The Lowest Point in North America Is in Death Valley

The lowest ground in North America is a white plain of salt. The U.S. National Park Service states that Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America at 282 feet, or 86 meters, below sea level. The salt flats there cover nearly 200 square miles and are composed mostly of sodium chloride, which is table salt, along with calcite, gypsum and borax. The name comes with a story. According to the Park Service, stories suggest the basin earned its name when a mule belonging to an early surveyor refused to drink from the spring-fed pool there. The water is not truly bad, just very salty. Visitors can see how low they are standing. On the cliffs to the east, a sign high above marks sea level, and to the west Telescope Peak rises to 11,049 feet.