Sometimes nature is defined not by a natural presence, but by absence.

At first glance, perhaps the best example of that is Death Valley, a national park smack in the Mojave Desert.

So given that perception, is it worth a visit?

Leslie Garrett thinks so. The Virtuous Traveler uncovers some surprising elements of green within the arid landscape.

Death Valley certainly doesn’t look green … anything but.

Instead of the lush forests and brightly colored plants we associate with nature, Death Valley offers up the occasional scrubby bush. Instead of birds and exotic animals, Death Valley gives us evidence of coyotes and scorpions, but often no glimpses of the creatures themselves.

We are treated to plenty of ravens. Ravens, of course, are symbols of death. There’s a swimming pool. A golf course. A castle, for goodness’ sake. Green? How can a park with all this, yet less than 2 inches of rainfall a year, call itself “green”? Have I been tricked into coming to a place, aptly named Death Valley, in search of nature?

Indeed, it’s surprising a place named Death Valley has become a vacation spot at all, given its reputation as little more than brush, endless dust and a cemetery for unfortunate fortune-hunters?

And yet, Death Valley does attract. Roughly a million visitors a year.

Nestled as it is between the neon lights of Vegas and the bright lights of Hollywood, Death Valley has a long history of drawing in those riding the road less traveled.

It owes its name to a group of explorers, heading west to the gold of California, who decided on a “shortcut.” Legend has it the group arrived in the valley and faced the formidable Panamint mountains, seemingly impenetrable. When one group finally found its way out, having lost one member, another reportedly said, “Goodbye, Death Valley.”

Death Valley has kissed plenty of other visitors good-bye, mostly those who’ve ignored its perils. Though it isn’t any deadlier than other national parks despite its name, it does generally lose a tourist or two a season to its extremes, mostly to dehydration after getting lost.

Find more green travel in our Eco-Travel section

That’s no surprise with summer highs averaging 120 degrees Fahrenheit for a week or more and more than 3 million acres of eerily similar wilderness.

But if you’re up to it, Death Valley offers up an extreme—and surprisingly green— vacation.

Armed with the important caveats (come hydrated, stay hydrated and always let someone know where you’re going and when you’re returning), hiking in Death Valley can be a spectacular experience.

Its otherworldly landscape, which memorably served as the perfect real-life set for the original Star Wars movie and continues to serve in other science fiction films, offers up short or long, easy or challenging hikes, and rewards hikers with incredible vistas of more wide-open space than most of us ever see.

Death Valley has another surprising record to boast: the largest installation of photovoltaic panels in the tourism industry, 5,740 of them producing emissions-free power equivalent to taking roughly the same number of cars off the road annually.

Find out the latest news in eco-friendly travel with: The Virtuous Traveler On EcoTourism And Responsible Travel Trends In 2011

It’s emblematic of Death Valley’s astonishingly green efforts.

Such as golfing on the lowest course in the world, at 213 feet below sea level. The driest place in the western hemisphere offers up greens to rival many of the country’s best.

But these greens aren’t just in name only. As Joel Southall, Environmental Director for Xanterra, which manages the Death Valley concessions, said, “We go to extraordinary lengths to minimize the negative impacts on our course—fossil fuel use, and maximize the positive ones—habitat creation.”

Resources are used and reused, like water, for example. “We reuse the same molecule of water many times on our property,” says Southall, noting that water from natural springs is used to fill the resort’s pools, flow through the gardens and fill the ponds on the golf course, which also create habitat for wildlife, and is then used for irrigation for the course.

Even the food aims to be green, with a dedicated focus on local and sustainable, with Chef “Mike” (Michelle Hanson) working hard to source within a roughly 300-mile radius (it is a desert, after all) and ensuring that any fish carries the Marine Stewardship Council certification, indicating the it’s either a sustainable species or from a carefully managed fishery.

It’s a dichotomy in this barren desert. Lush golf courses, spring-fed swimming pools, fresh produce on the table. But for Death Valley, it’s another example of just how extreme it can be.
Text and photos by Leslie Garrett for PeterGreenberg.com. Leslie Garrett is an award-winning journalist and author of The Virtuous Consumer: Your Essential Shopping Guide for a Better, Kinder, Healthier World. Visit her at www.virtuousconsumer.com.

Related links on PeterGreenberg.com:

• The Virtuous Traveler On EcoTourism And Responsible Travel Trends In 2011
• Behind-the-Scenes Green: San Francisco’s Intercontinental Hotel
• Behind-the-Scenes Green: Kimpton Hotels & Poste Restaurant, Washington, DC
• Behind-the-Scenes Green: Mansion House on Martha’s Vineyard
• Eco-Travel section
• National Parks Family Camping Trips
• Packing With Purpose: Donating When You Travel
• Community-Based Tourism: Creating Authentic Travel Experiences
• Carbon Offsets: Travel With a Clean Conscience?