Badwater Basin is located in Death Valley National Park, California, US. It is noted as the lowest point in North America, with an elevation of 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, is only 84.6 miles (136 km) to the north west. Badwater consists of a small spring-fed pool of "bad water" . The accumulated salts of the surrounding basin make it undrinkable, thus giving it the name. Water is not always present at the surface. The repeating freeze–thaw and evaporation cycles gradually push the thin salt crust into hexagonal honeycomb shapes.
Badwater Ablaze
