Photos: Exploring Death Valley National Park by motorcycle

Two cyclists explore the landscape shortly after beginning a journey into Death Valley’s Titus canyon.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

The cyclists race through Titus Canyon Narrows.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

A motorcyclist takes a break from some desert riding to photograph the beauty of Titus Canyon Narrows.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

A geography class from West Hills College of Lemoore, Calif., explores the desert as motorcyclists ride past.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

1920s-era Scotty’s Castle is a Spanish-style mansion with its grounds open to the public. Visitors must join a park ranger to tour the castle’s interiors, its system of tunnels or Scotty’s ranch.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

A tourist photographs the beauty of the California desert just east of Father Crowley Vista Point. The motorcyclists are headed east on Highway 190.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

Highway 190 and the west entrance of Death Valley National Park.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, is a landscape of vast salt flats. Beyond it lies Telescope Peak, the highest point within Death Valley National Park and the tallest peak of the Panamint Range.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

Tourists venture out onto the salt flats.  (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)