death valley national park, mount whitney, prominent peak, telescope peak