Yup. Titus Canyon. But allow more time if your destination is Furnace Creek, because Titus is often 4wd and/or high clearance, and it has scads of marvelous sights: beautiful colors and rock formations, a ghost town, petroglyphs, and “The Narrows,” the stretch just before the west end with high, sheer cliffs where the canyon shrinks down to about 20’ wide. There is also another canyon that runs north of the main body of Titus right at the entrance, Fall Canyon; it is a hike of a couple miles to where you see dramatic formations that some people consider among the best sights in the park. I would say to allow 3-4 hours for Titus Canyon itself, not counting the drive from Beatty, a visit to the ghost town of Rhyolite, and the optional Fall Canyon hike that could go half a day or more.
If you don’t have the time or appropriate vehicle, go to Beatty anyway (but be aware Hwy 95 from Las Vegas to Beatty is not very exciting) and go down Daylight Pass to Hell’s Gate. This is a view of the Valley looking southwest.
Or take the longest way from LV, via Pahrump, Shoshone, and Badwater. From Shoshone to Badwater is about 70 miles, and the scenery is more about restful long-range views of the Valley and the surrounding mountains, not so much about grand and stupendous scenic wonders. The specific natural marvels include Badwater, Natural Bridge, Artist’s Drive, Devil’s Golf Course, and Golden Canyon, and they are in the northern 17 miles of Badwater Road. A variation of the Shoshone route takes you to Tecopa and the Old Spanish Trail, and you can tour the China Ranch date farm near Tecopa or soak in the mineral hot springs.
Or you could take the standby Pahrump to Death Valley Junction route but make a side trip to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a lush desert marsh in the middle of the desert. It has ponds, scads of vegetation, and reptiles and birds to watch for. The endangered Devil’s Hole pupfish lives there; the underground cavern where they live is not open to the public, but during the spring you can see their close cousins, the Salt Creek pupfish, in Death Valley proper.
If you’re into geology, you’ll understand that the west side entrances are more dramatic because that’s where the higher mountains are. But there are no bad views, boring landscapes, or ugly views in Death Valley.
